SPK Dog Log

The Red Team is in White Mountain! One more eight hour rest then they are on their way home to Nome.

The team made great time here from Elim, making the 46 mile run over in 6 hours, 21 minutes. They will leave for Nome at 11.45pm and we can expect them to finish maybe 9-10 hours later.

We managed to get the live feed here in Nome (we had never managed to get it in Two Rivers!) and we enjoyed seeing the team come in then watch as Aliy fed them a mixture of kibble, cool water and, what we can figure as small chunks of poultry skins. They all ate hungrily which is awesome to see this far into the race. They are burning at least 10,000 calories during the day so need to replace it with good, high calorie kibble and fats. We also saw the vet team giving each dog a thorough examination.

Screen shot from Insider Live – Willie gets his vet exam (thanks Margaret for sending me this!)

The next thing Aliy will do after their initial meal is to get the straw down, remove booties and give everyone a nice massage. Then she will leave them alone to sleep until about two hours before take-off when she will feed them again, walk each of them around to stretch-out then start her exit chores (booties, packing sled etc).

Aliy will also want some sleep so once the dogs are situated she will get some food for herself then take a nap.

BLACK TEAM

Allen and the Black Team are resting in Shaktoolik and will likely head out in the next hour or so.

RED TEAM

After a short 1.5 hour rest in Elim, Aliy and her 13 mates are on the way to White Mountain and are currently sitting in fourth. She has Scout and Mismo in lead with Scruggs in single swing.

Dutch and Waylon snuggle (Pic Sebastian Schnuelle)

Leaving Elim (Pic Sebastian Schnuelle)

The lead three are battling it out five or six hours ahead of her and are almost to WM. Wade Marrs is around 10 miles outside Elim and moving nicely. Once in White Mountain every team takes a mandatory eight hour stop before the final race to Nome.

This one is going to be a doozy and I can’t wait to watch it unfold! All have fantastic dog teams and to be so close together after so many miles, and all running quite different strategies is great for the race. It shows there is not just one way to get this thing done: not one training method markedly better than the other, season race schedule, size of dog team, longer runs vs shorter runs etc. It shows these mushers know what is best for THEIR dogs and have been able to do right by them. Of course, we have our favourites here, as do you all, so this is going to be fun to watch.

The Race Map lists Golovin along the way between Elim and White Mountain but it is not an official checkpoint. Supplies/drop bags are not sent ahead there but the teams do pass through the village before getting back onto the sea ice. Aliy often stops for a few minutes to greet the villagers sign a few autographs.

What I loved to read this morning in Sebastian’s column was that he and the vet team in Elim say the dogs are looking great. That Aliy has kept this team together, happy and healthy is incredible although not surprising. They have been her sole focus since the start of the race and they are her best friends!

Evidently Aliy wanted a short 30 minute sleep at the checkpoint. She is a master at getting comfortable anywhere to rest – I once saw her asleep on a wood pile by the stove in a checkpoint during the Copper Basin 300 one year! She will have slept well and fast in Elim and got back on the trail efficiently.

BLACK TEAM

Allen rested the team just over six hours in Unalakleet and they are right now working their way up the windy coast to Shaktoolik. They are moving nicely and if it is not too windy to enjoy it, they will be experiencing a gorgeous sunrise over the coast this morning!

When the team leaves Shaktoolik there is a Dog Fan Club draw for a signed Shak drop bag! Be in to win!

RED TEAM

The Red Team is into Koyuk!

They camped about midway between Shaktoolik and Koyuk and although the location on the sea ice was perhaps a little unorthodox, she had run through Shaktoolik she was due to stop somewhere on that run.

The Insider crew stopped to chat and she explained that it was in her initial race plan to stop there, then she changed her mind but changed it back again. Aliy told us how the dogs can sleep in the wind – she lay them out in groups of three and they curled up together with their backs to the wind and heads away from it. They are wearing their wind breakers and they were probably perfectly content. Aliy had set up her sled, cooler and cooker as wind breaks for her team and herself.

The Trail Notes tell us that “the trail from Koyuk follows the main snowmachine trail to Elim and is usually well marked. However, the wind can blow hard in the Moses Point area and the trail can drift over very quickly.” It has been windy on the coast today and the weather forecast for the area is for similar wind over night.

BLACK TEAM

Allen brought his Black Team into Unlakleet at 11.46pm tonight. They have been travelling at good speeds since their camp at, what we presume was, Tripod Flats cabin. They will likely stay here for 4 to 6 hours before heading out onto the windy coast.

