Aliy cruised off the Yukon River and into Kaltag at 11:14 am AST. There is an excellent video of her coming in and the dogs look FABULOUS. She commented that she wished she looked as good as the dogs. “I’m about to fall over asleep!”
The dogs looked like they got an excellent parking place, though there doesn’t seem to be much wind. The trails were hard and fast and obviously agreed with the Red Team. They will likely take a good rest before heading out on the Portage Trail to Unalakleet. I can’t say how long that rest will be. Only Aliy know that at this point.
We have SP crew heading out to key positions on the trail. Hope to hear from them sometime tomorrow.
Joe Runyon article very positive this morning. Here’s a link.
http://iditarod.com/6am-sat-nulato-zirkle-takes-control-of-race-catch-me-if-you-can-by-joe-runyan/
She really flew into Kaltag. Will be interesting to see what run time the others put in (particularly King)
Thanks for the update Kaz! I was wondering if she was going to rest.
Great job, keep it up rooting for you all the way. Stay strong and focus, you and the team are doing awesome!!
Teri W
Woof, woof!!!
Go Aliy, go SP RED TEAM!!!
according to ADN she is dropping Scooter with a hematoma… I am exhausted watching this… don't know how Aliy can handle the tension… go dogs… go musher…here's hoping for good ending
We saw the brief video, they looked like a powerful train, good going… yea, SPK!
Julie and Frita
Yeah, but Aliy really does look like she needs some rest in the picture on ADN's Iditablog. Sitting at the table in the checkpoint trying to stay awake long enough to eat the pot pie. She's going to feel SO much better after a nap.
I noticed Aliy left with 12 dogs. She mentioned she wanted time with vets to consider the well-being of some dogs when she arrived.
Well, … I am trying to keep my mind elsewhere, so I don't obsess about this race too much, but I am not entirely successful. It is very exciting to see Aliy doing so well and yet wondering about the changes in team members with a long stretch still to go.
I shouldn't be nail biting already, but I am.
Hey KAZ … loving this … your Arizona cheering section is looking at the standings by the minute … and LOVING THIS … Benj
Do you know which 2 dogs she left in Kaltag? This race has been so exciting. I am soooo happy for Ally and Ryne and still excited about Allen's Quest finish. I am also wondering what kind of help you might need. I live in House, AK.
So let's play some math games. For the sake of easy division, let's say there are 360 miles to go from Kaltag. That's 40 trail hours at 9 MPH. If you assume equal rest, you are going to have to move at 10 mph (a full mile per hour faster) all the way to the finish to make up a 4 hr diffential. About the same math if you are moving at 8 mph and your pursuit is going at 9 mph (45 trail hrs vs 40 trail hrs). So unless you start cutting rest, you are going to have to have a substantially superior team to reel in someone that is more than 4-5 hrs in front of you. At first glance, you might think that Dallas has such a team based his run in to Kaltag, but beware of apples and oranges: Different time of day, when it is quite possible that the trail was faster than when Aliy went over it (see times from Berk, Kaiser, and Redington). I suspect that Dallas is probably the last person in the field that realistically has a chance to win. But John is an awfully close second.