As the last full day of the 2015 #Iditarod ends, Dallas Seavey is out of White Mountain and about halfway to Safety, both literally and figuratively (the next and last checkpoint is named Safety).  He's about four hours ahead of his father Mitch, who just left White Mountain after his [mandatory] 8-hour break there.  That should be an insurmountable lead.  Aaron Burmeister is third, another hour or so back, and that's most likely where he'll finish too.  He's just about to leave after his 8-hour.

While lacking in suspense, the finish of this year's "Last Great Race" will provide some drama; we have Dallas, winning his second in a row and third overall, just ahead of his father, who has also won twice before; a family dynasty.  And we have Aliy Zirkle breaking her string of three second places to finish a likely fifth, after battling Jessie Royer.  And who knows what else might happen?

Dallas has about 40 miles left to go and is traveling about 7mph, so that's around six hours 'till he finishes.  Most likely he won't stop, although he could easily afford to rest in Safety for a bit.  So we'll probably have a winner early tomorrow morning!

In the meantime, here are some pictures from the trail...

Dallas Seavey and team leave White Mountain

White Mountain on the Fish River
Mitch Seavey's team pulling into the checkpoint

DeeDee Jonrowe and team, from the air
they are presently heading for Koyuk, in about 30th place

three teams leave Unalakleet at the same time
headed over the ice to Shaktoolik

Team Dallas Seavey mush into the sunset

[All 2015 Iditarod posts]