You’ll have to pardon the slight pause in coverage, yesterday afternoon my wife and I welcomed our first son into the world, we’re on our way home later today. I’m also excited to keep bringing you the rest of the Iditarod as it happens, we answered a question on our last podcast, but for those blog readers out there: yes, we will be broadcasting the finish – Greg & I hope to do a pre & post finish show with interviews, emails.. the whole works. Once we have a better idea of when the finish will be, we will announce a time.
I lot has happened since I took my hiatus, during that time Lance Mackey swept through Kaltag where Jeff King was resting and continued on without stopping and took the lead. King was several hours behind, arriving into Unalakleet three hours later, running almost at the exact same pace as Mackey.
As of this morning both Lance Mackey and Jeff King have left Unalakleet and are making their way to 
Shaktoolik. The difference now is that King is the one who took 3 hours less of a rest than Mackey, and is only a few miles behind the race leader. They are probably going to continue running at a similar pace as one another, although it will be interesting to see what the times are going into Shaktoolik.
Hugh Neff was only 45 minutes behind King in reaching the Bering Sea checkpoint village with Hans Gatt arriving half hour later. Depending on when they leave Unalakleet it could still be anyone’s race – there have certainly been Iditarods that were won on the coast before.
Two mushers to watch right now are Ramey Smyth and John Baker, both posted impressive times from Nulato to Kaltag and are known for their speed in this part of the race. Nothing is off the table for those two right now, although the top five is so tight still that it might be difficult for an upset that they would normally be capable of.
I’ll be watching the race closely (and the baby closely) for the next several hours and will report back with interesting observations (with the race). Greg & I hope to record another podcast or two before the winner arrives in Nome, we’ll keep taking your questions at josh-@-iditablog.com
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March 14, 2010 at 10:33 pm
congrats to both of you! how wonderfull!! hope mom and baby boy whos name is? are doing great!
March 14, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Thanks for the great coverage – it is hard to get anything down here in SC – Congratulations on the baby – guess everyone wants to know a name
March 14, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Congratulations!
March 14, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Congrats on the new baby!!!!!!
March 14, 2010 at 4:04 pm
I have been piecing together tidbits from here and there on the race. Your comment,
“The difference now is that King is the one who took 3 hours less of a rest than Mackey, and is only a few miles behind the race leader.”
Comment has me a bit confused.
I thought it was Mackey that blew through Kaltag and is working with less rest?
March 15, 2010 at 12:43 am
wow
March 15, 2010 at 1:01 am
Congrats on the new baby and best wishes !!
March 14, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Congratulations and thanks for the update. This year’s race is so exciting!
March 14, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Will the lead change? grand question..Seems the race at this point (leaders of course) has taken on a DeJaVu climate much like last year..The question is who or what kind of dog has Jeff got in that dog box? Perhaps its a rondy sprint dog,or even a well rested leader. I guess we will find out 22 miles from Nome.. To you and your wife, congrats on the baby’s arrival, and good job on the web site will continue to monitor it from here
March 15, 2010 at 1:51 am
Congrats on the New baby boy.. need some baby stats.. Name, weight, size… fun stuff like that..lol
March 15, 2010 at 2:27 am
Congratulations!!
March 15, 2010 at 4:29 am
Congratulations on your new addition! How interesting to be born in the middle of the great race!
March 16, 2010 at 4:30 am
Congratulations from Miami, FL! What a beautiful picture to see of you and the new baby. We read the ADN everyday on web. It makes us feel closer to our favorite state of Alaska.
March 18, 2010 at 5:22 am
Both Mackey and Gatt blew through Kaltag, but King rested. However. it looks like all three took a break on the road to Unalakleet anyway. So did the race hinge on skipping Kaltag?