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Dallas Seavey Wins Iditarod 40Seavey is the youngest person to ever win the IditarodRelated Content
NOME- Dallas Seavey has won Iditarod 40. Seavey is the youngest person to ever win the Iditarod at age 25. The new champion arrived at 19:29. Following in second, and arriving an hour later, was Aliy Zirkle. SAFETY - Tuesday 3/13, 4:30 p.m. - Barring a massive collapse by the leading team in the final stretch, Dallas Seavey will win Iditarod 40. According to Iditarod.com's GPS tracker, Seavey has left Safety. The Safety checkpoint is 22 miles form Nome. Seavey is expected to finish by 6:30 this evening. His closest competitors are Aliy Zirkle and Ramey Smyth, who surprised mushers and fans alike by roaring into third position after being in 30th place coming off his 24 hour layover in Takotna last week. If you want to follow the race online, you can become an Iditarod insider by visiting Iditarod.com. This Iditarod victory will be Dallas Seavey's first. And with it he'll become the youngest Iditarod champion in the history of the race at 25 years old. Five-time champion Rick Swenson has held on to that record since 1977 when he first won the race at age 26. Seavey effectively earned this victory yesterday evening on the ice of Golovin bay just outside White Mountain, when he widened the gap over Aliy Zirkle by kicking and pulling with his dogs. Seavey says his team's speed is the reason for victory. "We built the winning team during the race. And that's something that people overlook," said Seavey in White Mountain early this morning. "They look at training and that's where you prepare your dogs and that's right. And then they get to the race and they start racing. But you don't start racing on the first day of a thousand mile race. You keep building that monster. And I think that's something I did and a lot of people didn't." ALASKA - As the Last Great Race roared down the Yukon River on Friday and Saturday, Iditarod lovers hoped the race would shape up the way it has. Aliy Zirkle cut rest on the Yukon in order to build up an hour and a half lead - leaving the river running out of Kaltag, but by many accounts the trail across the portage to Unalakleet was a slog. But it didn't seem to matter to Dallas Seavey. He covered the 85 miles almost two hours faster than Zirkle early Sunday morning. Ever since, Zirkle's been on his tail - at times close enough to get him in her sights. It seemed like Seavey might blow the race wide open right outside Shaktoolik. Zirkle chose to stop and rest, while Seavey pushed on across the frozen Norton Sound toward Koyuk. This time it was Zirkle's turn to play catch up. Zirkle traveled those fifty miles in less than four hours. Seavey ran it in just over five. Monday morning after a few hours of rest the pair left Koyuk. Seavey again in the lead, but this time only by 22 minutes. According to Iditarod's GPS Tracker, she never caught him although she got close at times. Seavey arrived in Elim at 3:25 p.m. this afternoon and only stayed for a few minutes. Zirkle showed up about a half hour later and stayed. But here's the curious part. The GPS showed Seavey stopped along the trail about a half mile out of town. Mushers on the Iditarod are notorious for playing tricks on each other. Seavey appeared to be fake leaving the area only to rest. It's unclear if it worked. Both mushers appeared to have started moving again just after 6 p.m. this evening. White Mountain, and a welcomed eight hour mandatory rest, is forty-six miles down trail. The race is expected to finish on Front Street in Nome Tuesday afternoon or early evening. We've produced a time lapse of Seavey's run from Kaltag to Elim with the Iditarod's GPS Tracker. It updates the musher's positions every 10 minutes. You can follow the race online by becoming an Iditarod Insider at iditarod.com. Most Popular |
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