The coast will be a real test for the youngsters; it will be unlike anything they have ever experienced before, running on sea ice in the coastal winds. Quito, Nacho, Lester and Sissy are well experienced while Junior has seen it once before, so he may spread out the experienced amongst the team. This is where mental toughness kicks in also – they are 700 miles in and probably starting to wonder when it will end. Allen will set it up and put them in a situation where they can only succeed.

RETURNED DOG UPDATE

Neither Clyde nor Felix made it back to Anchorage yet. We’re anxious to get them back but understand a few teams scratched over the last couple of days so their whole teams will have had to be transported back as well so… hopefully tomorrow!

On another note, take a look at this wonderful piece from Laura Wright, the Teacher on the Trail, about the village of Unalakleet. In it she also talks about ACT – Alaskans Coming Together – a wellness initiative involving former champ John Baker as the primary advocate and spokesman and Katherine Keith as the Program Director. Both John and Katherine are running in this year’s race and mushers on the race are supporting the initiative.

RED TEAM

Sebastian has posted lots of fantastic pictures of the Red Team coming into and leaving Shaktoolik.

Check out them out here and here but I’ve copied a couple that show the whole team.

A few miles outside Skaktoolik

Leaving Shaktoolik

You are getting very good at identifying the dogs!! To confirm, she left Shak with Scout in single lead. She’s put the wise old head in front to get them through the windy and challenging stretch ahead. Behind him in swing and back him up are Scruggs and Chipper, then she has Dutch running with Chemo, Willie with Izzy, Mismo and Waylon, Schmoe and Kodiak with Sandy and Commando in wheel.

It looks very much to us like it was Felix that she left in Unalakleet. We have not had official confirmation of that and we do not know why yet so we’ll let you know more details as they come.

The white gear she and Allen wear is wind protection that fits over all their other gear and takes the edge off the wind. You will see some of the dogs, particularly at the front end, are also wearing their wind jackets. The blue Matson jackets are a thinner, lighter weight wind protection so they don’t get too hot but it cuts the wind. There are a couple of the shorter haired dogs (we’re looking at YOU Waylon) wearing a warmer puff jacket that will cut the wind and keep them warm.

BLACK TEAM

Zachariah Hughes from Alaska Public Radio got a couple of pictures of the Black Team in Galena. Check out his Twitter feed to see more great pics from the trail. Thanks to those of you who alerted me to these!

Good morning!

RED TEAM UPDATE

As the sun comes up over the western coast of Alaska the leading pack is moving from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik. Two Seaveys and Brent Sass are in front of Aliy and the Red Team at the moment. The chase pack headed by Wade Marrs has left Unk and is in hot pursuit.

The team rested in Unalakleet for 4 hours 18 minutes and left there at 6.42am this morning (note, daylight savings time kicked in overnight here).

In an Insider video of Aliy at Unalakleet she talks about how pretty her run this morning is going to be through the Blueberry Hills and onto the coast. These hills are one of Aliy’s favourite parts of the trail and will hopefully make her heart sing this morning. The dogs will enjoy climbing the hills and imagine Schmoe barking his way up them, cheering the team on!

Take a look at this “Aliy-Cam” video from 2013 as she mushed over the area at sunset. And, here is another link to “Aliy Cam 2012“

We see she has left one of the team with the vets in Unalakleet and we’ll get that information to you as soon as we can. Unalakleet is one of the “hubs” that the returned dogs get flown to before getting back to Anchorage so hopefully he or she will get back to Anchorage quickly in only one flight.

BLACK TEAM UPDATE

The Black Team went straight through Kaltag, spending just under half an hour there. They are cruising along the portage trail, likely on their way to one of the cabins along the way to Unalakleet: either Tripod Flats Cabin, near where Aliy and her team camped yesterday, or 15 miles further on to Old Woman Cabin.

Tripod Flats and Old Woman are both Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public shelter cabins maintained primarily for winter travellers. For more information click here for the BLM webpage on the cabins on the Iditarod Trail.

What is exciting is they are currently on the first page on the GPS tracker standings (see left).

Hopefully today is the day we get to see a picture or video of the team – fingers crossed. If anyone finds one do let us know!

To continue our “resumption of normal service” theme we did a couple of bonus Dog Fan Club Draws!

Congrats to Lisa and Charlene who are fans of QT, and to Aaron, Emily and Wolfie who are fans of Driver. They have won today’s bonus Dog Fan Club draws!

Driver is running the Iditarod with Allen in in the Black Team. He is part of the Golf Litter and his brother Iron is running with him. Sisters Sandy and Chipper are running with Aliy on the Red Team and Wedgy and Woody are having fun at home back at the kennel.

Driver (below left) is a big lug. He is simply XLARGE in everything he is, and everything he does. Most people comment at his remarkable stature. Driver has found his place on the team and will be much of the power and force behind our success.

