Rootin for Newton! Iditarod starts today!

[Nanook]

It's that time of year again, and Jamaican Musher Newton Marshall is making another attempt at the journey from Anchorage to Nome. Newton drew Bib #9 out of I think 68 mushers total so he is in a good spot for the start today.

I'm also following a local Musher who is a Iditarod Rookie and Beargrease 3 time Champion so this will be a fun next 10 days or so for me and I'll try to come with updates.

Here is newton's FB page so you can see and follow his progress, on your own in case I get busy and disappear:

https://www.facebook.com/MushinMonNewton

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Newton has been in the race int he past couple of years but it is brutal and he fell upon some hard times. last year his team got away from him and that was the end for him, the year before he took a dunking in a river at -30°'F below and he had to stop. Let this year be the magic year for Newton to finish again, and in the money!

Mush Mon!!!

Iditarod site, you can follow progress there as well: http://iditarod.com/

The standings page: http://iditarod.com/race/2014/standings/

Mush on! We're Rootin for Newton!!!

[Peasie]

yes! Nanook!! mek wi dweet again!!

Yuh gwine stawt di live viewing of di finish line like a few years ago?

Free jrinks in di Chat Box Rum Bar di night Newton cross di finish line an wi si Jamaica flag flying proudly!!

[Nanook]

Welcome Peasie! Yes let's have a finish line party! I'll supply the beverages! I think this year Newton's run of bad luck will be gone and he will make it. It's a unbelievably hard accomplishment to finish and Newton did it before and he will do it again! For him to go back after being defeated the last two years, he is determined. What happened to him could happen to any of them, and so many don't make it to the finish line, but each trip is a learning experience.

I'm trying to see what all I can find out for free before I pay to subscribe since there seems to be so much side coverage by bloggers on the trail this year & we have a local reporter on the trail giving updates too. If you go to the main Iditarod site link above, on the main page there are blog links in the lower left hand side but yeah, I'll look it over tomorrow and probably buy a subscription. I also have to see if I can get into the chat room or if that is subscription only.

OK today is also Newton's Birthday! The post was on the Jamaica Olympics FB page. What a way to do the Birthday! The race is just underway as Alaska is some hours behind or Central time. Here is the picture and a link to Jamaica Olympics page (Unable to post picture I get error message that file is too big )so click on the following link, it should take you there, the pics are great! One supoer shot of Newton leaving the starting line and looking mighty fine!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=471763879591409&set=a.226113940823072.37948.222081491226317&type=1&theater

[Nanook]

Newton in Willow Alaska yesterday for the race re-start.

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The race starts on Saturday, sort of... what they call a Ceremonial Start, they only go about 11 miles from Anchorage to Willow, and there is a fundraiser that you can bid on to try and catch a ride in a dog sled and be a "Iditarider". Then on Sunday, in Willow is the official start of the run to Nome.

I was able to find the route map. There are two routes the course takes, during even years they take the northern route, and during odd years they take a more southern route. This is the route where Newton took that dunking in a river when it was -30 below that ended his race in 2012. I can just imagine what he will be thinking as he goes past that spot. The map is a PDF so to see it you'll have to click on the link as the file is too large to upload here: http://d3r6t1k4mqz5i.cloudfront.net/...p-High-Res.pdf

Newton and our local musher Nathan Schroeder are both in Skwentna at this time. Newton is in 52(of 69) place and Nathan is in 44th place but this means nothing at this point. They will be on the trail a week and a half and all Mushers have their strategies, many will stay back behind the gung ho leaders and take it easy on their teams and go more slowly in order to keep the dogs in as best shape as possible. When I see Nathan hanging behind, I know him enough to know that is exactly what he is doing, so probably is Newton. Another factor is that it was extremely warm in Alaska right now, it was 36°F above zero yesterday for the race start, which is very bad for the dogs. It is currently 11 degrees in Skwentna Alaska at 4am Alaska time. There is also a shortage of snow in Alaska in many areas, but I'm not up to speed at this time if this affects parts of the northern trail or not, I only know that the mushers have been scrambling to find snow to practice on before the race.

