2019 Iditarod Coverage--Day 1 Update

The First to Skwentna

By: Michael Rogers

It’s 9:00 PM on Day 1 of the Iditarod and Jessie Holmes is the first musher to Skwentna. With a moving average of 9.7 miles per hour, he’s easily the fastest musher on the course at the moment.

Surprisingly, his pace has been maintained since his start in Willow, 83 miles away. In pre-race interviews Holmes alluded to training his teams in warmer conditions as well as sprint dog lineage in his team’s bloodlines being more resistant to overheating when running in the heat of the day. With most of the course near the freezing point until sunset, it’s a strategy that’s clearly working for him for now. 

Matt Hall is leading the front of the pack 5 miles behind with a pace that’s been dropping slightly as the miles pile on. Most of the mushers are now through Yentna Station with a few electing to rest near there briefly, feed the dogs, and prepare to run through the night. Most of the musher’s paces have increased after sunset as the temperatures drop and the trails harden. Born and bred for cold weather, most of these dogs are going to perform better when it gets cold rather than when it’s warm and since it’s been a warm winter so far, expect to see most of the fast runs occurring at night or in the early morning. 

With a population of around 100 people, Skwentna serves as a sort of hub for the area’s homesteaders and recreational cabins. The checkpoint is in a structure known as the Post Office, which is also a private residence, store and for today…an Iditarod checkpoint. The next checkpoint is Finger Lake. While the trail to Finger Lake isn’t particularly challenging, On a low snow year such as this, the trail can be fairly torn up by heavy snowmachine traffic and may be challenging in the dark.

While it’s far too early in the race to start making predictions or even guesses about strategies, there have been some big moves in the first part of the race. 

Jessie Royer has moved from starting at 14^th to 4^th and is running fast. Jason Campeau is back on the runners after a serious head injury in the 2018 Yukon Quest and has moved from 12^th to 5^th. Fan favorites Aliy Zirkle and Nic Petit have moved from 19^th and 20^th to 6^th and 7^th respectively with Jeff King coming from 23^rd to currently hold 8^th. 2018 Iditarod champ Joar Ulsom has sprinted up 18 positions to round out the top ten in 10^th position briefly before stopping to rest. If you exclude Holmes, the top ten occupy just 3 miles of trail. With most of the racers now on the Yentna River, it is a string of headlamps in the dark pulsing to Skwentna. 

Most of the mushers will hope to make it to Rainy Pass in the early morning tomorrow and rest in the sun before tackling the notorious Dalzell Gorge, perhaps the most treacherous section of trail in the entire race.