/ Archived Race Coverage / Gebhardt First to the Yukon

Gebhardt First to the Yukon

Continues Downriver in a nearly Unprecedented Move

by Andy Moderow

03/10/2006

Some may easily speculate that a musher could choose to wait until they reached the Yukon River to ‘24’, driven by the gourmet meal provided by the Millennium Alaskan Hotel to the first musher-reaching Ruby. What better way could there be to start a long rest than a freshly prepared 7 course meal? Yet Paul Gebhardt, on his 10th Iditarod, ate and ran, heading down the Yukon after an 8-hour rest.

While it makes perfect sense that a musher vying for an Iditarod title wouldn’t base their race strategy on a gourmet meal, in the same way they wouldn’t actively pursue the halfway award, Gebhardt’s choice to delay his 24 hour layover yet again is nearly unprecedented in Iditarod’s past. The history books reveal a similar move in only a few other instances, with the most recent occurrence in the early 90’s. Though he has taken a lead on paper, Paul would probably be the first to tell a spectator that he is slightly behind the front running pace as of now: Jeff King came into Ruby a mere 8 hours behind Paul, and has already completed his 24 hour layover. In addition, Jeff appears to be traveling quicker than Paul, having traveled the distance from Cripple to Ruby one hour faster. Yet one mustn’t rule out the chance that Gebhardt has something up his sleeve, and that a new innovative strategy will propel him forward in the standings as he approaches the burled arch in Nome. After all, the leader who people will remember isn’t determined on the trail to the finish; it is determined at the finish.