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:
“As high as mind stands above nature, so high does the state stand above physical life. Man must therefore venerate the state as a secular deity.... The march of God in the world, that is what the State is.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)
“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)
“What’s the point of fighting the dollars
when all you need is a warm bed?
When the dog barks you let him in.
All we need is someone to let us in.
And one other thing:
to consider the lilies in the field.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)