Predictable Iditarod filled with suspense

March 20, 2005

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

NOME - Over the years, the finish to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has gotten easier to predict, but it's harder to tell which musher will cross the line first.

This bodes well for media outlets and fans, who often fly into town for only two or three days. Now when people arrive in Nome, there's a great chance that the winner will pull into town before they fly home.

"This was probably one of the most exciting races in the long run," said four-time champion Martin Buser, of this year's race. "There was a lot of people taking attempts at the lead. There was a lot of different strategy at work and a lot of incredibly powerful teams."

Just over three hours separated the top six mushers this year, and with hours left before eventual winner Robert Sorlie crossed the finish line, race officials and fans were debating who would win.

"So many teams came in bang, bang, bang, and it will be like that in the future," Buser said. "You won't be able to pick the winner like we used to in White Mountain [77 miles from Nome]."

Howard Farley, former member of the Iditarod board of directors, said the faster the Iditarod becomes, the easier it is to predict. Farley was a competitor in the first Iditarod, in which it took 20 days to produce a winner. Since then, race times have become progressively faster.

"Nowadays they've got it down to as low as eight or nine days and everyone is here in two weeks," he said during a lecture at the Nome museum. "The tourist people used to complain all the time, 'Why would I want to send people up there if they can't be there for the win?' Now if you look back at the winners the last 15-20 years, it's either going to be Tuesday or Wednesday and the banquet is going to be Sunday, you can take that to the bank."

"That's a maturation of the sport," Buser said. "That's a really exciting improvement."

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com