This past Friday 16th, Trent pulled in to Nome, Alaska in 37th place of the 66 mushers that started the race on March 4 in Willow.  It was Trent's 6th time as an Iditarod finisher.

In Photo Gallery below:

Trent and daughter Kali, prior to the Ceremonial Start in Anchorage on March 3; pulling up to the start line; a shot from the sled on the sled on the 10 mile ride through Anchorage; Actual race day in Willow on March 4 Trent walking back to his sled with dogs on the gangline ready to go; Trent and Kali load up to ride to the start line; Trent pulling in to the start gate; "Heading to Nome"; Halfway at Cripple checkpoint; and finally to Nome.

Because of the harsh winter conditions, difficult trail, and the limited support that competitors are allowed, the Yukon Quest is considered by many to be the most demanding 1,000 mile dogsled race in existence.  It runs between Fairbanks, Alaska and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory (YT).  A "map" of the course is show below.

 Trent started the race noontime on February 4th in Fairbanks and finished at 4:53AM on February 16th in Whitehorse.

Trent started 22nd out of 24 mushers (shown above) and generally ran between 12th and 15th during the race.  The Yukon Quest is considered the most serious race in the lead up to the Iditarod.   Iditarod and Yukon veteran Hugh Neff won the race, and Lance Mackay came in 3rd.  Jake Berkowitz was Rookie of the Year and finished in 4th place.   

Jake and Apex Kennels are Trent's kennel partners and key sponsor.   Trent is running the 'B' team and Jake runs the 'A' team but they are clearly both having a great year and looking forward to a great run at the Iditarod.   Jake also finished 1st in the Knick 200 early in the season, with Lance Mackay finishing 2nd and Trent finishing 5th out of a field of nearly 40 mushers (majority Iditarod bound)

Below: Here's a couple of pictures of Jake and his team at the start of the Yukon quest as well.

Below: Here are a few more of Trent at the Race Start.

Below: And a couple from him at the end of the race.   

Below: Couple of neat pix from the pre-race banquet ... our boy picking his starting number and saying hi, and then at "Meet the Mushers".  Great artwork the little girl has for signing. 

 

 Below: Here are a couple of shots from the trail that are just spectacular.  

Check out the Yukon Quest site for standings and stories:

If you want to look through the photostream of the Yukon Quest go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/yukonquest

If you want a great read, check out the book below.  I downloaded it to my iBooks on my iPad and it is just a wonderful, funny, and exciting story of the race and history, the traditions, and the 2000 race.

Last night at the annual Musher's Banquet in Nome, Trent received the "Most Improved Musher Award" for the musher who moves up the most places relative to the finish the previous year.  Trent moved up to 25th place this year from a 49th place finish a year ago.   Picture of Trent receiving his award below.   If he moves up another 24 places next year, he'll win Most Improved and come in 1st!

Remember that Trent also led the race at the halfway point by being first in the checkpoint at the ghost town of Iditarod.  Trent also received that award last night.  I watched the video from the Iditarod Insider of the award presentation and Trent's receiving the award. 

Trent said "This is really cool, I never thought this would happen.  I was kinda in the right place at the right time to make it first to Iditarod.  I need to thank all my students, my wife who has put up with all this the past six years, and all my sponsors back in the Wood River Valley.  I'd never be where I'm at at right now in this race without them. I thought I'd do it once and now I'm on #5, it's pretty incredible.  Thank you Alaska and thanks for all the fun I've had the past five years."

For anyone who signed up for the Iditarod Insider, please check out the videos of Trent accepting these awards on the Iditarod.com site.

Trent pulled in to Nome this morning.   he finished the great race in 25th place.  He made the 77 mile trip from White Mountain in 9 hr 54 min at 7.77 mph.  His overall time for the race was slighly over 10 1/2 days.   His best previous finish was 48th place and and 12 1/2 days.  It was a great race and a great year for Trent. 

 

 

Trent nailed it.  He even led the race on two occasions and was first musher to the halfway point.

 

Snapshot from the Iditarod Insider video of Trent crossing the burled arch at the finish in Nome this morning.   We'll post a gallery of pictures from the race later.

 

Trent pulled in to White Mountain sometime around 6:00 this morning in 27th place.   The standings are not updated on the Iditarod website to know the time for sure, but on the GPS tracker he is in White Mountain.   This checkpoint is a mandatory 8 hour rest point for the teams and then it is 77 miles on to Nome and the finish.

