The top three teams in this year’s Iditarod have pulled into White Mountain, the final big stop along the trail. But, it’s still not entirely clear who will finish first.
The first team to pull into the second-to-last checkpoint on the 1,000-mile trail was Dallas Seavey’s.
Seavey said there was a point on the Yukon River when he wondered if he was even still in contention for a top finish.
“There was a time in this race where I thought I had a small market share when it come to who had a chance at winning this thing.”
Seavey said he was looking over his shoulder all night on the roughly 75-mile run from Koyuk. He anticipates doing the same on his way to Nome.
“It’s a habit, I can’t help it. I’ve been surprised too many times. You’re watching for one team, and another team pops up out of somewhere.”
39 minutes later, Dallas Seavey’s father, Mitch, drove his dog team into White Mountain. He smiled widely at the idea of racing against his son.
“I don’t mean it as a cliché, but I have two chances to win. I’d a lot rather win myself, and I’m gonna do everything I can. I’ll give him nothing for free, including dogs or a college education.”
Seavey also knows it will be hard to make up the time he needs to catch his son’s team.
“Makes it fun, makes it very cool to be here, both of us. Unless there’s a big earthquake, one of us is going to win.”
A big earthquake — or something like it — is exactly what Brent Sass needs. He’s currently poised to finish in a solid third place, but he does have an outside chance to finish even higher.
“With what it is now, I have to have a spectacular run, and they have to have something go wrong, that’s basically what has to happen at this point — but anything is possible.”
Regardless of the gap, Sass says he won’t stop racing until his team crosses under the burled arch.
“Oh no! I mean, they’re still sitting here. They haven’t left yet, and I’m not that far behind, and I have been going back and forth with them for the last few hundred miles, so you can’t ever give up, that’s for sure.”
The next 77 miles will be some of the most competitive in this year’s race. Whether they are some of the most competitive miles mushed in the race’s history won’t be decided until teams reach Nome.
