Iditarod Tales March 16, 2017 5:00 a.m.

           32 mushers have finished and 34 are still on the trail. Rookie Sebastien Vergnaud from France who trailed rookie Robert Redington into Nome by less than a minute looks like he is getting for St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow or at least he has outfitted his dogs to be able to celebrate even though they appear to be wearing red booties as opposed to green.

                                                          

  In another human interest story, musher Al Eischen who is in 63^rd place in Shaktoolik with 4 other mushers bringing up the rear with Cindy Abbot in 61^st place has a foundation to create awareness of pediatric diseases. Al Eischen’s team was enjoying the morning sun on the slough. Al runs a sled with a colorful bag. On that bag he has a chicken. One of his young Unalakleet fans told me that Al carries that chicken on all of his races. Eischen runs for the cause of Pediatric disease awareness. He is transporting ashes to Nome for families who’ve lost children to illness. Read more at this link:http://iditarod.com/eye-on-the-trail-day-9-in-unalakleet/