Kevin Morlock half-way through his first Iditarod race

In 53rd place

Andy Klevorn - Multimedia Services Manag

Monday, March 12, 2007

During the weekend he was in high spirits during the weekend as he rested in sunny and warm Takotna.

By warm, he meant just above zero.

The weather for the first stretch of the race across Alaska has been as bad as anyone can remember.

“That blizzard above Rainy Pass — I never need to be in anything like that again,� Morlock said in a telephone interview.

He said the storm packed nearly 40 mph winds with 15-below temperatures, plunging wind chills to 50 below zero.

“I was a little freaked out,� he said.

But he made it through the storm and into Rohn, where a pack of females in heat caused his team trouble. He ended up dropping six females at the isolated outpost. They, like all the dropped dogs in the race, will be cared for until Morlock finishes the race, possibly sometime next weekend.

“I had no choice,� he said. A race judge he talked to afterward said he thought Morlock was crazy to drop that many dogs so early in the race but upon reflection both realized it was the only thing he could have done to get moving again.

“They were worked into a breeding lather,� Morlock said.

Morlock finally got out of Rohn, and moved through the Nikolai and McGrath checkpoints. Before making it to Takotna, a checkpoint long known for it’s hospitality to mushers.

Morlock had just finished a steak dinner Friday night as he pondered his first Iditarod.

“I’m good, I don’t have a ding on me,� he said.

He was a little concerned about having only nine of the 16 dogs he started with and nearly 700 miles of Alaskan wilderness in front of him before the race’s finish in Nome.

“I’ve got a nice little team,� he said.

See IDITAROD, page A2

IDITAROD

Continued from page A1

Velcro, Eider, Storm, Tinker, Ruddy, Sammy, Brumbie, Soap and Equis remain on the team. His stand-out dogs were Eider and Tinker.

Morlock is running near the back of the pack, about one checkpoint ahead of the last mushers.

Veteran Iditarod musher Al Hardman, who owns many of the dogs Morlock is racing this year, said Morlock needs to get moving.

He said judges and veterinarians are far more critical of teams at the back of the pack because they have to keep moving people and resources toward the front of the race.

“They’ll find something wrong with every dog on your team and you’ll end up scratching,� Hardman said.

“They’re far more lenient once you get to the coast,� Hardman said.

Morlock was upbeat about his first Iditarod.

“I’m not down, I’m having a great time, I just wish I had a few more dogs,� he said.

He then stayed in Takotna 17 hours before making a quick run to Ophir and then the long 90-mile run from Ophir to Iditarod.