Iditirod 2008  

Posted by Stan Harrington

I have watched the Last Great Race developed this season at a higher intensity than any of the other races. This was due in part to the GPS tracking system that was developed this year that gave the viewers an opportunity to track the race on an minute by minute basis and the strategy used by each of the mushers. This race has some of the top racers in the world, Mackey, King, Busher, Jonrowe, and Swenson as well as others that have made this race and beat the odds by winning.

After tracking the race throughout, although Mackey and King are out in the lead, you can never rule out that Busher can break into this group of the front two. There is no doubt that King most likely has the fastest team and he has been letting Mackey beak trail the entire trip, just dogging behind him by a few minutes. But, Mackey is a veteran as well and may be also dogging his team, slowing them down and racing his own race letting King think he is moving at full speed.

Looking at their times and averages miles per hour between check points, I am ready to make my prediction as the race will be over sometime tomorrow morning.

Lance Mackey has lead this race throughout the majority of the check points, he has something to prove to himself and the world that last year was not luck when he won both the Yukon Quest and the Iditirod. I will project that between White Mountain and Nome, Mackey will increase his speed from his average of 5 - 6 mile per hour that he has maintained throughout the race. He has held his team in reserve enough that he will increase his speed to 7 - 8 miles per hour for the final push to Nome. Despite the fact that King has more dogs pulling than Mackey, by increasing his speed he will build a margin of safety to win the race. If he can achieve this goal and average between 7.0 and 7.5 miles, he will win the 2008 Iditirod by at least one hour. If he is able to achieve this speed and maintain it, I will predict that he will cross the finish line in Nome at 0244 on Wednesday, March 12th. "Git er" Done, Lance!

This entry was posted on March 11, 2008 at Tuesday, March 11, 2008 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

11 comments

Stan Harrington  

Mackey is into Nome with Jeff King outside of Nome two miles. Mackey ran a good race, pulled a few old tricks and got the most out of his team, especially in the run from White Mountian to Nome. He entered Nome right on schedule based on my earlier calculations, well almost. I projected that he would get into Nome at 0244 this morning, he arrived at 0246! In the televised finish, he was frank with the media and remembered the Governor's name. A dual winner of the Yukon quest and Iditirod, back to back years but what impressed me about Mackey was before he crossed the finish line, he stopped short of entering Front Street, without the distration of the crowds, except for one tv camera crew. He came to a complete stop, got off the sled and went to each dog, playing with each one and hugging them. Once each dog had their attention, he went on into Nome. It was their moment. Another thing that impressed me is that entering Nome, he was pushing with his leg, holding the sled with one hand and poling with a ski pole in the other hand. He was working as hard as the dogs. Despite all the commotions, tv crews and everyone wantintg to interview him, before he even had his sled checked by the judges, once again, he went to the sled, reached into a bucket and produced a bag of treats which he took to each dog. Then he accepted his moment of victory and personal attention. He loves his dogs and it showed. A great ambassador for the sport.

3/12/08, 3:59 AM
Stan Harrington  

Jeff King is into Nome at 0405, one hour and twenty one minutes behind Mackey. The key it the race was Mackey sneaking away in Elam and gaining an hour on King. The second part of winning was the run from White Moutain to Safety. Holding onto the lead into Nome. From Safety to Nome, Mackey made it in 3 hr and 1 minute compared to King running it in 3 hr and 12 minutes.

3/12/08, 4:18 AM
john r mclay  

G'mornin', prattler.

3/12/08, 6:20 AM
Shana  

no third yet.

3/12/08, 8:56 AM
Shana  

Thanks dad for the great conversation and company during this race...I have learned a lot about the Iditarod...am looking forward to making it a late night tradition every year...are you up yet...have some coffee...third is yet to come in...think Buser can make it?

3/12/08, 9:23 AM
Stan Harrington  

Lady Buff, it was fun watching the races with you, it was great. Winning the "jackpot" from you was good, but calling the winner of the race within two minutes of the actual time was even better. I am going out today with my prospective winnings and invest in the Nenanna Ice Classic, if I can get that close to the Iditirod, surely I analyze and project when the ice will break up. Maybe next year, I will share Excell data sheet with you that I used to track the race this year. Well, for a price!

3/12/08, 11:53 AM
Shana  

I already owe you 100 dollars....I better get that program at a discount rate....lol....Wanna wager on the Sweepstakes...give me a chance to win my money back?

3/12/08, 12:04 PM
Stan Harrington  

When are they? I am awful busy! I can't go to many more nights without sleep.

3/12/08, 1:14 PM
Shana  

March 23...400 miles...Nome to Candle and Back...at the moment there are 16 mushers registered for this 100,000 dollar race...Mackey, King, Seavey, and Ramey Smyth ...and I think a couple others coming off the Iditarod...can be found at http://www.allalaskasweepstakes.org/

a race that holds the history of dog breeding for the Alaskan sled dog...

3/12/08, 7:51 PM
its only me  

I can't believe you never commented on my blog...I even left a good blog for all to read and no one not even my MOTHER read it.. ;{

3/12/08, 11:29 PM
john r mclay  

poor baby! When are you gonna post again Stan?
It better not be at 5 pm, or I'll shut EVERYBODY off!

3/13/08, 3:58 PM

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