elenamarie Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 This stinks! Jake Berkowitz was sixth into Unalakleet and cut his hand badly with the knife he was using to cut fish for the dogs. He has scratched been withdrawn and this update came from Facebook: Jake's hand was cut deep in between his thumb and pointer finger. He is being withdrawn from the race and flying into Anchorage tonight to see a surgeon. We had a great season and the dogs are still barking to go. Jake wants to thank everyone for your support and cheers throughout the race! Last year Mitch Seavey nearly amputated his index finger cutting open a bale of straw at a checkpoint. What a bummer for Jake. His team was running well. Current standings: Lance 28 DeeDee 10 Martin 19 Rohn 18 Karen 49 Hank 48 Pat Moon scratched in Cripple Ruby. He had dog issues and in Ruby Cripple was down to seven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Poor Jake. He severed an artery in his hand between Kaltag and Unalakleet. Word is that he had it in a tourniquet the remaining miles. When he tried to take the tourniquet off it gushed, and the race officials withdrew him. http://community.adn.com/adn/node/160280 Iditarod Veteran Jake Berkowitz (Bib #29) has been withdrawn from the 2012 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race by Race Marshal Mark Nordman. Berkowitz severely injured his hand while using a knife between Kaltag and Unalakleet. Nordman determined that the injury was severe enough to warrant the decision. The decision was made at 16:00 AK Time. Berkowitz was in 6th position at the time and still had 14 dogs in his team. He will be flown out of Unalakleet to Anchorage for treatment. Meanwhile, Pat Moon scratched in Ruby on Sunday afternoon, his team down to seven dogs. Moon, who also scratched in 2010, started the race with just 12 dogs. Also scratching on Sunday was Lachan Clarke of Buena Vista, Colo. Down to eight dogs, he scratched for the same reason as Moon. Clarke recorded his best finish in seven Iditarods last year, placing 32nd. For Moon, who is 35 and battling cancer, the scratch came before he made it to Unalakleet, his training grounds this winter. Moon's team included some dogs that belonged to Unalakleet musher Paul Johnson, who had plans to run this year's race but died in October. Moon and Clarke's departures brings to six the number of mushers who have scratched. Berkowitz, a Big Lake musher who was in sixth place when he was injured, is the only musher to be withdrawn. A withdrawal is different from a scratch. A withdrawal is a decision made by race officials, while a scratch is a decision made by the musher. Read more here: http://community.adn.com/adn/node/160280#storylink=cpy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Jeff King has been stopped on the trail eleven miles from Unalakleet in -40° to -30° temps for more than seven hours. Speculation is that his dogs simply refuse to go any further and if so, he'll scratch in Unalakleet. Still have to wait for him to arrive to know for sure, though. LOTS happening on the trail in the past few hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 King has scratched, but I don't think he's in Unalakleet yet. The FB update says the race official has been notified but he isn't listed on the standings page as coming into the checkpoint. Lots of speculation that his 13 dogs refused to go on. What a wild race! ETA: King was up to 4th at one point between Kaltag and Unalakleet, and he's been in the top 10 for days. Something went seriously wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MollynDiesel Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Jeff King has been stopped on the trail eleven miles from Unalakleet in -40° to -30° temps for more than seven hours. Speculation is that his dogs simply refuse to go any further and if so, he'll scratch in Unalakleet. Still have to wait for him to arrive to know for sure, though. LOTS happening on the trail in the past few hours. Wow! This is a weird race this year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austinville Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Agree @GizMaix&Diesel Karen Ramsey left Nulato for Galena about an hour ago........with 14 dogs. No word on which was dropped or why as of yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Wow! This is a weird race this year! No doubt! King turned off his GPS tracker and is NOT in Unalakleet. Guessing that a race official will be going to get the team but not really sure what happens now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austinville Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Agree! GizMaiz&Diesel Karen Ramsey left Nulato for Galena about an hour ago....with 14 pretty curly tails. No word yet on which husky was dropped or why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Verified--King scratched before reaching Unalakleet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Agree! GizMaiz&Diesel Karen Ramsey left Nulato for Galena about an hour ago....with 14 pretty curly tails. No word yet on which husky was dropped or why. Hope it was due to heat cycle issues and not a more serious problem. What a wild race! And it started so boring too--the first week was ho-hum in terms of news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austinville Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Hope it was due to heat cycle issues and not a more serious problem. What a wild race! And it started so boring too--the first week was ho-hum in terms of news. That was why Tramp was dropped...hopefully nothing serious, her FB page has no word of why or which one yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I'm not a fan of King's but I hate that his team quit on him like that. And you know Lance has to be chuckling over it--not in a mean way, but in a "I'm still getting down the trail" way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MollynDiesel Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Kings out?! What the heck is going on this race! