Happy Friday, armchair mushers! Just a quick update ~ the twins pulled into Galena a little after 5pm Alaska time Thursday night, with Anna reported in 28th place and Kristy 29th. They made the 50ish mile run in about 7 hours, lodging a speed of just over 7mph. The twins generally maintain a pretty equal run-rest schedule, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them pull out of Galena and start the 80+ mile run to Huslia a little after midnight. Nice way for them to start their Friday!
Meanwhile, Aaron Burmeister has held the lead, with GPS showing him nearly to Huslia. An important note about race standings at this point, though... Aaron hasn't taken his first mandatory 8 hour rest on the Yukon River stretch yet. The 7 teams immediately behind him all have. Scroll down the leader board and you'll see some famous mushing names near the bottom of the list that, although they haven't done their 8-hour yet either, have actually already completed their 24-hour mandatory layover. Watch for them to surge ahead while the current front runners take the required breaks, and a fair amount of position jockeying over the next 100+ miles.
There's a good article in the Alaska Dispatch News worth a quick read, giving us some additional insights into trail conditions and why many mushers, like the twins, took their 8-hour a little earlier than previously planned.
More later!
Meanwhile, Aaron Burmeister has held the lead, with GPS showing him nearly to Huslia. An important note about race standings at this point, though... Aaron hasn't taken his first mandatory 8 hour rest on the Yukon River stretch yet. The 7 teams immediately behind him all have. Scroll down the leader board and you'll see some famous mushing names near the bottom of the list that, although they haven't done their 8-hour yet either, have actually already completed their 24-hour mandatory layover. Watch for them to surge ahead while the current front runners take the required breaks, and a fair amount of position jockeying over the next 100+ miles.
There's a good article in the Alaska Dispatch News worth a quick read, giving us some additional insights into trail conditions and why many mushers, like the twins, took their 8-hour a little earlier than previously planned.
More later!
