Martin Buser, who basically ran his team the 168 miles to Rohn, has finished his mandatory 24 hour rest and is back on the trail.  Now the mandatory 24 hour rest can be taken at any checkpoint and is what evens out the race.  As you recall, the teams start at 2 minute intervals.  When the 24 hour rest is taken the additional time is added so that if you are the last musher (bib #67 this year) you only have to do 24 hours.  If you have bib #66 you will do 24 hours and 2 minutes; bib #65 will do 24 hours 4 minutes, etc.  Martin Buser has bib #2 and had to do 26 hours and 10 minutes.  He is the first musher to do the '24' so he may look behind but the mushers in front of him still have theirs to do.

Besides the mandatory '24' there is a mandatory 8 hours that has to be taken in one of the checkpoints on the Yukon River.  Lastly all the mushers have to spend 8 hours in White Mountain which is 70 miles from Nome.  All additional rests are taken when and where the musher wants, at a checkpoint or not.  Mushers have food and supplies at each checkpoint that they shipped last month.  The checkpoints also have straw on which to bed the dogs and water available, sometimes from a hole in a lake.  A musher who wants to campout away from a checkpoint can pick up a bale and take it with them along with their bags of food/supplies.

Karin rested at mile 199 and is now less than 40 miles (about 5-6 hours) out from McGrath.  She is currently listed as being in position 42.  It is really , really warm for the dogs with the temp in the 30's ABOVE zero.  They'd be happier and faster if it were 30 below.