Leaders stream across Burn while wind batters others
Published: March 6, 2007
Last Modified: March 14, 2007 at 06:40 PM
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BOB HALLINEN / Anchorage Daily News
Doug Swingley broke two ribs, Mar. 5, 2007, near Rainy Pass after his sled struck a tree on an icy downhill.
Blizzard slows musher at Rainy Pass
Brutal weather pounds mushers at Rainy Pass
Rugged trail forces 6 mushers to scratch
DeeDee Jonrowe second to scratch Iditarod 35
Standings
| Rank | Musher (bib) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lance Mackey ( 13) |
| 2 | Paul Gebhardt ( 10) |
| 3 | Zack Steer ( 7) |
| 4 | Martin Buser ( 19) |
| 5 | Jeff King ( 31) |
| 6 | Ed Iten ( 30) |
| 7 | Ken Anderson ( 54) |
| 8 | John Baker ( 48) |
| 9 | Mitch Seavey ( 20) |
| 10 | Tollef Monson ( 75) |
Standing provided by iditarod.com
© 2007 Iditarod Trail Committee, Inc.
Fresh faces dotted a pack of five mushers crossing the sled-bashing Farewell Burn before dawn Tuesday morning, looking to forge a gap with the other 75 mushers remaining in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Young Jason Barron of Lincoln, Mont., left the small cabin in Rohn at the foot of the Alaska Range at 9:09 p.m. Monday night. Within 83 minutes, Cim Smyth of Big Lake, Lance Mackey of Fairbanks, Zach Steer of Sheep Mountain and Martin Buser of Big Lake had taken up the chase.
Mushers leaving Rohn face a rough, almost snowless, trail full of frozen tussocks for 80 miles on the long run to the village of Nikolai. If someone doesn't bust up a sled or themselves making the crossing, it will be something of a miracle.
But with perennial top contenders Doug Swingley of Montana and DeeDee Jonrowe of Willow breaking bones and scratching on Monday, the race for the top-five positions opened up considerably. Fresh faces may well litter the top 10 this year.
Mackey, who left in third place at 10:24 p.m., is already hobbled. The winner of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks just two weeks ago, Mackey reached the Rainy Pass checkpoint, high in the Alaska Range, with with a broken sled runner.
No matter. Mackey grabbed a bail of hay and kept going, leading the race into the next checkpoint of Rohn, a rough, downhill run of 48 miles. From there, Mackey faced another tough 80 miles across the Farewell Burn to reach Nikolai, the first place where a new sled could be flown in to him.
Earlier, race marshal Mark Nordman said he was worried about how mushers would negotiate the Burn. "We do have some concerns once we get on the Burn for a 10- to 15-mile section that's dry," he said.
Barron, 35, trains near Doug Swingley, who scratched from the race on Tuesday with two broken ribs after being tossed from his sled negotiating an icy turn five miles from Rainy Pass. Barron has been around sled dogs most of his life. His dad, John, first ran the Iditarod when Jason was 7 years old. Now, most of the family is racing.
Brother Laird has finished the race, too, and Jason proposed to his wife Harmony, another Iditarod veteran, beneath the burled arch in Nome after the 2002 Iditarod. Jason and Harmony are the parents of Oksana Cybelle Barron, born this summer, and they run a kennel in Montana.
Jason Barron was 12th in the 2004 Iditarod, winning the most improved musher award for his efforts.
More
Ekran is Iditarod rookie of the year
Brooks disqualified from Iditarod
Iditarod dog death under investigation
Mackey makes history with Iditarod win
‹ With final surge, Steer nails down 3rd place
‹ Gebhardt chases Mackey to Nome; four rest in White Mountain