Driver and QT

Q.T. (above right) is a racy girl with a slighter build and a ‘come and get me’ attitude. Q.T. is short for ‘the cutest puppy in the world’ which of course… she is! Plus, how many dogs do you know whose name starts with a “Q”? We can think of one in particular.

She and her Golden Harness siblings are now five months old and growing up so fast! They enjoy daily romps in the field and QT very much enjoys playing with her neighbours Jefe and Decaf.

Lisa and Charlene win a signed Race Guide and Aaron, Emily and Wolfie win the sponsor packet with a full set of signed Verizon signature cards, four Matson booties and a sample of Eagle Pack dog food plus some other kennel goodies.

If you haven’t already won this season or if you are a new member your name will be in the next draw. NOTE: you can win more than once if you are a fan of more than one dog!

Click the button below for instructions on how to join:

Click this button below to take you directly to the Dog Fan Page.

RED TEAM UPDATE

As I write this Aliy and the Red Team are travelling towards to coast at Unalakleet having camped out on the trail for 4-4.5 hours about 25 miles out of Kaltag. Sebastian caught a few pics of the dogs enjoying a nap in the heat of the day. They’re currently sitting in fourth position behind Brent, Dallas and Mitch with the chasing bunch coming up very fast behind.

Emily Schwing from KNOM managed to get a few words from Aliy today about last night. Read/Listen here.

Thank you all for your emails, comments, messages and positive thoughts. At some stage, perhaps in the spring, Aliy will go back through them all and will appreciate them.

There are many, many press articles about what happened, and the story is now global, so I couldn’t hope to link them all. Here is one from the Alaska Dispatch News from this afternoon on the trial and one from local news KTVA Alaska. It seems Aliy does not want to dwell on it and is trying to keep positive for her team. She is very in tune with her team (and the whole kennel in fact), and they with her, so she wants to keep them happy and upbeat so they will want to continue on their trek to Nome.

Therefore, in that vein we are going to do the same on the blog. Until Aliy herself is ready to talk about it we are going to continue our coverage of the race as we have done. It’s been a long and harrowing day for us also but let’s do like Taylor Swift suggests and “Shake It Off” and spend our energy sending good, positive vibes to Aliy and the team for now.

Clyde did not make it back to Anchorage this afternoon and we expect him tomorrow. We do expect he has had all the attention he needs with the lovely vets and volunteers out on the trail. It is actually a good sign that he’s not back yet as if he were seriously injured they would have brought him back right away for medical attention.

BLACK TEAM UPDATE

Allen and his senior/freshman team are currently resting in Nulato. They’ve been there since just after 8pm this evening so will probably stay at least four hours, if not more.

Allen will be trying to do the same as Aliy in keeping a positive attitude for his team. It will have been a shock to hear about the events of last night and difficult for him to not be able to do anything to fix it. He is charging on and will keep upbeat for them.

It might be about now that he will start to push the team a little more to see what they can handle. He might start to rest a little shorter and run a little longer and he will keep an eye on how the dogs’ attitudes are, particularly the young dogs as they have now gone further than they have ever been before! He is really skilled at this and knows when to back off if they are not up for it. This is why a dog like Commando can get to Nome as a yearling and make the A team as a two year old!

NOMEX UPDATE

Linda sent me this earlier this evening:

“I thought I would take a moment to tell a Nomex story that is a bit light-hearted. After I picked up Nomex last night from the hotel he was obviously confused as to what was happening. When we got to my house, he ate, we walked and I figured he would bed down for the night.

So now in my bag of treats for the returned pups will be a mirror!”

We have had it confirmed the CLYDE is the dog Aliy left in Nulato. We have been in touch with the vet team at Iditarod HQ and we’ve been assured his injuries are minor.

He’s on his way back to Anchorage where Linda will be waiting for him to give him all the love and attention he needs. Knowing Clyde all he’ll want is a big bowl of kibble!

RED TEAM UPDATE

Aliy and the Red Team have continued on, have passed through Kaltag and are camping on the trail 25 miles out. At this stage she hasn’t spoken of the incident and she is in the best possible place right now, camping with her team.

The video of the team through Kaltag shows Dutch and Chipper in lead, Kodiak and Mismo in swing, Scout and Chemo, Willie and Izzy, Waylon and Scruggs, Felix and Schmoe with Sandy and Commando in wheel. They looked happy and full of beans and Aliy looked motivated and determined.

BLACK TEAM UPDATE

Allen and the Black Team have left Galena at 1.16pm this afternoon after staying there just under five hours. He still has 14 team mates with him.

There are many, many news reports of the developing story. Please keep an eye on the Iditarod website for updates. I’m about to hop a plane for Nome and will catch-up later this evening.