“A Race that Wasn’t Meant to Be” – Aliy Zirkle
About 50 miles into the YQ 300, Allen became quite sick and was driven to the hospital emergency room in Fairbanks. Fortunately, Allen and Aliy had been running together at the time. When they stopped to rest at Valley Center, about 5 miles from their home, it was obvious that Allen should not continue.
Aliy felt that she needed to stay in communication, not out in the wilds, until Allen’s health status was known. She also stopped racing.
As of 3 AM AST, medical tests showed that Allen had no major medical problems. He probably developed a severe flu. The best we can guess is that the prevalent and virulent flu bug, that prevented Randy from racing, also caught up with Allen.
Aliy has since managed to get both teams of dogs home and she was awaiting more detailed information on Allen.
Our diligent dog handlers, who were awaiting SP teams at Chena Hot Springs, report that it is about -30 degrees F with winds of about 30 mph. Pretty nasty stuff. Two YQ300 teams had made it in to Chena Hot Springs by 5AM AST.
More later!
Good luck aliy and allen! We will follow you every day. Shannon
Mr.Frerichs student