Sorry for the radio silence! We’ve only just come back to the kennel after being in the Nenana and Manley Hot Springs checkpoints. I have plenty of photos and video from the start and both checkpoints that I’ll edit and bring to you over the next few days.
Right now Aliy and the Red Team are resting in Tanana. They arrived third into the checkpoint at 4.55pm AST. Sebastian Schnuelle saw the team come in and said “Aliy pulled in with a very energetic team. They were barking for more… or because they knew some nice straw and a warm meal was coming.” She’s running Scruggs and Scout in lead currently and you’ll see from some of Seb’s pics and the Insider video that she’s running Quito a little further back in the line-up with Chica – she’s fine; Aliy is just keeping her out of the fray on the hard and fast trails.
Another thing you can also tell from the video that the temperature has increased dramatically from the -35F of last night as there are bare heads and hands on the spectators!
The Red Team arrives in Nenana; The Black Team arrives in Manley
Allen and the Black Team are on their way to Tanana and are currently resting about half way and have been stopped for about two hours as I write this. Allen left the Manley checkpoint with straw so it is not a surprise to us that they camped.
Allen is running an extremely conservative race plan with this team in an effort to get as many of the youngsters to Nome as possible and teach them what it is to run 1000 miles. It is quite a shift of focus for him from the competitive Yukon Quest, where the stays at checkpoints and camp stops are very specifically timed and planned. Allen and the team will get more rest along the way and stop frequently between checkpoints, especially on the first few runs that have big mileages between them. He has a rough plan laid out but will alter as they go to suit how the team is doing. We packed his drop bags accordingly so he has lots of options.
I have a Tanana and Manley retrospective posts for you tomorrow. Right now the crew is going to bed! It’s been a long “day” since the teams left from Fairbanks on Monday morning!
I LOVED the II video of Aliy leaving Tanana, especially the song before take off!
You're still plenty tough Aliy.
Thank you for the updates and information about Allen's intentions, it is very interesting !!
What a big adventure for the young ones especially!!!
Thanks so very, very much for these updates, best,
Margaret
Thank you for this great update! The teams look great and so do the mushers! Wise move on Aliy's part to reserve Quito until later on! And Allen and the Black Team running a conservative race must be quite a change for the experienced dogs on it! They must be saying, wow a camping trip, nice!!! 😀😄🐾🌄
Thank you so much for the informative and colorful updates. I well remember the days when news from the Iditarod trickled in by ham radio. Now it is as though we armchair mushers, even in Colorado, are almost on the trail! All the best to both the Red Team and the Black Team.
Granted that with the start differences taken into account, Aaron and Buser may be leading. Aside from that the treck from Tanana to Ruby sure looks like a game of follow Aliy. With that, I mean copy.
The dogs looked great in the video, and it looked like it was pretty cold again. I noticed Nelson is now wearing a purple neck gaiter. Go team!
These posts from you are like getting a big dog hug, snuggle and a kiss, directly from the race. Thank you for giving us all the news you have.
Yes, Thanks to all the crew that update this website. I love all the Run Dogs Run videos on the Iditarod website. The Red Team is in so many of them. Wish they would show some of the black team too. I'm not getting much work done because I keep going between this site and the Iditarod site for updates. Love it!
Thank you so much for these updates. As Aily supporters we love to know all is well and the race is proceeding as planned!
Yes thanks so much for the pictures & update. It is wonderful the way you keep us informed of all the race happenings. All the crew get a good rest.