Aliy and her team were sleeping when we arrived into Rainy Pass checkpoint this morning but we were able to catch up with her when she came out to prepare to leave.

Aliy’s routine was to give the dogs their large meal of kibble, snacks and water and to give them enough time to digest she then went through her drop bags and packed her sled ready for the next run. She also warmed some water for her own thermos to take along the trail to keep herself hydrated. She then made sure anyone who needed jackets or T-shirts were correctly attired and bootied the team before leaving.


The team rests then gets their meal


Aliy relaxes for a moment as she wait for the water to heat up; her team watch on as she adds tasty snacks to their meal

It was at this point also that she walked Tug around for a while and made the final decision to leave her at Rainy Pass. It was difficult for us to watch her being lead away by the vet staff and us not being able to take her there and then but they must go through the Iditarod system to make sure the correct “chain of custody” is followed. As it was starting to get dark she was not able to be flown out that afternoon so she’ll will spend the night with the vet team in Rainy Pass before being flown out as soon as possible tomorrow.

Aliy was able to spend a little time with her Mom and Dad also!

Beemer and Quito led the team out, followed by Olivia and Rambler, Boondocks and Scout, Nacho running on his own, Scruggs and Chica, Mac and Puppet, Waylon and Dingle with Biscuit and Willie who moved to wheel to replace Tug.

To Rohn and beyond!

11 Responses

  • I'm in the UK, its great to be able to see Aliy & Alans progress through the race. Thank you SP Kennel Crew for posting the photos & videos to the blog.

  • My daughter, Olivia's, 3rd grade class is learning about the Iditarod. Each student selected a musher and dog team to follow, and Olivia picked Aliy! She is very excited to see her in 2nd place, and she is rooting for her team! Olivia is a huge dog fan, and she thinks it is especially cool that one of Aliy's dogs is also named "Olivia!"

  • An absolute second to the above comment-don't know how I made it in previous years without !

  • We're in Colorado and love being able to keep up with your progress every day. Thank you for the posts.

  • Thank you so much for the updates. I live in GA and am addicted to following the race. Go team!

  • Fantastic job so far! Everyone looks comfortable and relaxed. You do only show 15 dogs now though. Who's out of the race and who's that in the middle running alone?

  • I followed the progress last year for Aliy and her dogs and so enjoyed it. I have been looking forward to following the team again this year.

    Go Aliy and those wonderful dogs.

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