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Quick update, gotta go to town today. King out Jeff King, one of the greatest mushers in the history of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, dropped out of the competition late Sunday after some of his dogs developed what appeared to be serious stomach problems about 12 miles outside of Unalakleet. The dogs then stopped, curled up in the snow and refused to budge. By early evening, King and his 13 animals were being transported by snowmachines and sleds to the checkpoint on Norton Sound. "They really hit a wall," King said. "And there's no place to fix it out here." The team lay down in an open area exposed to the wind, even though some sheltering trees were not far away. "It was not my choice" where to stop, King said. "I'm not interested in having it not being fun for me or the dogs," King added in explaining why he pulled out. "If I have to scratch from one now and then, so be it." . . .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MollynDiesel Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Quick update, gotta go to town today. Poor Jeff, I dont really like him but it must be hard to just quit after winning so many Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austinville Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Ramsey now has about 10 miles before reaching Kaltag (50 min. ago) Last update said they were moving at about 7.2 mph with 14 dogs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueWolf Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 First of all, when we last left you hanging, the Musher and Pretty Curly Tails were in Galena and we were waiting for them to leave... and waiting and waiting and waiting. While I hate waiting (and apparently so do a lot of you) I don't mind it as much knowing that the Musher is taking good care of the Pretty Curly Tails, and they will only leave when the PCTs are ready to leave. Because the Musher loves her PCTs! Anyhoo, they finally pulled the hook at 16:18 Alaska time (that's 4:18pm) but with only 14 Pretty Curly Tails! Apparently Charge was "not having a good race" Richard's interpretation of "not having a good race" is: He's distracted by other things. [...] The rest here: http://northwapiti.blogspot.com/2012/03/march-12-2012-iditarod-so-far-bet.html ps: It's a funny blog to follow. Everything's written from the view point of a border collie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MollynDiesel Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Between the top 2 i want Aliy to win. Dallas looks like an arrogant prat and it would be great to have a female win it! 12 years since the last female champ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Audio interview of Jeff King talking about what happened between Kaltag and Unalakleet yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 I can't do our mushers' current standings because someone hosed up the current standings page on iditarod.com. As soon as it's fixed I'll post it. Right now it's a battle between Dallas Seavey and Aliy Zirkle for first into White Mountain. They've been within a mile of each other with Dallas in the lead since Koyuk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austinville Posted March 13, 2012 Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 The rest here: http://northwapiti.blogspot.com/2012/03/march-12-2012-iditarod-so-far-bet.html ps: It's a funny blog to follow. Everything's written from the view point of a border collie It is hilarious! Even when they aren't running the Iditirod! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Current standings: Lance 22 DeeDee 11 Martin 20 Rohn 18 Karen 45 Hank 46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 It is hilarious! Even when they aren't running the Iditirod! I'm putting Karen's blog on my blog roll. Love her team! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Iditarod Rookie Musher Pat Moon Saved Child in Ruby ANCHORAGE, Alaska On Sunday, four mushers ended their shot at completing the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, including rookie Pat Moon who helped saved a child’s life in Ruby. Iditarod officials said a child was sledding and crashed into a parked snow machine on Sunday afternoon in Ruby, according to family members of the child. The boy was brought home and a Village Public Safety Officer was called, but was reported to be unavailable. The child’s mother went to the Iditarod checkpoint to ask for help and Pat Moon immediately said he was trained, according to Iditarod officials, and returned to the child’s home. A family member said Moon stopped the bleeding and cleaned the cut, which helped keep the boy’s face together. Moon, a 35-year-old rookie musher, was born and raised in Chicago and followed the race growing up and first participated in the Idita-Rider program in 2006. When he was 15, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an auto immune disease that targets the intestines and kidneys. When asked about running in this year’s Iditarod, he said “Although having an illness is physical, being sick is a state of mind.†Moon started the race with twelve dogs and decided to scratch when he was down to seven dogs on Sunday afternoon in Ruby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elenamarie Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Hi All! The first musher is preparing to cross the line in Nome! If you want to watch a live stream, go to http://www.ktuu.com/sports/iditarod/livestream/ The stream should come up half an hour before the first musher into Nome, probably around 5:30 Alaska time today. Updates to current standings coming soon. Dallas Seavey looks to be in first, Aliy Zirkle second, Ramey Smyth third but it isn't over yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.