Brent Sass
The gamble for Brent Sass wasn’t forging on Wednesday to the abandoned mining outpost of Cripple for his 24-hour break in the 50th Iditarod.
The gamble was doing so in a single 77-mile push from Ophir instead of taking extra rest like Dallas Seavey and others.
It remains to be seen if Sass suffers any ramifications from the 73-mile run to Cripple — but the move gained him a lead of more than three hours over Seavey at the race’s unofficial halfway point 425 miles into the 975-mile event. Sass and Seavey were among only five mushers who went all the way to Cripple for their mandatory 24.
And the long run was hardly out of character for Sass, who has done similar moves in past Iditarods and Yukon Quest races. Sass, a three-time Quest winner seeking his first Iditarod title, has logged more than 3,000 miles of training this season from his homestead in Eureka north of Fairbanks.
Sass’ run from Ophir through soft conditions lasted through most of Wednesday afternoon and took him 11 hours and 43 minutes, a pace of 6.23 miles per hour that was much slower than previous run times.
Dallas Seavey
Danny Seavey, a former Iditarod musher who analyzes the race on the Facebook page for Seavey’s IdidaRide Sled Dog Tours, said Sass’ move worked out brilliantly.
“It’s Brent’s race to lose at this point,” Danny Seavey wrote Thursday morning.
Not only did Sass’ push to Cripple gain him a significant lead on Dallas Seavey, who is seeking a record sixth win, but as Sass rested a snowstorm on Wednesday and Thursday hampered those trying to reach Cripple in striking distance.
Another risk for Sass had been traveling to Cripple on a soft trail but potentially having it set up for chasers like Aaron Burmeister and Richie Diehl, who took their 24s in McGrath (mile 311) and Ophir (mile 352), respectively. That scenario proved to be unfounded, however.
“They are breaking trail again,” Danny Seavey said Thursday morning of Diehl and Burmeister.
While resting in Ophir, Burmeister told Iditarod Insider that he broke trail through 4-5 inches of snow leaving McGrath. The 41-mile run to Ophir took him 32 minutes longer than Sass’ despite having a fresh team coming off their 24-hour break.
Aaron Burmeister
Burmeister, a veteran of 20 Iditarods who placed a career-best second last year, told Insider that the slow trail conditions warranted shorter runs with additional breaks.
“I want to have a strong team on the coast. I think putting some rest in the bank here is going to pay big dividends down the trail. There’s no sense pushing hard trying to jump out front with the weather that we’re dealing with,” said Burmeister, who stopped earlier than planned for his 24 in McGrath because he was banged up from a section of extremely rough trail after Nikolai.
Diehl and Burmeister (down to 11 of his original 14 dogs) could reach Cripple today in the vicinity of when Sass can depart at 4:36 p.m. — but will almost certainly then take another rest.
Seavey, who dropped two dogs in McGrath, must wait until 7:53 p.m. to leave Cripple. More soft trail is expected for the 70-mile stretch to Ruby on the Yukon River.
“Dallas hasn’t been able to get his team to ‘come together’ yet, a trail hardening process of getting your dogs settled into eating and sleeping properly on the race,” wrote Danny Seavey, Dallas’ older brother. “If anyone can get them rolling it’s Dallas. He’s certainly not out of it.”
Richie Diehl
Back in Ophir, Sass was asked by Insider if he lets other mushers’ moves dictate his own.
“I definitely have made that mistake, and I don’t make that mistake any more. I’ve made that mistake chasing Dallas,” said Sass, who late in the 2016 race was in third place chasing Dallas and Mitch Seavey but dropped all the way to 20th at the finish. “It’s easy to do, especially late in the game. Right now, there’s no excuse for it because it’s so early in the race still. The race hasn’t started yet really. We’re kind of just setting ourselves up. What (Dallas) does has no bearing on what I’m doing right now, that’s for sure.”
The only other three mushers to take their 24 in Cripple were Hugh Neff, slated for an 8:41 p.m. departure; Ryan Redington, who can leave at 11:13 p.m.; and four-time champion Mitch Seavey, who can pull his snow hook at 11:39 p.m.
Those following Diehl and Burmeister out of Ophir Thursday morning included Mille Porsild (the top woman so far), Travis Beals, Jessie Holmes, Paige Drobny, Michelle Phillips, Aaron Peck and Peter Kaiser, in that order.