MUSH MADNESS: MARCH 15TH – THE IDES OF IDITAROD BRING THIS YEAR’S WINNER

“Arctic John” Baker, the first native Alaskan to win the Iditarod since 1976, just crossed the finish line, so let’s take a look at how his competitors are doing. Baker set a new time record, breaking the previous mark held by Martin “Below Zero” Buser! Along with the leader board I will be presenting the Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname of each competitor. As regular readers of my blog know, those prized nicknames are one of the perks of being covered here:

1. “Arctic John” Baker – Our record-breaking, native Alaskan champion!

2. Ramey Smyth, AKA “Rainy Pass” Ramey 

3. “Howling Hans” Gatt

4. Dallas “The Kid” Seavey

5. “Highway Hugh” Neff

6. Sebastian “Schneemeister” Schnuelle

7. Ray “The Rohn Rascal” Redington, Jr   (I was going to nickname him “The Son Of The Iditarod” but decided against it. My fellow Iditarod geeks will get it)

8. Peter “Kelvin Scale” Kalser

9. Jesse Royer, “The Arctic Circle Outlaw”  

10. DeeDee “Juneau” Jonrowe

11. “Klondike Ken” Anderson