Posted on 03/14/2020 1:29:23 PM PDT by Morgana
CRIPPLE — As the world grapples with whatever new reality the coronavirus is bringing, a few dozen people racing through Alaska’s Interior find themselves insulated from the chaos.
They’re the mushers competing in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
As they mushed along, watching for moose and changing out dog booties, professional sports leagues suspended seasons, gatherings of even a few hundred people were banned in some of the country’s most populated cities. The stock market took a historic dive.
Yet, on the Iditarod Trail, you’d have no idea.
In Takotna on Wednesday night, people weren’t huddled around a TV to watch the news. They were watching a screen showing the locations of 56 mushers, their speed and how much rest they’ve had at long tables in the community hall. Little else mattered, in part because little other information was available.
The village of 51 is accessible via an airstrip and is buried in deep snow during the winter. The race cuts through rural Alaska, removed from the road system and most infrastructure, including cellphone service.
Through the first few days of the race, chatter about the coronavirus was nearly nonexistent. A more common topic was the moon (it’s loomed large and, at times, orange).
But that started to change Thursday when the Iditarod announced it canceled its awards banquet in Nome.
Mushers Kelly Maixner, Michelle Phillips and Paige Drobny sat in a small cabin Thursday, sharing the rumors they’d heard and plying journalists with internet access for intel.
“People are losing their minds,” Phillips said after hearing about the stock market crash and canceled professional sports seasons.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
Hillbillies inherit the Earth, works for me
With every major sporting league shutting down... I’m thinking the Iditarod might get it’s NASCAR opportunity. Probably not, but who knows?
Laura Neese, who’s run we are following talked to Ed Stielstra the other day while she was on her 24 hour break. Ed owns the kennel she races for. She was so insulated she knew almost nothing about it.
probably,
Interesting, the Iditarod race got started because of a disease outbreak.
Alaska Ping!
They have too much military related traffic to be totally isolated. My nephew was here in Idaho a few weeks ago, then took his family to Florida to thaw out a week or two. Alaska isn’t that far out. The Iditarod is a big deal up there glad the haven’t lost their minds yet.
ID and WV held out pretty good. Glad toilet paper and hand sanitizer cures the virus. I was worried for a second there.
If the coronoavirus don’t get ‘em, the diptheria will.
I said to the Wife if I was on an isolated Caribbean island for a couple months I would I miss this whole thing
The last time I saw some moonshine was years ago. I had some and don’t remember sanitizing my hands or anything else for a day or so. Didn’t get the flu though. :)
“Interesting, the Iditarod race got started because of a disease outbreak.”
diphtheria antitoxin was taken to Nome, Alaska.
...Didn’t get the flu though. :)
Bet it felt like the flu the next day, though
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