Iditarod 2016: Daily Results, Updated Schedule Info and More from Final Week
The final week of the 2016 Iditarod Race got off to a somber start on Saturday.
Camila Domonoske of NPR reported Saturday a snowmobiler killed one of Jeff King's dogs in what was described as an intentional attack.
King's three-year-old dog Nash was killed while outside Naluto, Alaska, per Domonoske. King said he had reflectors and lights on his sled. Fellow musher Aliy Zirkle had reported an earlier attack on her team that injured one dog. While neither King nor Zirkle was hurt, it was a wake-up call that there are important lives other than the mushers' in this race.
Nevertheless, the mushers are coming down the home stretch with a week remaining. Here's an updated look at the latest standings, as the mushers pass through Nulato.
March 12 Update
1 of 4
| Musher | Checkpoint | Time out of checkpoint |
| Brent Sass | Kaltag | 08:20:00 |
| Aliy Zirkle | Kaltag | 10:53:00 |
| Dallas Seavey | Kaltag | 11:24:00 |
| Wade Marrs | Kaltag | 15:39:00 |
| Mitch Seavey | Kaltag | 15:41:00 |
Heading into the final week, it's Brent Sass with a commanding lead over Zirkle coming out of the Kaltag checkpoint.
Reigning champion Dallas Seavey is back in the top five, sitting in third and four hours ahead of Wade Marrs, who's making his first appearance near the top of the leaderboard.
Dallas' father, Mitch Seavey, closes the top five with a two-minute gap behind Marrs.
Sunday is going to be a crucial day for these racers. Daylight Saving Time moves the clock forward an hour, so it may require mushers to plan accordingly with their next checkpoints.
Iditarod officials told Beth Bragg of the Alaska Dispatch News that losing an hour in the day will reflect a change on the times:
"On the full race standings, there is a notation that states: * indicates a period that occurred during Daylight Savings. So, once daylight saving time is in effect, there will be a “*” after (a team's status) is updated in the race standings, which indicates that the update in the race standings occurred during the time change.
"
Dallas Seavey recorded the quickest time ever in 2014 thanks to Daylight Saving Time, per Bragg.
March 13 Update
2 of 4
| Musher | Checkpoint | Time out of checkpoint |
| Dallas Seavey | Koyuk | 19:42:00 |
| Mitch Seavey | Koyuk | 19:48:00 |
| Brent Sass | Koyuk | 21:40:00 |
| Aliy Zirkle | Shaktoolik | 12:52:00 |
| Wade Marrs | Shaktoolik | 15:52:00 |
Dallas Seavey will not quit.
The defending champion is back in the lead at the Koyuk checkpoint, jumping up from third to take a six-minute lead over his dad, Mitch. Brent Sass, who was Saturday's leader, dropped to third and is also at the Koyuk checkpoint.
Aliy Zirkle and Wade Marrs round out the top five, but the latest updates showed the two were in the checkpoint prior at Shaktoolik. Sass actually did reach Koyuk and was the first to arrive, but the Seaveys left well before Sass did, per the Alaska Dispatch News.
It's become a race of strategy and endurance in this final week. The Seaveys both leaving early is a calculated risk but could involve a much longer break at one of the later checkpoints. Right now, Dallas is in the lead and is inching closer to another Iditarod championship.
March 14 Update
3 of 4
| Musher | Checkpoint | Time out of checkpoint |
| Dallas Seavey | White Mountain | 17:48:00 |
| Mitch Seavey | White Mountain | 18:27:00 |
| Brent Sass | White Mountain | 19:40:00 |
| Aliy Zirkle | Elim | 09:24:00 |
| Wade Marrs | Elim | 12:12:00 |
A fourth title in five years is in sight for Dallas Seavey.
The reigning champion has taken a near-40-minute lead over his father, Mitch, after leaving the White Mountain checkpoint on Monday night. Brent Sass stays in third, and Aliy Zirkle and Wade Marrs round out the top five the same as it was on Monday.
It's taken a bit, but it appears Dallas Seavey has regained his form and has executed a game plan worthy of winning another Iditarod title. With the leaderboard staying the same, that's a good sign for the Seaveys for a possible 1-2 finish in this year's Iditarod.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
March 15 Update
4 of 4
| Musher | Checkpoint | Time (UCT) |
| Dallas Seavey | Nome | 2:20 a.m. |
| Mitch Seavey | Nome | 3:05 a.m. |
| Aliy Zirkle | Nome | 9:42 a.m. |
| Wade Marrs | Safety | 8:49 a.m. |
| Peter Kaiser | Safety | 8:57 a.m. |
Dallas Seavey continued his dominant run at the Iditarod on Tuesday, as he won his fourth-ever championship.
He is the sixth musher in the history of the race to win it four times and the first to win it three times in a row.
Seavey finished the race in eight days, 11 hours and 20 minutes, which broke the previous record, which he set in 2014, by an hour and 44 minutes.
“I like that time,” Seavey told Beth Bragg and Tegan Hanlon of the Alaska Dispatch News. "It’s just another day of mushing, man. It’s what we do.”
Dallas' dad, Mitch Seavey, who won the Iditarod in 2004 and 2013, finished less than an hour behind. It's the second-consecutive year that the son-father combination finished in first and second place at the Iditarod.
According to Bragg and Hanlon, Seavey was rewarded $75,000 and his "pick of a new Dodge vehicle" with the win.
Stats courtesy of Iditarod.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
