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April 19, 2016 by

I have carried a hand held video camera on the race for years now. Honestly, I don’t always think “Gez, this is gorgeous… I need to take a video!” But, I really did try to capture some amazing portions of the Iditarod Trail this year.
There are 13 videos in the ID: AliyCam 2016 Series.

I thought that I had lost my video camera back at my camp spot. I only found it right before the sunset faded.

The team was not 100% enthusiastic here. You might notice a few dogs taking a little “down time” from pulling. If I would have videoed myself… you might have seen the same thing. I was acting enthusiastic for the good of the team, but I wasn’t ‘feeling it’.

I came to realize for the latter part of this race, that this team worked that way. Not everyone was excited all the time. Often times, one or two dogs would slack or even the musher. Overall, there was no real standout and no real disappointment. But, I didn’t want to send any of these dogs home and I had decided that I didn’t want to go home either. I was very pleased that we were all simply “trying our best”.

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18 Responses

  • Thanks so much for this video – it is a lesson for us all.

    A sled dog team is like any organization – leadership and many other roles and interactions formal and informal make it click.

    These dogs are winners in my book (not to mention the President of the organization, Red Team leader Aliy herself!!!).

    Best,

    Margaret

  • This team persevered and accomplished so much thanks to their leader, Aliy. And it's a good leader who recognizes that sometimes team members will slack off a bit, but everyone contributes their own part in their own way. And there clearly must not have been too much slacking to achieve a 3rd place finish in this hotly contested race. Well done, Team!

  • As always love the commentary (don't mean to sound like a broken record, just want you to know how much I enjoy the video updates and am watching each and every one). Hey Aliy… Do you ever sing out there to your team? Such beautiful scenery I think would inspire a song!

  • There is such resilience shown here, both dogs and their musher. You all had been through a lot at this point, not to mention the miles you had traveled. I love Mismo's response to your question. It's like he was shaking it all off and moving down the trail. The pink horizon is beautiful! What a great team!!!

  • Aliy, thank you for bringing us along on your journey. I love the videos! Go team! It is so wonderful to see this part of Alaska in this way.

  • Kudos to the inspiration you and your team provide. As always, thank you for these posts. You set such an excellent example for us all.

  • Nicely put Melissa…perseverance…running your own race…knowing what you and your Team are capable of, and most important doing the best you all could do. That is what you needed and your Team needed….working together the best you could…shaking off the bad stuff and persevering. And then pulling off a third place finish….now that's icing on the cake!!! As for your fans at this point in the race…we were in awe…don't get me wrong, we still had a lot of concern and some apprehension….but most of all I recall feeling proud watching number 13 on the tracker chugging down the trail…"simply trying your best" was fine by me!! Thanks again for sharing!

  • The Red Team finished, they did a very creditable job despite some less than ideal situations and in my book that is a very short step behind an outright win. It is all beautiful and heart warming to watch. Nobody does 100% all the time!! It is not humanly or doggedly or any other kind of possible!

    These videos from this race have been powerful, inspiring and precious to those of us who may never even witness much less really be out there. Thank you so very much for giving us this incredible view and vicarious experience.

  • Yep, a crazy adventure that never need a repeat!

    Aliy, you are so impressive, sounding so upbeat for the dogs!!!
    Heck, if Mismo and Scout are pulling that hard, all we really need to do is stay out from under the sled. 🙂

    You made the right choice keeping the team together. With only Felix left in Unalakleet, you managed to get 13 dogs to Nome in the fastest time ever, 2016 Aliy and the Red Team. Woohoo! You have all those dogs to choose from over the next two years. They all know where Nome is!

  • It looks like Schmoe is still in lookout mode because he pulled out to the side a lot to get a clear view. I wonder if the other dogs are aware of what he is doing so they can relax a bit.

  • Sandy had pretty big dog booties to fill when she took Clyde's spot. Hopefully she did ok for you.

  • THANKS for posting all of the videos….it's great travelling the trail from my chair! I ran into Justin Savidis at the laundry in Wasilla and we talked about you, Aliy! I congratulated him for his 6 finishes! You keep going, lady!!

  • Love the dogs responses to you, their look backs and listening. You held this team together through it all with love and strong conviction.

  • Well Aliy you and team need a fantastic job of not only keeping it together but preserving. You are awesome. The dogs are so in tune with you, I am sure they felt your anger but because your voice was upbeat they keeping going down the trail. What gorgeous scenery, helpful in healing.

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