In order to calculate the time in Alaska it is 3 hours difference (behind) from CST to Alaska time, so a 4 hour difference Eastern time.

I'll prolly join the Insider after I get home, lucky me I get to go out in the cold (-29°F here) and have a sensor installed in my truck. The last thing I want to do is go out there, the windchill is close to -50 below but the dyam sensor scares the bejeezus out of me. It shows oil pressure at 0 with my oil light on, making it look like my truck is about to blow the engine any second and it is a very ugly thing to see and I have to make it go away, cold or not. Burrr. It's pretty sad when it is almost 50 degrees warmer in Alaska than it is in Wisconsin in march, but that has been the scenario all Winter.

I hope you all in the east in the storm are doing OK, it looks ugly.

Later...

[Nanook]

I found Newton during the race start yesterday! Watch him here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater

[Nanook]

Newton getting smooches from Monica, one of his lead dogs:
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[Nanook]

OK, I subscribed to the Insider, for 34 bucks you get GPS tracking and so much more good stuff and since I'm actually closely following at least 3 people I had to have it.

It looks as though currently Newton is on the move in a slew of a pack of mushers headed towards Finger lake. Newton is towards the end of that slew of mushers so will likely stay in his current mid/end of pack position for awhile. Stats from GPS are he has traveled 87 Mi, at ave speed of 8.7 MPH and I just saw him moving at 9.73 miles with 16 dogs still, so this is all good.

If you look in my above post at the link of the northern route you can see where Finger Lake is, just northwest of Skwentna. Newton looks to be about halfway, the stretch of trail between checkpoints is about 40 miles.

Or, you can also subscribe to the insider too, you get a lot of entertainment that isn't on the free parts of the site and I'll see if possible to sneak anything Newton Related on here if I can without getting into trouble on the Iditarod site.

It is currently 3°F in Skwentna, which is far better conditions for the dogs and damn near perfect for Newton so none of them overheat on this journey. Mushers try and help the dogs by stepping off sleds and running up a lot of the steeper hills. The sun is shining as well and it is 10:00am Alaska time.

[Nanook]

Newton appears to be on the move from Finger Lake. There is a notoriously difficult area on this route known as 'the steps", that has been known to break many Iditarod mushers and force them out of the race for one reason or another. I remember one year a musher fell through the rive near the steps and her team pulled her out safely, I think it might have been Susan Butcher if I remember correctly. I've been watching this race for decades so details escape.

Newton's average speed at this time is 8.48 miles.

Here is an excerpt from former Iditarod Musher and Champion Joe Runyan on this part of the trail. I've been watching Marin Buser for many years, he is one who likes to start ahead and stay ahead and will do all kinds of fun sneaky tricks to keep his close competition guessing as to when he will take mandatory rests and where, all the way to how long he will stop at a checkpoint. Martin is in 1st place now he sure moved up the ranks fast, he is very stealth. "

Posted by Joe Runyan
Date: March 3, 2014 1:34 am

Our insider crew on snowmachines checked in with video from the trail. Norwegian snowmachiners, including Robert Sorlie’s mushing partner Thomas Waerner (inspecting the trail for his race with the team in 2015) also arrived.
Our guys reported mushers could not stop on the river going into Skwetna as ice hooks would not hold. T’herefore it appeared mushers moved to Skwetna, but even here locking down the team was difficult, with some teams creating havoc pulling out hooks in the parking lot.
Martin, as noted on the analytics at the Insider, stopped to snack his dogs midway between Skwetna and Finger lake. Our guys reported that he disconnected back lines and allowed the dogs a short break while he offered a hot meal. Allowing the dogs to roll on the snow and take a big meal break is a great psychological boost even if the break is only 15 or 20 minutes.


