SPK Dog Log

The front runners are now all out of Sourdough and on their 85 mile run to Mendeltna.

As you can see in this chart, they have all taken their mandatory 6-hour rests plus differentials, leaving only the same two “lost time” anomalies for Ryne and Nic. Allen and Aliy have taken the most rest so far — 16 of 18 hours — with the other leaders “owing” 1-3 more hours. Keep that in mind as you look at positions on the tracker!

The run to Mendeltna is long — about 85 miles — and will take them several more hours to complete. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a number of position changes overnight as their various strategies kick in. It’s a close and exciting race, so I’m going to grab a nap then update everything at first light!

With the speediest teams now all in Sourdough, it’s time to give you an update!

Allen’s SP Kennel Black Team remains the fastest on the course, picking up a few more minutes on speedy Ryne Olson. Aliy remains very competitive, moving up one line in the lowest cumulative run time category to fifth place.

Sourdough is about the halfway mark, with two long stints to go. Now is when we’ll start to see the results of training, attitude and appetite: How well have the dogs been conditioned? How strong is their drive to the finish? Will the dogs eat enough to keep fuel in their tanks? As usual, this is when the CB300 gets very exciting!

Everything has gone exactly to plan so far for the SPK teams, but you just never know what’s going to happen on a race trail… Go SPK!

The Sourdough checkpoint is roughly the half-way mark in the CB300 and a point where we can start to sort out the map vs. the clock. I’ve been encouraging you to focus on cumulative run times between checkpoints because it really is all that matters in the end. In the process, I’ve been saying that Allen is fastest overall and many of you are wondering (and asking!) how that can be if Sebastian Schnuelle is so far ahead of him on the tracker.

Okay, here goes:

Mushers are required to take a total of 18 hours of rest in the four race checkpoints, entirely at their discretion except that one of their rests must be 6 hours in length. In addition, they must “give back” the amount of time they started ahead of the last team to start the race. That’s called the “differential” and it is how the race is made fair between the first musher to start and the last musher who had to wait 96 minutes for his or her turn to start. Thus, the musher with Bib #1 must take a long rest of 7:36 (i.e. 6:00 mandatory plus 1:36 differential) but the musher with Bib #48 must only take a 6:00 mandatory (i.e. 0:00 differential). Everyone in between must take a prorated differential, depending on when he or she started.

For example, Allen started 26 minutes ahead of the last team so his differential is 26 minutes. Aliy started 30 minutes ahead of the last team, so hers is 30 minutes. Spencer started 44 minutes ahead of the last team so he must “give back” a differential of, you guessed it, 44 minutes.

That explains why, in the chart below, Allen took a 6:26 rest in Meiers (i.e. 6:00 mandatory plus 0:26 differential) and why Aliy took a 6:30 rest. They “gave back” the starting time advantage they had over the last team to start. Got it? Take a closer look:

You probably noticed a couple of things: First, almost all of the mushers took their mandatory 6:00 plus differential rests in Meiers. Sebastian Schneulle did not, and that’s why his remaining rest time still includes his 32 minute differential. Second, you may note that Ryne Olson and Nicolas Petit also have uneven rest times remaining. That is simply because the chart in this part of my spreadsheet ignores whatever minutes they “lost” by not leaving checkpoints exactly on 30 minute increments. (Trust me, for your purposes you can ignore them too. Just round off to the nearest half-hour and you’ll be close enough.)

What is most important to wrap your brain around is that Sebastian has only taken 8:00 of total rest (and still “owes” 10:32) versus Allen’s 11:26 of total rest (still owing only 7:00). In other words, Sebastian owes 3:32 more rest than Allen does. No wonder he’s still ahead on the map!

My guess is that Allen will arrive in Sourdough less than 3:32 after Sebastian, which will mean that Allen is “ahead” on the clock if not on the map. By the time Sebastian makes up his extra owed rest time and differential, it is very likely that he will be behind Allen on the map. That may take another checkpoint to do, but it will all tighten up soon.

So here’s the key: If you look at positions on the tracker, make a mental calculation about how much rest time is still owed by the respective mushers and compare that to the distance/rate between them. Being ahead on the map doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ahead in the race… At least not yet!

After leaving the Chisto checkpoint the trail crosses Sinoma and Excelsior Creeks which are notoriously “soggy” but this year were dry. The teams go up and over “The Hump” that, in typical Alaskan fashion, is a major understatement to the true nature of the hill. It is the largest hill the teams climb and some years it can be a long slow slog. After battling the hill they go through the Gakona River again which was reportedly dry also. If you remember last year there was large patches of open water in this stretch so it would have been a treat to the veteran dogs and mushers to cross over and not get wet feet.

For about six miles the trail follows the Alyeska Pipeline which adds to the true Alaskan experience then they cross over the road to the Meiers Lake Roadhouse. The road crossing, although over the major Richardson Highway, is very well manned, with signage and flashing lights and as safe as can be for dogs, mushers and motorists.

