It’s really kinda strange to be writing this blog as the 10th day of racing begins and we don’t yet have a winner into Nome! And if this Mad Blogger is feeling a bit tired, I can only begin to imagine how the mushers are feeling!!
And I’m sorry if any readers feel like I’ve been neglecting you a bit. My daily posts have gotten a bit choppy, and I apologize for that. But there’s a good reason for it that will come to light in the days ahead.
Back to the trail! We last left Anna taking her 8 hour rest in Eagle Island-2 (race mile 715) Tuesday evening and into Wednesday, March 12th. As soon as her 8 hours had elapsed, Anna pulled her snowhook and hit the trail with her 12 pups around 3:30am Wednesday.
And she stuck to her plan. She and the dogs camped trailside between EI-2 and Kaltag-2, arriving in K-2 around 4:30pm Wednesday afternoon. She spent a paltry 5 minutes in this checkpoint, grabbed supplies, and off she went. I knew when her tracker showed her resting outside of K-2, she had reached Tripod cabin.
After feeding the dogs a hot meal and bedding them down for a nap, she got some rest herself. Her tracker showed her running again after 5-6 hours. She finally reached the checkpoint of Unalakleet, race mile 866, at 8:20am Thursday 3/13. It was 81 miles from Kaltag-2 to Una, and she spent just shy of 16 hours on that section of trail.
Kristy spoke with Anna a bit and it sounds like things are going well out there. The dogs are eating and resting like it’s their job (which, I guess, it is, but only because their love to run is such a fundamental part of who they are). The fact that Anna has not returned any additional dogs and only rested in Una for 5 hours 42 minutes is a testament to that.
Kristy also told me Twister is home safe and sound and doing great. For a dog that had just finished running 582 miles (recall he was returned in Grayling-1), he barely lost a pound and was acting like he could go out and do it all again tomorrow.
While Anna was in Unalakleet, she was the grateful recipient of not just one but two fresh pizza pies! Fans are able to place a pizza order with Peace On Earth Restaurant and they make sure it gets delivered to the musher while they’re in checkpoint. Anna knows the two separate groups/folks that sponsored this meal, and she is so thankful for your kindness!!
When she had her fill of pizza and the dogs were rested up, she hit the trail again around 2pm Thursday March 13th. She was reported out in 14th place. Anna is now tackling the coastal portion of this race and will follow the Bering Sea coast for the rest of her trip to Nome.
And this section of trail is known for unpredictable, often harsh, cold, and windy weather. The mushers at the front of the pack reported some pretty aggressive headwinds around Shaktoolik, upwards of 20-30mph. Several mushers that made it from Shak to Koyuk are still there, taking exceptionally long rests.
Fortunately, it sounds like the worst of the winds are backing off a bit, and by the time Anna tackles the Shak-Koyuk section, winds will hopefully have subsided a bit. She’ll still run into a headwind, but 10-15mph winds are way more tolerable than those twice that. Not pleasant by any means, but less heinous.
We have our first 3 teams into White Mountain, taking their final mandatory 8 hour rest. Jessie Holmes, Matt Hall, and Paige Drobny all arrived over the course of Thursday afternoon. My next report to you Friday should be announcing our winner.
There have also been 3 additional mushers to leave the race since my last post. Rookies Quince Mountain from Wisconsin and Sydnie Bahl of Alaska were both withdrawn from the race in Grayling-2 pursuant to rule 36, which involves competitiveness. Checkpoints and volunteers cannot remain out on the trail indefinitely, especially in these remote places. So on the one hand, I understand when trailing mushers fall so far behind the bulk of the racers that it isn’t practical for them to remain in the event. However, given the length of this year’s race and the fact that more than one musher were traveling the trail together… I can also see why some folks are taking issue with this decision.
Rookie Justin Olnes, also from Alaska, opted to scratch in Eagle Island-2 feeling his dogs needed more rest and perhaps (my speculation only) fearing withdrawal from the race, opted to scratch on his own terms.
Regardless of your feelings for these developments, I think we can all come together to wish Quince, Sydnie, and Justin safe and swift travels back to their home kennels.
With that, we have 23 of our original 33 teams still making their way Nome.
Anna’s team appeared in the newer Run Dogs Run videos on Iditarod Insider (screen shots below). And Kristy got to see the unveiling of the new Burled Arch in Nome today!
