EVENING UPDATE: As miles add up, field starts to spread

(McGRATH, Alaska, 9 p.m.) – The blistering pace that has been set since the beginning of Iron Dog 38 started to show some cracks today — on racers, and their machines. 

 After arriving into Galena in mid-afternoon, the top three teams took limited layovers before pushing onto McGrath, a full 250 miles away, after having already traveled nearly 450 miles since early morning. Consider the distance: Iron Dog racers are traveling in one day, just a little less than the distance from Anchorage to Haines, or Seattle to San Francisco, or Dallas to Denver. 

 “Attrition is starting to come into play,” said Mike Vasser, Iron Dog’s interim executive director. “Now we’re starting to see that that incredibly fast pace is probably going to take its toll.”  

 The leaderboard for the race juggled constantly as teams 6, 14 and 5 contended with a day that included mechanical and physical hiccups.  

 Team 14’s Bryan Leslie and Team 5’s Zack Weisz collided on the way into Galena while one was trying to pass the other – race official Doug Dixon in Galena said he wasn’t sure who was doing the passing. But those issues seemed to be resolved. 

 Then Team 6, Robby Schachle and Brad George, reportedly ran into some mechanical problems that slowed them down after they’d already left for McGrath. Temperatures are supposed to plummet to minus 32 degrees F in Galena tonight, and Vasser said racers were motivated to head south, where warmer temperatures are predicted. 

 “I probably would’ve done the same thing,” said Vasser, who is an Iron Dog veteran. 

 As for the race leaders, Team 14, Casey Boylan and Leslie, appear to be hopscotching with Team 6. They were both less than 50 miles from Ophir as of 8:30 p.m. Thursday.  

 “Right now, the plot is thickening,” Vasser said. Until teams are all settled in, whether they take the bulk of their remaining 20 hours in Galena or McGrath, it will be hard to tell who really is in the lead.

 “I’m speculating that the front teams will take the rest of their layover in McGrath, and the ones near the back will take six or eight hours in Galena and then move onto McGrath,” Vasser said. 

 Front-runners will be held in Puntilla to be set for a morning finish on Big Lake on Saturday.

 Vasser also noted the steady pace of such teams as Chris Olds and Mike Morgan, Team 10, who have had a clean race so far, and Todd Palin and Bob Gilman, Team 17, both of them former Iron Dog champions with more than 50 years of racing experience between them. These veteran racers are not to be underestimated, Vasser said. 

 “We’re starting to see that experience show,” Vasser said. “The bodies and the machines are taking a beating. … As you watch this race unfold, everyone has to realize, these (sleds) have to make it another 500 miles. The racers have pounded them for 2,100 miles, and there’s still a lot of racing left to do.” 

 Media Contact: Mike Vasser, Interim  Executive Director, Iron Dog Inc., (907) 563-4414  •  director@irondog.org