Time 7.15pm Race Mile 265
Aliy and her team mates have just left Nikolai and are headed towards McGrath. She rested the team at the checkpoint for 4.5 hours where the dogs enjoyed a sleep in the sun and Aliy also got a good nap. The mushers are getting very low on sleep at this point in the race and even a short nap can feel amazing.
Aliy came into the checkpoint with Chevie and QT in lead, Cloud and Dutch in swing, Decaf and Violet next, Rodney and Five, Jefe was running on his own since his mate Bruno went home early, Junior and Kodiak were one up from wheel and Amber and Spark took the wheel position. We would never have predicted that line-up so she has obviously decided to mix up the running order just to jazz it up a bit for everyone and try out some new lead combinations.
The standings are not updated as yet to tell us if she still has all 13 athletes with her. Unlike the Quest, mushers only need to sign-in at a checkpoint and do not need to sign-out, unless it is at one of the three mandatory stops. Sometimes the officials and volunteers don’t necessarily know what time a musher has left. This is not through lack of attention.
Aliy is currently in 20th place. This is not necessarily where she would have liked to be at this stage of the race. She phoned us from the checkpoint and is very upbeat. She said the dogs are great, they are a really good dog team. They are healthy and happy but… just slower than everyone else right now. She said Dutch and Spark are amazing, they led her through a blizzard in Rainy Pass and are as good as ever but again… just slower than everyone else right now. She’s philosophical about it – it is what it is and anything can happen. She will stick to her plan as much as she can. If she’s upbeat then we’re upbeat and, of course still cheering the team proudly. There are still 700 miles left of this race!
McGrath is 48 miles away with Takotna a further 18 miles after that. We will continue to see variations in strategy here when the teams will start to take their mandatory 24 hour rests at differing checkpoints and the leaderboard will become irrelevant for a while until everyone is back to a level playing field. Note also that that time differential to make up for the staggered start is added to the 24 hour rest so teams that started earlier have a longer rest than those that started towards the back of the pack.
Bruno Update
Bruno is doing just fine. He is ready to run to Nome and catch up with all the other teams. Linda sent through these pics today – I suggested she get on a skateboard. Pics or it didn’t happen!
Disappointed about Bruno being dropped, but TOTALLY stoked about Chevie and QT in Lead!!
Always good to see the youngsters step up to take their place on the team
Oh poor Bruno! We still love you. I’m glad you’ve recovered so quick. Next time, buddy.
Poor Midnight. It looks like he could use some wheels too. WOW new leaders getting some experience. Cheering on the rest of the team!
Lots of race left. After the 24 plus the team will be like a jet plane! Glad Bruno looks wonderful! Stay with it Aliy–go girl!
Always ready to cheer on Aliy and the Red Team no matter where they are in the standings!! I’m very relieved to hear everyone is happy and healthy…that was my only concern watching the tracker.
Lol…Bruno and Midnight..what a team!
Love, love, love the Bruno/Midnight pics! “Bruno in lead, Midnight in wheel” 😂
I absolutely loved watching the live feed from Nikolai yesterday. Glad to hear Aliy and team are happy. She seemed happy when she pulled into the Nikolai checkpoint. Watching the live feed reminded me of Aliy at White Mountain in 2016. They left the camera on her for a while watching her take care of her dogs.
Definitely anything can happen at this point. The upfront teams have been fast, but we will see which teams hold that pace.
Thanks for the updates Moira, and thanks for the Bruno pics Linda.
Go Aliy. Stay upbeat and enjoy the race. As you said 700 still to go. Anything can happen. I mean look at the lineup. Decaf up nearer to the front!! Stay strong team!
Thanks ever so much for this post and the news that Chevie and QT are leading the team!!! WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!
And one more “woof” for Red Team Leader!!!
Terrific post!!!
And I’m gonna add to my previous comment. KTUU interview with Aliy read that she doesn’t feel her team has the speed of the frontrunners. Then I read Danny Seaveys take on speeds and he feels the frontrunners are moving too fast to maintain. Sooooo, it ain’t over till the Nome siren blows.
Always cheering on you and your team, Aliy!
Thirteen teammates out of Takotna, so that is exciting to see Aliy still has a team of 14 headed to Ophir.
I am happy to see she put Chevie and QT in lead. I mean, have you ever heard of Quito and Kosak?!!! These two might have been able to lead a team to Nome two years ago, if there wasn’t SO MUCH talent at SPK.
Balancing the youthful Cloud with Dutch. I wonder who will rub off on who; although, Cloud already looked pretty serious for a two year old. I hope Cloud is keeping an eye out all the way to Nome, preparing for a turn in lead too.
Yes, so many strong teams this year, and it appears many have stepped up their dog care or the conditions are better for the dogs. Nice to see.
I think Aliy made the run to Iditarod check point look easy last year, because so far, it appears six teams have left Ophir for Cripple without taking their 24 hour rest. Of those teams, I think only Michelle who made that move in 2010 have pressed on for their 24 in the last decade.
The team is three miles outside Ophir as I write this and I can hardly wait to see what she has decided to do there. <3
Thank you for the update and the awesome pictures.
Careful on the skateboard Linda. 😉