Sentimental favorite sprints to lead

March 8, 2005

CASEY RESSLER/Valley Life editor

DeeDee Jonrowe, one of the most popular mushers in Iditarod history, was leading the Iditarod early Monday morning as of press time, but her one-minute lead wasn't exactly commanding.

Jonrowe pulled into the checkpoint of Finger Lake three minutes behind former champion Rick Swenson. She left at 7:02 a.m., one minute before Swenson packed up his sled and headed out on the trail. As of 10 a.m. Monday, there were seven mushers out of Finger Lake - Jonrowe, Swenson, Lance Mackey (7:19 a.m.), Mike Williams (7:36 a.m.), Robert Sorlie (7:48 a.m.), Martin Buser (7:51 a.m.) and Charlie Boulding (8:06 a.m.).

It didn't take long - about 20 hours - for the top of the standings to look as it has in past races, with the top mushers making their way to the front of the pack early.

Other perennial top mushers included John Baker in 11th, Ramy Brooks in 13th, Ramey Smyth in 16th, Doug Swingley in 20th and Jeff King in 35th place.

Rachael Scdoris, the first legally blind musher to attempt the Iditarod, was in last place. She arrived in Skwentna at 7:31 a.m. Monday, one minute behind Paul Ellering.

The race is hardly decided in the first few days, but teams do establish themselves as contenders during that time. From Finger Lake, mushers begin their ascent over the Alaska Range, which is a grueling portion of trail. After passing through the Alaska Range, another demanding stretch of trail awaits, as the mushers make their way down the Dalzell Gorge and across the Farewell Burn, heading into the race's midpoint.

Getting a read on who is actually winning the race isn't as easy as checking out the latest standings.

Often, mushers breeze through checkpoints, electing to take their rest out on the trail, where there aren't as many distractions. Because the official standings only take into account times in and out of a checkpoint, sometimes they don't reflect who is the true leader.

For example, one musher can enter a checkpoint hours ahead of the closest competitor, but elect to rest at the checkpoint.

The second musher can come into the checkpoint and quickly depart, and then rest their team just outside the checkpoint.

On the official standings the second musher appears to be leading the race, but in reality, the first musher has the lead, because his team will pass the second musher as soon as he leaves the checkpoint, fully rested.