Since the trail from Finger Lake to Rainy Pass is tight, our film crew will not stop to rest. Instead they are going to document leaders through the Happy Valley steps and several problematic glaciated areas. They might be able to get a couple of hours of sleep before the first musher—-it might be Martin Buser—appears.
The contingent of Norwegians, understanding the congestion of the trail, are also leaving to go directly to Rohn checkpoint. Here they will wait for the Iditarod pack.

The first (and so far only) Musher to scratch was Cindy Gallea. She scratched at Yetna Station. I saw Cindy and her dogs last month during out Beargrease. When I took this picture she was about 2 hours into a 4 day race and the high that day was around -5°F with whipping winds: It is a link as I can't post the image because the file is too large but it is from a public album on FB

https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t31/882204_10152142005963895_1601370019_o.jpg

[Nanook]

Newton is moving up!

Newton in enroute from Rainy Pass to Rohn. It appears he might very well be on the very difficult "steps", as he is currently going .02 MPH. Newton has moved up to 48th place with an average speed of 6.95 MPH. I think this is the most difficult part of the trail and a real test of strength
.

Here is a picture from Alaska Life Magazine of Newton's departure from Willow during the traditional race start on Sunday, Jamaican waves aplenty adorn his sled. Again, a link to click on as this website says "file too large" as I tried to share.

https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1/1958267_713397135359020_609258734_n.jpg

[Nanook]

I guess even with GPS, and all the other tools it is sometimes hard to tell what is going on. Newton did make it to Rohn, here is the status update from his FB page:

Newton got to Rohn at 02:03 he made good time coming in, he is still in the checkpoint probably taking a well deserved rest before making the 75 mile run to Nikolai. We'll let you know when he is back on trail. Mush On !!!

[Nanook]

Newton is hanging in there still, but the stories coming out of Nikolia are harrowing at best. About a dozen mushers have dropped out after that stretch and experienced mushers are saying this is the worst conditions they have ever seen, there is no snow, in places there is just ice so the sled brakess don't work and it's like the Mushers are driving runaway dogs. One musher even said he unhooked all but 4 of his dogs, the other 12 ran along side, and he still had no control.

Newton is in Nikolai at this moment after traveling at average speed of 7.0 MPH with 15 of 16 dogs he started with in 46th place. Nikolai will tell the tale if he will be able to continue and how badly beat up he is. I found horror stories on every musher but Newton so far, but then again, Newton appears to have just recently reached Nikolai. The main problem, no snow, and ice on the ground with jutting rocks and no control because of the ice. I'm having a very hard time following along as the GPS is not showing correctly half the time. Right now it is 3 hours and 7 minutes behind so thought it appears on the standings Newton is in Nikolai, on the GPS it looks as though he is still en route.

I'll see if this picture works, it might be from the Insider so not sure: OK, you can see there is no snow!

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Here is an accounting to give you an idea of what it is like out there, from Martin Buser who has run the race 30 times and won 4 times:

Martin Buser arrived in Nikolai at about 1:08am (check for the official time using the Insider tools) and survived, conquered, compromised, negotiated a historically difficult trail from Rainy Pass, through the notorious Dalzell (even in a good year the Dalzell takes a toll), exited Rohn to a completely snowless, barren trail Martin described as the most rugged he has ever seen—and he is the musher who has done thirty some Iditarods and won four times.
On arrival at the Nikolai checkpoint, Martin gimped on a badly swollen ankle and gave us details of a trail barren of snow, bare dirt, with the assorted rocks frozen in place like concrete speed bumps on terrifying descents in the Dalzell and always tough going for 20 miles from Rohn to Egypt Mountain. Even the Nikolai Burn, which is known for skimpy snow fall, was a technical nightmare because bare ground was complicated in places with glare ice.
Incredibly, Martin arrived with 16 dogs in harness. 1 am, even on a good night, is the time of day humans tend to be operating reluctantly. Veterinarians, fans, the media were speaking in soft voices in the dark night. I heard a vet say, “They look good”, and Martin confirmed that he believed 16 would accompany him on the trail out of Nikolai. Martin declared his 24 hour without any equivocation. ” I really feel for Maixner if he leaves Rohn after a twenty four hour mandatory. I went from Rainy Pass to Rohn and kept on going to keep the dogs under control.” Further, Martin believed that many mushers were going to have trouble with the trail, especially ones that cannot talk their dogs down in the difficult sections. ”I have to take a break, even if the dogs don’t need it,” Martin told the fans.

