As if Aliy didn’t have enough to deal with, about five miles before reaching the White Mountain checkpoint she totally busted the right runner on her sled:
She stopped the dogs for a few minutes while she dug through her sled bag and came up with enough “stuff” to lash it together… Just enough to hold on until the checkpoint! Then, during her 8-hour mandatory rest, she scrounged around and found some “better stuff” to make repairs that she hoped would last her to Nome.
Here’s a little video that Bridgett shot on location in White Mountain of Aliy’s sled runner repair. They were both speaking very softly so they wouldn’t disturb the dogs, and although I’ve bumped the audio as much as I can it’s still barely audible. Nevertheless, I think you’ll get a pretty good idea of what it was like. I don’t suppose I need to remind you that it was freezing cold, that Aliy had already tended to the dogs and that she was repairing her sled in lieu of getting any much needed sleep! How do they do it?
