“Hello, Central!” 

If you’ve been to Nome for the Iditarod finish, you’ve definitely heard the resounding voice of longtime resident and beloved Mayor Richard Beneville. We will miss his enthusiasm when the race returns to Nome for the 50^th anniversary running, but we know that his spirit will be there welcoming each and every team as they cross the finish line. Below are the storylines to watch, and you can access these clips via the Iditarod Insider-led press pool Dropbox here: http://bit.ly/Iditarod21.

Front of the pack

• Dallas Seavey’s team is catching the eyes of fellow competitors who say his team is looking great. Dallas made an overnight dash to McGrath and is working to set his team up for the win. He details his strategy for using his smaller sled and gives an update on his pack of 13 to the Insider crew in McGrath. 
• Overnight, Seavey snagged a grab-and-go meal + “after dinner mint” by winning the Lakefront Anchorage First Musher to the Yukon Award.

 Checkpoint chronicles 

• Ryan Redington wearing his signature neon colors and sporting a full-on set of frosty lashes talks about his young lead dog who is doing him proud. Redington currently sits in 4^th place. Read all about how Ryan’s grandfather, Joe Redington, Sr., initially suggested the out-and-back route to Iditarod for the Last Great Race on Earth, but how the “trail to nowhere” wouldn’t draw sponsors in this account from 2012 honorary musher Dave Olson. 
• Also frosty-faced and looking more like Santa Claus than the 2019 Iditarod champion, Pete Kaiser tells the Insider crew what he did to keep warm as temperatures plummeted overnight. 
• Just thinking of an upcoming vacation to Florida, 2018 champion Joar Leifseth Ulsom tells the Insider crew what he did to keep warm overnight when temperatures hit 52 degrees below zero. 

 Newsmaker

• Let’s hear it for the dogs! Only one team currently racing in the Iditarod has fewer than 10 dogs in harness. Get your pup love tank filled up with this clip. 

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