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Who will win the 2008 Iditarod?

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BB73;1108538; said:
King and Mackey are probably still the favorites. If I had to re-do the odds now, though, I'd probably flip the pair of 9-1's on Buser and Willomitzer with the pair of 19-1's on Backen and Gebhardt, or maybe move Buser to a 14-1 and knock Ramey Smyth down to 19-1.

But it was interesting to watch the race unfold for a couple of days while deciding where to place your money, wasn't it?
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Now that I've said that, the recent update shows that Smyth and Buser are right on Gebhardt's tail. :tongue2:

There's a lot of ebb and flow to the race.
 
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Defending champ Mackey leading Iditarod

ALKEETNA, Alaska (AP) - Defending champion Lance Mackey is determined to claim a second win in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ? and he's not wasting any time.

continued.......

Two mushers scratched Tuesday. Tom Roig of Shreve, Ohio, dropped out, citing concern for his health and the health of his team.

Entire article: FOX Sports on MSN - More Sports - Defending champ Mackey leading Iditarod

See above there was a guy from ohio in the race.
 
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BUCKYLE;1108743; said:
How much longer does the race last?
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It should end Monday or Tuesday. The wire reports on the race are usually outdated before they're published. The race standings are updated a couple times per hour at this link:

iditarod.currentstandings

Seavey is now listed as the leader, but Mackey, King, and Backen are apparently taking their mandatory 24-hour rest in Talkotna. That's why it appears they're slipping behind, but it's deceiving. And although Backen was the last of the three to reach Talkotna, he'll be the first to leave - they make up the staggered start by tacking on time to the "24-hour" rest period. Only after they've all taken their 24-hour rest period are the standings comparing apples-to-apples.

But each musher is also required to take one 8-hour rest stop at one of the checkpoints on the Yukon River, which they haven't reached yet. Once a musher leaves Unalakleet (last stop on the Yukon), the only mandatory stop left is an 8-hour stop at White Mountain (only a few hours from the finish). That's to prevent an overzealous racer from driving the dogs into the ground to get to the finish line.

EDIT - Now Gebhardt has taken the lead in the standings by leaving Ophir. But I think Seavey is probably taking his 24-hour stop there.

It looks like a very close race among Seavey, Gebhardt, King, Mackey, and Backen. In the Iditarod, anything within an hour is a very close race until they get to White Mountain.
 
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Backen has just gone through Ophir. He's really the leader of the race, although he's listed in 14th place. If you're looking at the "current standings" (linked above,) it's key to note the checkmark under the 24-hr box at the far right - those are the mushers that have taken the mandatory rest. Over the next 2-3 days, they'll also take the 8-hour stop at one of the Yukon River checkpoints.

Backen will be 5 hours ahead of Seavey by the time he also leaves Ophir.

The fact that Gebhardt left Ophir 17 hours ago, and isn't yet shown as reaching the Cripple checkpoint, is interesting.
 
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See, this is what I get for gambling on something I have no idea how it works (like that has really stopped me before). Heck, all I went on was an article yesterday morning that said Mackey, King and Backen are in a dead heat for the lead.

But it is always fun to find out new things. Thank god for gambling :biggrin:
 
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The latest update shows that a bunch of racers have reached Cripple. It must have been "tough sledding"; the ones that didn't stop on the way only averaged about 5 mph. Gebhardt must have rested on the trail for a few hours, since he took several hours longer than the others.

DeeDee Jonrowe shows in first place, but that doesn't account for the advantage that Gebhardt will regain for the staggered start. And they both still need to take their 24-hour layover.

Backen should be the favorite at this point, but half the race remains. I'd also bet that Mackey and King have already gone through Ophir, and that it's just not posted yet. Delays on updates from some of the checkpoints are fairly frequent.

EDIT - yep, Mackey is only 22 minutes behind, King is 42 minutes behind.
 
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King is now the de facto leader. He's the only one that has reached Cripple and also already taken his 24-hour layover.

Edit - a few hours later, and Mackey now leads, since he hardly stopped in Ophir. He probably got about 4 hours rest in a cabin on the trail. He leads King by 3:21, and Swenson by 3:52. Backen and Seavey should be leaving soon, and Gebhardt will be able to leave in about 5 hours.

It now looks like a battle among King, Mackey and Backen, with Seavey, Swenson, and Gebhardt still with a chance.
 
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Mackey still leads, he and King are the only ones to have left Galena. Mackey is 5 hours ahead, but hasn't taken a rest for a while.

Gebhardt was the next musher to reach Galena - he did that leg an incredible 4 hours faster than Mackey did. But Gebhardt hasn't taken his 8-hour stop yet. That will cost him about 3 hours, while he stops for 8 somewhere that other mushers will only rest about 5 hours. So in effect he's about 8 hours behind Mackey and 3 behind King.

Edit - Gebhardt must have been marked incorrectly for his arrival time into Galena, he couldn't have gone that fast.

Seavey and Backen have just reached Galena, and they've taken their 8 hour rest stops. They're about 6 hours behind Mackey.
 
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Mackey still leads, now he and King are the only ones to have departed Kaltag. It looks like Mackey is 6 hours ahead, but it's only 5, since Mackey left on standard time, and King left on daylight time (really). King was only 1 hour behind when they got there, but he took a rest stop and Mackey didn't. Seavey is a few hours back, but still within striking distance.

It looks like Mackey is trying to win it based on less rest, since King is moving faster on the trail. We'll see if he and his team can keep that up for a couple more days.
 
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Best Buckeye;1111604; said:
This race is getting to me. I'm geting as excited as a chihuahua and its starting to hound me . I hope it ends soon before i make a poodle on the floor.
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Maybe it's only that your brain has turned to mush. :wink2:
 
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