/ Archived Race Coverage / Who is in the Lead?

Who is in the Lead?

The Complex Game of Leapfrog Begins

by Andy Moderow

03/07/2006

To the frustration of many spectators, figuring out which team is in the lead of Iditarod XXXIV isn’t easy during the first few days of the race. Yet race fans shouldn’t feel as if they are the only ones who are confused: Racers on the trail, too, have great difficulty figuring out who is currently setting the pace in Iditarod XXXIV.

There are a number of strategies involved in winning the Iditarod. Some teams elect to run long between rests, traveling 8 or more hours, before stopping. Other teams run shorter, and rest more often: Because they rest more often, their rests can be shorter. Different strategies have proven successful on different years, and there is no real consensus on which run/rest style is best. Patterns start to emerge on the first day of the race that often indicate the type of race a musher plans to run, but how well a strategy will work isn’t obvious until further down the trail: At this point, the lead switches often, with teams leapfrogging past one another at each checkpoint.

The difficulty of trying to figure out who is in the lead is also compounded by how mushers choose to start their race off: Some go out fast in the first days, resting less than others, gaining an early lead. Others prefer to start out slower, resting more, conserving their speed for later on in the race. To see these two strategies in action, note how some top contenders elected to rest in or near Yentna Station, the first checkpoint, after running for only a few hours: Other competitors elected to run straight through to Skwentna. Again, later on in the race, both spectators and mushers alike will learn which strategy pays the biggest dividend: Until then, it is hard to judge who is actually in the lead.

Mind games between teams can also influence where a musher elects to take their rests. Since breaks can easily be taken on the trail, many competitors stop between checkpoints, in an effort to keep their competition guessing. While most mushers have their own plan written out before the race, specifying their break lengths and locations, many competitors will feel an urge to ditch their plans if they feel they are falling too far behind. Mushers will often rest just outside a checkpoint and 'blow' through a checkpoint, in an effort to cause that uneasiness: As the team pulls through, mushers resting at the checkpoint will wonder; “Am I falling too far behind? Should I cut my rest a little short, and follow them out?” For similar reasons, many mushers will elect to camp just after a checkpoint, particularly early on in the race. This allows the dogs to rest in a somewhat less chaotic environment, with fewer distractions caused by race fans and other teams. At the same time they're sending mixed signals to the competition. Since the length of a rest on the trail isn’t recorded, racers and spectators alike don’t know how long a team stopped, or how fast they are running.

At this point it is easy to speculate but hard to conclude who is leading Iditarod XXXIV. By the end of this week things will become slightly clearer: Between now and then, just remember that, as spectators, you aren’t the only ones wondering who is actually in the lead: The racers themselves are equally frustrated.