And I’m sorry if any readers feel like I’ve been neglecting you a bit. My daily posts have gotten a bit choppy, and I apologize for that. But there’s a good reason for it that will come to light in the days ahead.
Back to the trail! We last left Anna taking her 8 hour rest in Eagle Island-2 (race mile 715) Tuesday evening and into Wednesday, March 12th. As soon as her 8 hours had elapsed, Anna pulled her snowhook and hit the trail with her 12 pups around 3:30am Wednesday.
And she stuck to her plan. She and the dogs camped trailside between EI-2 and Kaltag-2, arriving in K-2 around 4:30pm Wednesday afternoon. She spent a paltry 5 minutes in this checkpoint, grabbed supplies, and off she went. I knew when her tracker showed her resting outside of K-2, she had reached Tripod cabin.
After feeding the dogs a hot meal and bedding them down for a nap, she got some rest herself. Her tracker showed her running again after 5-6 hours. She finally reached the checkpoint of Unalakleet, race mile 866, at 8:20am Thursday 3/13. It was 81 miles from Kaltag-2 to Una, and she spent just shy of 16 hours on that section of trail.
Kristy spoke with Anna a bit and it sounds like things are going well out there. The dogs are eating and resting like it’s their job (which, I guess, it is, but only because their love to run is such a fundamental part of who they are). The fact that Anna has not returned any additional dogs and only rested in Una for 5 hours 42 minutes is a testament to that.
Kristy also told me Twister is home safe and sound and doing great. For a dog that had just finished running 582 miles (recall he was returned in Grayling-1), he barely lost a pound and was acting like he could go out and do it all again tomorrow.
While Anna was in Unalakleet, she was the grateful recipient of not just one but two fresh pizza pies! Fans are able to place a pizza order with Peace On Earth Restaurant and they make sure it gets delivered to the musher while they’re in checkpoint. Anna knows the two separate groups/folks that sponsored this meal, and she is so thankful for your kindness!!
When she had her fill of pizza and the dogs were rested up, she hit the trail again around 2pm Thursday March 13th. She was reported out in 14th place. Anna is now tackling the coastal portion of this race and will follow the Bering Sea coast for the rest of her trip to Nome.
And this section of trail is known for unpredictable, often harsh, cold, and windy weather. The mushers at the front of the pack reported some pretty aggressive headwinds around Shaktoolik, upwards of 20-30mph. Several mushers that made it from Shak to Koyuk are still there, taking exceptionally long rests.
Fortunately, it sounds like the worst of the winds are backing off a bit, and by the time Anna tackles the Shak-Koyuk section, winds will hopefully have subsided a bit. She’ll still run into a headwind, but 10-15mph winds are way more tolerable than those twice that. Not pleasant by any means, but less heinous.
We have our first 3 teams into White Mountain, taking their final mandatory 8 hour rest. Jessie Holmes, Matt Hall, and Paige Drobny all arrived over the course of Thursday afternoon. My next report to you Friday should be announcing our winner.
There have also been 3 additional mushers to leave the race since my last post. Rookies Quince Mountain from Wisconsin and Sydnie Bahl of Alaska were both withdrawn from the race in Grayling-2 pursuant to rule 36, which involves competitiveness. Checkpoints and volunteers cannot remain out on the trail indefinitely, especially in these remote places. So on the one hand, I understand when trailing mushers fall so far behind the bulk of the racers that it isn’t practical for them to remain in the event. However, given the length of this year’s race and the fact that more than one musher were traveling the trail together… I can also see why some folks are taking issue with this decision.
Rookie Justin Olnes, also from Alaska, opted to scratch in Eagle Island-2 feeling his dogs needed more rest and perhaps (my speculation only) fearing withdrawal from the race, opted to scratch on his own terms.
Regardless of your feelings for these developments, I think we can all come together to wish Quince, Sydnie, and Justin safe and swift travels back to their home kennels.
With that, we have 23 of our original 33 teams still making their way Nome.
Anna’s team appeared in the newer Run Dogs Run videos on Iditarod Insider (screen shots below). And Kristy got to see the unveiling of the new Burled Arch in Nome today!
The new Burled Arch was revealed in Nome today!
