checking in from Chugiak, AK (just north of Los Anchorage)
We went to the re-start in Willow on Sunday, and it was great. The weahter was perfect (~20 and sunny,) and there were tons of people. The field is a little smaller this year (62 teams) but there should be some fast times.
Top three are farther along the trail but the big guns have taken their mandatory 24 hour rests, so they will pass the leaders shortly.
The biggest news so far today is that Mitch Seavey had to withdraw because of an injury he got while cutting open a bale of straw at a rest stop. He won in 2004 and hs been top ten each year since. His son Dallas just won the other big long-distance race, The Yukon Quest(Whitehorse to Fairbanks.)
There is kennel cough going around on the trail, and that's why some folks have dropped more dogs than usual. Kennel cough won't usually do much damage but it puts the dogs off their feed. And they need tons of calories to sustain the effort that the race demands.
Martin Buser looks good, as does Hugh Neff. Lance Mackey is in the fight but is down a couple dogs. Watch for John Baker to do well. He is from Kotzebue (NW AK) and his dogs are used to the windy, open terrain that they will be in when they reach the coast.
Herbst's class probably packed his sled and his checkpoint food drops but didn't build it.
