You don’t have the time to enjoy the finer things of life when you’re the leader of the Iditarod and a five-time champion is under your nose.
Brent Sass is aiming for his first title in Iditarod Trail Dog Race across Alaska. He turned down a five-course dinner Friday morning to be the first musher into the Yukon River.
He reached the Ruby community checkpoint, where he was greeted with a delicious spread. He declined to eat beef tenderloin and reindeer meat tenderloin, but he did not refuse. He instead stayed only five minutes at the checkpoint and then returned to the trail, without ever grabbing a bag.
“I guess you have to give it to somebody else.” Alaska Public Media quotes Sass as saying, “I’d love to stay longer but my schedule doesn’t allow it.”
Sass arrived in Ruby at 6:01 a.m. Dallas Seavey, the current champion looking for his sixth title, followed him about three hours later.
Seavey also didn’t stay in Ruby for too long, returning to the trail within seven minutes.
Seavey was followed by several other mushers into Ruby, but it appeared that they were taking a break. Later, Sass was the first to reach Galena’s next checkpoint.
49 mushers started the Iditarod race, which is nearly 1,000-mile (1,609 km) across Alaska’s wild wilderness, Sunday north of Anchorage. Three mushers, including Julie Ahnen, have been scratched since then. She said it was in her best interests to leave the race at McGrath checkpoint. Olson was accompanied by 10 dogs when she decided that scratching would be best for them.
The winner will be announced in Nome next week.
Sass would have enjoyed a sit-down dinner if he had the time. It would have included pan-seared shrimp, reindeer minestrone soup, and an iceberg wedge with trimmings. Seared beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon, served with baby carrots, fingerling potatoes, and red wine mushroom sauce.
A trio of cheesecake bars with strawberry sauce would be dessert.
The so-called “after-dinner mint” is $3,500 in single-dollar bills and a bottle Dom Perignon Champagne. Officials from the race said that the award would be presented to Sass later.
It was not wasted. It was given to Billy Honea who is a volunteer at checkpoints and has been involved in the Iditarod since its inception. It was shared with Ruby volunteers, and photos were posted on the Iditarod’s facebook page.
In 1973, the first Iditarod race was held. Billy’s father Don Honea first competed in the race three years later. He would race in six more Iditarods before he retired in 1986.
To prepare the delicious dinner, the Lakefront Anchorage Hotel flew their chef from the largest city in the state 300 miles (483 km).
Anchorage’s race headquarters for over three decades, the hotel announced earlier that it would end its association with Iditarod in 2019.
Officials at the Lakefront Anchorage Hotel attributed the change to the effects of the pandemic on business. However, Millennium Hotels and Resorts announced the move a day before People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) planned to protest outside the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago.
It was not immediately clear if the hotel had dropped the cash prize and the gourmet meal.
Officials from the Iditarod referred questions John Bruce, the hotel manager, to whom they did not immediately respond to Friday’s messages from The Associated Press.