I am having a difficult time following Newton, there is not much coverage on him at all, but day 1 he said he wasn't in it to win it, he just wanted to finish after having to scratch the last 2 years in a row. I wonder if by saying that he isn't being followed as closely as he has been in the past. I'm sure there will be some sort of news once he reaches Nikolai. I'll be back later.

[Nanook]

I found one more wonderful little tidbit, Newton is being declared an Angel, he came across an injured musher and helped him on his broken leg to get to safety. The injured musher pushed the HELP button on his GPS and is awaiting helicopter rescue:

e just got this News. We Hope Scott will be OK We are sending good Vibes & Prayers your way. Mushin' Mon Newton You are the Mon. Mush On.Bad News Friends

Earlier this evening Scott had a bad crash and has broken his leg. He was unable to even stand up after it happened.

About 45 minutes after the crash Newton Marshall came by and got him to a safety shelter located between Rohn and Nikolai. Scott has pressed his rescue button and is awaiting the Iditarod rescue.

All the dogs are fine and as we had guessed he did break his sled this morning but had gotten it fixed.

No further word at this point. He is doing as well as can be expected. He was able to call Debbie from the safety shelter.

Since Newton Marshall is now our new favorite person here is an update on him!

After his heroic rescue Newton is currently at race mile 177 traveling 7.1mph! Nikolai is at race mile 225. He checked out of Rohn at 1:33pm with 15 dogs in 50th place. Go Newton Go!!!

Here is some more news on Iditablog:

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20140304/iditablog-berkowitz-crumbles-farewell-burn

[Nanook]

Angel on the trail...

I just found another good deed done by our one and only. Here is a picture of Newton comforting Yvonne Dabakk after a particularly hard time on the trail. This just makes me want to cry, I am positive his comfort enabled Yvonne to continue as she is still in the race so far.

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Newton Marshall hugs and comforts Yvonne Dabakk after her ride down the Dalzell Gorge and arrives in Rohn on Tuesday March 4 during Iditarod 2014

[Nanook]

I'm not sure this will work, the permissions only say not to reproduce and I'm only sharing but here is a pic of Newton from Sunday, you have to click on the link as the file is too large to open. There must be some very small image permissions on this site the file is only 500 and something wide

http://d3r6t1k4mqz5i.cloudfront.net/wp-content/gallery/march-2-2014b/140302-1D9243.jpg

[Nanook]

More info on Newton's heroic rescue helping injured musher:

We just got home from the hospital 5:30 am.Scott was flown from the Iditarod trail after breaking his foot on Tin Creek about 40 miles from Nikolai . He was flown in a Air force Blackhawk helicopter. Early in the morning he crashed his sled hitting his head on a stump,he laid unconscious for over 2 hrs before coming to. His sled got stuck by a tree and his dogs all laid down next to him. He then took care of his dogs , fixed his sled and continued on.
Only to break his foot 20 miles down the trail.
Hooper had gotten loose from the line and took off down the trail near open water. Scott anchored his sled and tried to catch Hooper and broke through the ice, hooper came back to him. Due to his boots being iced over he slipped on the ice and broke his foot , not being able to get back to his sled, he laid on the ice and water for over 45 min. Before Newton Marshall came along to help. Newton stayed with him until the Iditarod insider crew came to Scott and stayed with him until the helicopter came. He was checked and had a slight concussion.All his dogs are in great shape and will be sent home later today.