The first finisher looms.
Excitement reached a fever pitch on the Iditarod Trail today as the leaders of both the Iditarod Sled Dog Race and the Iditarod Trail Invitational left White Mountain almost neck-in-neck for the final sprint to Nome. Dallas arrived at the race finish just after 5 p.m. Tuesday to become the Iditarod’s “winningest musher ever” with six first-place finishes. He completed the sled dog race in 9 days, 2 hours and 16 minutes.
Tyson Flaharty and Miron Golfman have been on their own nonstop tear into day 16 of the ITI, hardly pausing to rest as they fought their way up the coast. With winds topping 25 mph and temperatures registering below minus 20 (which translates to a -51F windchill) at the Shaktoolik airport, the two pedaled across the barren, featureless sea ice during a nine-hour grind that must have been otherworldly in its savagery. Taking on the sea ice in a whiteout is hard enough without dealing with the mechanics of a bicycle. Tyson and Miron managed not only to cross the ice safely, but they were able to pedal their bikes into the fierce headwind wind nearly the entire way.
This year’s 350 bike co-champion Kevin Breitenbach commented, “The push that Tyson and Miron have made since Shaktoolik has been super impressive. Their speeds across the sea ice to Koyuk showed them mostly riding in conditions most of us would have been pushing.”
Just over 150 miles lie between Koyuk and Nome. It’s unforgiving terrain, treeless and exposed to Arctic winds as the trail undulates over steep hills, sastrugi and sea ice. After leaving Koyuk around 8 a.m. Monday, Tyson and Miron rested for just six hours total: one hour in White Mountain, four hours in Golovin, and one hour in Elim. They left White Mountain at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday for their final push to Nome
They’ve been racing alongside the front-runners of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which must be a fun sight on the trail. Lead musher Dallas Seavy left White Mountain just minutes after them. Dallas’s team passed through Safety at 2:40 p.m. At that point, our dynamic duo was about 20 miles away and facing down the infamous Solomon Blowhole.
A Blowhole is a stream of cold Arctic air funneled from the mountains toward the Bering Sea coast. Wind speeds can top 80 mph when the North Wind is cranking. As a weather station at Johnson’s Camp showed North Winds blowing at 25-35 mph, the guys flew through the gauntlet, passing between Topkok cabin and Safety in three hours and 10 minutes. Miron has had some luck with this section. Before last year’s win, it took him just 2.5 hours to pedal the 22 miles through the notorious Blowhole.
Meanwhile, other racers were reaching their own milestones. As Miron and Tyson cleared Safety, Phil Hofstetter completed the sea ice crossing to Koyuk, nearly 135 miles back in third position. Phil is nearly 100 miles in front of the next competitor and has been riding alone without encountering another racer since he left McGrath 12 days ago. If anyone is adept at solitude on the trail it’s Phil, who has been racing ITI since 2008 and has won the race to Nome twice.
Back in Unalakleet, lead woman Kinsey Loan reached the famous Peace on Earth Pizza with Mark Moeller. Doubtlessly they’ll enjoy the extra cheese and warmth of the restaurant after a 30-hour trip across the Kaltag Portage in temperatures that reportedly dipped as low as minus 40.
Seventy-seven miles back, second-position woman Leah Gruhn is resting in Kaltag. Hopefully she’s feeling stronger after taking a rest day in Galena on Sunday. Also near Kaltag is lead runner Gavan Hennigan. Gavan has been moving consistently down the Yukon River amid the constant cold and wind, although he says his steady pace is mainly a result of wearing most of his clothing and still being too cold to pause so he can eat or rest. However, as Gavan regularly declares on social media, “This man won’t be stopped.”
Just behind Gavan is the first skier, Asbjoern Bruun, who also took a day-long stopover in Galena. Apparently one of his Asbjoern’s boots broke and he had to await another to arrive by express mail. We’re glad he was able to solve that problem.
Nearing Nulato is the first woman runner, Faye Norby, amid a cluster of five runners and one skier who are about to hit mile 600 of the route. This is an unfathomable amount of distance to cover in just 16 days while dragging a heavy sled through snow drifts in temperatures that haven’t spent much time above zero. When Faye reaches Nome, she’ll be the first woman on foot to do so in a decade.
At the back of the pack we have skiers Petr Ineman and Sunny Stroeer in Ruby. Both have been resting after an extremely difficult slog through the Interior. The Iditarod mushers came and went, and a deep cold settled in with the quiet trails. Petr reported temperatures down to 42 below. Sunny has been nursing some frost-nip on her thumb and is reportedly assessing before she goes on. The cold and wind is forecast to persist into Friday.
As of this posting (6 p.m.. AKDT), Miron and Tyson are just 15 miles from Nome and appear as though they might be sprinting in out. This is action you won’t want to miss! (Link in comments.)
Written by Jill Homer
The photo is a selfie from Miron and Tyson on the trail last week.