It’s 11pm on Friday night. We have landed in Nome and are back to staring at the tracker!
RED TEAM UPDATE
Aliy and the Red Team are currently camping on the trail 25 miles from Huslia. They left Galena right on time at 2.37pm this afternoon. They have been stopped there for around 1.5 hours at the time of writing.
An Insider video of the team leaving showed enthusiastic dogs and Aliy sounded perky and ready to get back on the trail. She talked about the gastro issues the team had and said it wasn’t bad – they weren’t “sick-sick” but that they just weren’t 100% and a bit flat. The eight hour rest in Ruby followed immediately by 24 hours in Galena was what she believed the team needed and what she hopes was a good coaching move. The video showed the team eating a sloppy meaty water meal and she was very happy about that!
Screen shots of Insider video: Schmoe enjoying the sunshine, Leaving Galena
Aliy talked about how important it is to make good decisions early in the race and how what you do at mile 200, 300 or 400 comes back to you at mile 800. When asked about the weather change to warmer temperatures she said: “There’s nothing you can do about it so getting bummed one way or the other is not going to help you out“. There are some great words to live by!
Leaving Galena Aliy had Commando and Spark in lead, Junior and Izzy in swing, Dutch and Iron, Mismo and Driver, Amber and Kodiak, Schmoe and Rodney, Champ and Felix. She has certainly mixed the line up around a bit!
By stopping and camping 25 miles outside Huslia we can expect the team will “blow through” the checkpoint, stopping only to get supplies for the next leg and letting the vet team get hands on all the dogs. After Huslia is the checkpoint of Koyukuk, some 85(ish) miles away. It seems unlikely they would make that 110 mile run straight through to Koyukuk so we expect them to camp again along the trail.
BLACK TEAM UPDATE
Allen and his team mates are due to leave Galena at 11.55pm tonight.
Allen’s drop bags for his 24 hour stop included the same kibble and meat supplies, blankets and jackets as Aliy. His human food was different through: we packed moose and sweet potato lasagne, meatballs in alfredo sauce and, as a treat he didn’t know about – cheesy popcorn!
It was wonderful to see in the video of Aliy leaving Galena, Allen was right there with her cheering her and the dogs on.
As Aliy goes through the villages along the way, keep an eye on the ANDVSA and Matson Facebook pages for pictures of her supporters. To find out more and how to donate go to andvsa.org. All moneys donated during March, April and May will go towards helping children from the villages along the Iditarod Trail attend the Lead On! Conference in November.
Thanks for posting about ANDVSA. It reminded me to try the donation site again. I tried to donate to ANDVSA and somehow got into a never ending loop between that site and PayPal.
My son, Lorien, is now a team member of the Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living. Alaskan problems are not unique to Alaska with respect to violence in our society, but Alaska is forging ahead to buck the trend and it makes me proud to call this state home.
Yeah I triedon't ANDVSA site as well earlier this week. Aliy broke theor server with so many donations coming in her name!
Go teams go! We are still in this folks
So glad hearing of all the good organizations out there putting a spot light on an issue that if left hidden will just fester and grow. Reaching out and helping in these rural communities is the best strategy you could have! I will be sure to make a donation as well….thanks for the reminder!
I LOVED seeing the SPK dogs eating….that brought a smile to my face! It was awesome Allen was there in Galena to be with Aliy for a short time since he too had to struggle with the Teams gastro issues on the Quest. All eyes on the tracker as she has just reached Huslia now as Im writting this. Go SPK Red Team!
I see Allen has left Galena with his full compliment of 16 Team Mates! Go Allen and the Black Team!!! Im not going to get much done around the Homestead today! Refresh, refresh, refresh!
Huzzah!, Alyi and Allen and dogs!!!!!
Thanks for these links. More resources to feed the addiction! Thank you Matson for supporting SP Kennel and ANDVSA. I will gladly support the Lead On! initiative. Lead on, Aliy!
Tracker shows Red Team dropped another dog (now 13 in the line).
Wearing red outfit today to really really do a positive vibe for Red Team!!!
WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!
–Margaret
Thanks for the update!
Aliy and Red team are still enthusiastic and happy, which is a great sign. Fantastic that Allen & Aliy got some time together. Go Black team. Great news about ANDVSA getting lots of donations in Aliy's name AND to spotlight the issue. Thanks to Matson also.