Our dog handlers have been lost in the land of no cell phone towers. This is to be expected in this unpopulated segment of the race trail. We finally heard from them as they were driving to the Sourdough Creek checkpoint to meet Allen and Aliy.
The Copper Basin 300 website reports that Lance Mackey was first to arrive at the Sourdough Creek checkpoint at 4:26 PM AST. He completed this 58 mile stretch in 5 hours and 45 minutes. Reports are that the trail is wind blown and icy. This means fast times! Most teams will complete this leg in 5 1/2 to 7 hours.
Sigrid Ekran departed Paxson an hour after Lance, so she should be arriving at Sourdough any moment.
Regarding the SP Kennel teams, we know that Allen left Paxson as planned at 1:02 PM AST with 11 dogs. He dropped Tony, who had a sore back leg. Expect Allen into the next check point at Sourdough Creek at about 7 PM AST.
Aliy departed Paxson as planned at 1:36 PM AST with a team of 11. As previously reported, she dropped Dill in Paxson. Expect her in Sourdough Creek at about 7:30 PM AST.
The rules of the Copper Basin 300 state that each team will take an 8 hour rest at the Paxson checkpoint. During the race each team must also take an additional 12 hours of rest (cumulative) at any of the other checkpoints .
To figure out which teams are in the lead, check the rest stats and the departure times from Paxson on the CB 300 website. We theorize that Sigrid Ekran, Lance Mackey, Brent Sass and Allen are running in the top positions. Will those places hold after the 58 mile trip to Sourdough?
Check back for more information.
