Second-position team 14, Casey Boylan and Bryan Leslie scratched due to injuries Leslie sustained while riding over an ice heave shortly before arriving in Nome Monday. He was seen and discharged from NSHC Hospital in Nome after his arrival. As of publication time, first-position team 7, Tyler Acklestad and Nick Olstad, are 29 minutes ahead of the new second-position team 10, Mike Morgan and Chris Olds. Acklestad and Olstad have already turned north from Koyuk toward Buckland.
A discussion about race rules ensued after team 11, Joseph Hale and David Wagner, stopped to help another team back onto the trail shortly before their arrival in Nome Monday afternoon. Riders are required to assist other riders in need, and the rules state that riders will be compensated for any time spent stopping to assist. Since Hale and Wagner were a pro-class team assisting a trail class team, there was some confusion about how the rules applied, but Hale and Wagner were ultimately compensated for their time.
Shane Barber and Troy Conlon were the third team to depart Nome this morning, followed by Andrew Gumley and Klinton VanWingerden, Tom Davis and Zack Weisz, Kelly Sommer and Bradley Kishbaugh, and Brad George and Robby Schachle. Nome-based Jarvis and Jordan Miller departed at 12:29 p.m. Team 19, Chad Moore and Travis Temple, were the last to depart Nome at publication time.
According to Nome race marshal Steve Swenson, the weather is good and everyone is in good spirits, but the drama is just getting started, because as people say, the race really only begins when the teams leave Nome.
Image at the top: Tyler Aklestad and Nick Olstad begin the second half of the Iron Dog race. Photo by Davis Hovey (2022).
