March 10: Halfway Point At Iditarod
The checkpoint closest to the middle of the race on odd-numbered years is the trail's namesake, the historic gold rush ghost town of Iditarod (meaning "far distant place").
Iditarod: Sørlie wins the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award and US$ $4,000 in gold nuggets when he arrives at Iditarod on March 10 at 1:41 am.pdf While the Halfway Award is sometimes considered a jinx, Sørlie also won it before his victory in 2003. He was followed by Brooks an hour later, then Buser. Paul Gebhardt becomes the first musher to depart the midpoint at 5:59 pm. The top 10 stretched over 14 hours, and the top 30 over 24 hours.
Standings through the Interior can be deceptive because all mushers are required to take one mandatory 24-hour layover during the race, usually at Takotna, McGrath, or Iditarod. The differential in starting times is adjusted during this period, and most of the racers were on a level playing field after Iditarod.
Read more about this topic: 2005 Iditarod
Famous quotes containing the words march, halfway and/or point:
“This is the village where the funeral
Stilted its dusty march over deep ruts
Up the hillside covered with queen’s lace
To the patch of weeds known finally to all.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“I feel so useless. Here I am nearly halfway through life, and what have I done?... I have nothing to show for all my years.”
—Philip Dunne (1908–1992)
“Where is the point at which the merely individual
Explosion breaks...?”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)