Moira just texted that she has safely returned to the kennel from her 24-hour, round-trip excursion to the Mile 101 Checkpoint. She was able to catch up with Allen and Aliy while she was there, and she is working on some updates to post later tonight. Sweet!
[Note: You’re probably aware that communications in the wilds of Alaska is very limited. This is especially true along the YQ route. On top of that, SPK support teams getting to/from checkpoints face staggering logistical challenges. I’ll work on a post for tomorrow in which I will try to give you a sense of it all, but for now you can be assured that all of them are performing superhuman feats!]
Now for today’s wrap-up:
Allen and the SPK Black Team are on a roll. After taking his first mandatory rest at Mile 101, he was second into Central Checkpoint behind Brent Sass. Allen was first out of Central, however, after stopping there for less than a minute while Brent did his first mandatory rest.
For most of the day, Allen remained in the lead, but rested on the trail and was passed (temporarily, we hope) by Brent Sass and Hugh Neff.
He appears to be moving again and the trio are well on their way to Circle. These three YQ veterans are showing early signs of being the race-within-a-race to watch!
Aliy and the SPK Red Team are really cruising! They are leading the YQ300 field and are right now only 13 miles behind Allen!
She is currently in a place where the trail map doesn’t match the actual trail, something that I suspect has given you the same heartburn as it has me at times throughout the day.
The remainder of Aliy’s race involves getting to Circle, taking a mandatory rest, then sprinting back to the YQ300 finish in Central!
In summary: It’s been a “slow news day” but the trackers have given us plenty to cheer about as both SPK teams continue to perform superbly in the wilds of the Alaskan wilderness!
Turns out that he "slow news day" was way more exciting than the Superbowl. Very glad to see Aliy in front.
Hi Macgellan, I noticed that although the YQ300 trail does not match the actual route, the YQ1000 does, so I flipped back and forth to assure myself all was well.
And a question to one as articulate as yourself – As I have caught myself saying it, when did we all decide text was a verb?
Yes following 2 YQ races was more exciting than the super bowl. SP Kennel seems to be right where the 2 mushers want them to be. Keep up the excellent work.
Very exciting. Is there a reason Allen is doing the 1000 and Aliy the 300? The Super Bowl was a bust.
Hi Linda — Yup, that's me!… Using the "now" verbs like "google" and "text"!
Hi Donna — I'm assuming your question is about why Aliy isn't racing the 1000 as well… Lots of reasons… Mostly that it is just too hard (probably impossible) to support two 1000 mile teams in the YQ… Logistics are much harder than the Iditarod, for example… This is the first time the kennel has even tried to put two teams in both races, and it's a real challenge!