Gerry Willomitzer had a long run – a very long run – coming into Unalakleet.
After nearly 24 hours on the trail from Kaltag, Willomitzer finally arrived into Unalakleet a few minutes before 4am Monday morning.
His dogs, Willomitzer said, were not looking good. It was “a rough run in(to) here,” he said, noting that his young dogs – who are new to the Iditarod trail – “can’t understand how far it is to go yet.”
In his interview with KNOM’s Laureli Kinneen, Willomitzer prioritized the health of his dogs. “You don’t want to force ’em to go down the trail,” he said. “You want them to run because they’re happy.”
“I might have to pull out,” he conceded. “We’ll see.”
Although Willomitzer said he still wanted to feed his dogs and further assess their condition, he also noted that “the decision is probably made. I’m just not admitting it, yet.”
As of 12:11pm Monday, official Iditarod standings still list Gerry Willomitzer as a competitor in the 2012 race. He arrived into Unalakleet at 3:57am with 12 dogs.
