Iditarod

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

The front runners in the Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race have reached the halfway point at Cripple, which is not as good of news as you might think. The Anchorage Daily News describes Cripple as a “slapped together collection of wall tents,” meanwhile temperatures in the interior of Alaska hovered around -30 degrees overnight and have fallen to as cold as -40 degrees along the trail. And you thought these people were out for a little toboggan ride. Worse news yet, Noah Burmeister lost a dog from his team yesterday, the first casualty of this year’s race. Yes, it is not all fun and games taking part in The Last Great Race.

According to the current standings, Paul Gebhardt leads the race as he is the first to reach Ruby, population 187 and 646 miles from the start of the race. His lead, though, is tenuous as he has not made his 24-hour layover yet. The second- and third-place teams of Jeff King and Melanie Gould have left Cripple, both of whom have already taken their 24. Ben Valks is still your Red Lantern holder. God speed to all.

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