I suspect Trent will leave late afternoon today well rested and get in to Nome sometime Thursday morning.   The team had 7 dogs checking out of Elim heading to White Mountain.   Trent has slowed his pace and increased his rest times since the Yukon, it appears.   He discusses this with the Iditarod Insider team in the article below.

It still looks good for a top 30 finish for Trent which was his goal heading in to the race, and he's had a great campaign.  He led the race after the Skwenta checkpoint, and was first to the halfway checkpoint at the ghost town of Iditarod.   Trent is likely considered a serious musher by all of the Iditarod competitors now, and has always been considered a friend.   We wish him luck on the trail in to Nome!

Trent just finished the run accross open water on the Norton sound from Shaktoolik to Koyuk.   He left shortly after midnight and arrived at Koyuk at 6:38 this morning covering the 42 miles in 6hr 33m at a pace of 7.33 mph.   Trent checked in to Koyuk in 24th place.   Trent sits about 150 miles from the finish at Nome at this point.  He'll probably reach White Mountain and the mandatory 8 hour rest there at some point today and then the final 77 miles in to Nome should have him at the finish at some point on Wednesday.   Also a picture of a team crossing the open water of the Norton Sound.

 

This is the stretch of open ocean travel made famous by Leonhard Seppala in the serum run in 1925 to save the children of Nome from a diptheria epidemic.   The dog sled relay of the serum from Fairbanks to Nome is the inspiration for today's Iditarod.   Seppala took the over sea route coming from Nome to meet the serum and on his return to save time over land travel.   Read the "Cruelest Miles" by Gay Salisbury sometime for an incredible accounting of the epidemic and the heroic efforts of the dog teams that saved the town of Nome.   A picture of Leonhard and his lead dog Togo is below.   There is also a slightly more detailed map to get a feel for the "shortcut" from Shaktoolik to Koyuk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry, the blooger took his 24 hour rest stop yesterday.   When we left Trent last, he as checking out of Iditarod after being the first in the race to the halfway point and then completing his mandatory 24 hour rest.   He left Iditarod at 7:30 AM on the 11th after his rest.   The leaders who had taken their 24 hour rest at Takotna had long passed through and Trent hit the trail in 24th place. 

 

In the past 48 hours Trent has made 1) the 65 mile run from Iditarod to Shageluk in 6 hr 28m at 10.05 mph where he rested for 6 hours; 2) the 43 mile run from Shageluk to Graying (checking through Anvik at the start of the Yukon) in 5 hr 41 min averaging 7.6 mph where he rested for 5-1/2 hours; 3) the 60 mile run from Grayling to Eagle Island in 7 hr 5 min at 8.47 mph.   

 

Trent was back on the Yukon at 10:30 last night to head up the final leg of the Yukon to Kaltag.  Looking on the GPS tracker just now, he is 14 miles from Kaltag and running 23rd in the field.   Trent will surely rest after the grueling leg and prepare for the 75 mile journey to Unalakleet and the Norton Sound.  At that point is is 236 miles to Nome starting with the crossing of the Sound over water.   Trent's times are good and the experience of the past 4 Iditarods will take him home from here.   A top 25 finish is very possible and a top 20 finish is possible if enough things work in Trent's favor.

 

Trail map below.   Also find a nice shot of Trent pulling in to Iditarod the other night with a well frosted beard (screen scrape from Iditarod Insider video)

 

 

 

 

After his 24 hour rest in Iditarod, Trent is back on the trail.   Probably don't have to remind you that he pulled in to Iditarod Thursday morning at ~5:45 in 1st place, won $3,000 in gold nuggets and upset the "old guard" in claiming the prize.  He left Iditarod the morning in 27th place and has moved up to 24th place on the trail.  The weather is colder heading in to the Yukon and the trail is supposed to be getting softer.   If Trent and the team run as strong in the next 5 days as they did in the past 5 days, all of us are in for a treat.  Below is a picture of Trent accepting the gold nuggets from his award for leading the race at the halfway point.  Grabbed a screen shot from the video on the Iditarod Insider website.

Also below is a gallery of photos from the Willow start on Sunday, that Bob Vogel from Anchorage email'd to us today.  Enjoy them, thanks Bob!