If the words of Winston Churchill, The Man of the Century, can not sufficiently inspire the 11 mushers remaining on the trail, there may not be any hope for them. The words of Sir Winston addressed to a graduating class at his alma mater when he was a very old man should inspire anyone with any sense of history. He is said to have strode to the microphone, looked out at the graduating class and issued only the following admonition: "Never give in; never, never, never."
Ah, but suppose some of those mushers never heard of Winston Churchill (he probably isn't taught in history class anymore. He believed in violence after all). Well, then I'm sure they've heard of our contemporary American hero who never gave in, and perhaps this remembrance of him can provide the needed inspiration.
The 11 mushers still making their way to Nome and their current locations are:
(1) Jen Seavey, rookie (between White Mountain and Safety checkpoints)
At White Mountain:
(2) Tom Thurston, rookie
(3) Tim Osmar
(4) Rachael Scdoris
(5) Wade Marrs, rookie
At Elim:
(6) Eric Rogers
(7) Heather Siirtola
(8) Michael Suprenant, rookie
(9) Trent Herbst
In Koyuk:
(10) Tim Hunt, rookie
In Shaktoolik:
(11) Alan Peck, rookie
As of this moment we have 42 finishers, 11 still mushing ,and 14 scratches or withdrawals. More on the finishers later. One last quote from Sir Winston for those still on the trail: "When you're going through hell, keep going."