After a very fast sleep the handler crew welcomed a fantastic looking Black Team into Meiers Lake checkpoint at 4.18am this morning. Kodiak and Scout were still leading and Scooter was still cheerleading. I’m not sure Scooter ever stops cheerleading. Allen was pleased with his run and couldn’t be happier with the way the team looks right now. They are running with enthusiasm, eating everything and generally looking great.

The Red Team followed not too long afterwards and although Aliy herself admitted to being a little tired her team didn’t look tired at all. She said her run was “fantastic” and her team was “excellent”. They came in just 35 minutes behind the Black Team. Junior and Waylon were still leading the way. It was fun to see Biscuit and his son Pepe snuggling together to in their comfy straw beds.

Black Team resting on left, Red Team on right

We saw the Black then Red teams out towards Sourdough and both teams shot out of the checkpoint like they were on a mission! Once the teams leave Meiers Lake they climb some hills and cross the Golkana River several times, over Island Lake then they join the Pipeline again for a few miles.

Drop Dog Update – Dutch from Aliy’s Red Team gets to do the rest of the race in the truck with us. He had a tight tricep and as this run is very hilly, Aliy didn’t want to risk an injury. He will be just fine after some rest – each time we drop him for some food, water or to relieve himself we will massage him with some Algyval. He always enjoys some extra attention so will certainly lap that up.

Spencer and the Red & Black team had a good few hours camping after crossing the Gakona River. Spencer would have been nice and cosy in his sleeping bag with the temperatures in the early 20s F. The team will have enjoyed some peaceful time to rejuvenate themselves.

We just saw the team in and honestly they look great! The yearlings were all smiles and looked quite pleased with themselves. They’ll rest here a few more hours to really build their energy levels back up.

The R&Bs arrive into Meiers Lake

A word of thanks to the team at the Meiers Lake Roadhouse. They provide great food, coffee, wifi and a cosy place to sit for mushers, handlers and supporters – all with a smile on their face. Thanks team!

Our next stop is Sourdough Campground and there is limited cell and no wifi there so it could be some time before you hear from me again. But I leave you in the capable hands of Macgellan and I’ll try to text updates when possible.

– Moira

We’re starting to get stats from the Meiers Lake checkpoint!

Allen and Aliy both had excellent runs over the mountains, keeping them at the top of the leader board. Allen’s time was second fastest between the checkpoints, running 2 minutes behind SPK kennel friend and colleague Ryne Olson.

Here are the current leaders ranked by cumulative run time through the first two stints:

I want to give a shout out to Ryne who is running a stellar race. Many of you know that she spent two seasons with Allen and Aliy at SPK — including running a team in Iditarod — before starting her own racing kennel. She is obviously raising a fantastic young team and really showing her mushing prowess. I know both her and Allen well enough to say with confidence that they are having a blast racing each other. Ryne may be 16 minutes slower overall than Allen at the moment, but I can assure you he’s got his eye on her!

The teams are now resting at Meiers Lake with scheduled departures later this morning… Go SPK!

The handler team has arrived in Meiers Lake Roadhouse having got all three mushers onto the trail from Chistochina checkpoint.

Before I describe the day’s events I understand there has been some worry and/or speculation about Quito not leading out this morning. Don’t worry – she is just fine!! Allen had been tossing up whether to start with Kodiak for days and decided this morning that, as he was starting Bib number 37 and was likely to have to pass a number of teams in a short space of time between the start and Chistochina, he wanted to see if some “youthful exuberance” would give him an advantage in chasing and passing. He and Aliy obviously think very highly of Kodiak and he wanted to give him an opportunity to prove himself. He passed the test with flying colors! Quito is still the superstar and there is no need to worry, there are still plenty of miles left in this race.

Pre-race was filled with the usual tasks of attaching numbers and GPS trackers to sleds, packing the sleds, ensuring all mandatory gear is included as well as anything that was needed along the trail. Mandatory gear includes an axe, sleeping bag, food and booties for the dogs and a cooker. Race officials checked sleds to ensure everything was present and accounted for.

Right before hooking up the teams we harness and booty the dogs. The temperatures were mild so we didn’t need to put jackets on anyone.

Spencer has his mandatory gear checked by a race official

Allen discusses the lead pairing with Scout; Aliy harnesses Biscuit while Pepe has something to say (Outlaw is uninterested)

The start at Glennallen was, as has become typical for the Copper Basin 300, a well-run machine. Parking spots were laid out logically and the volunteers hooked up each team to a “rhino” – a four wheeled mini jeep type thing that really anchors the team from behind the sled. Handlers are then able to maneuver the team across the road from the parking area to the start line with ease. Thanks to Derek for helping us, with all our teams leaving in fairly short succession it was a bit of a handling challenge.

All three SP teams looked enthusiastic leaving the chute; dogs and mushers alike!

As the final teams were leaving town it started to snow – that “fat” fluffy snow that sticks to everything. It sure was pretty though. For the next few hours the temperatures hovered in the high teens / early twenties F.

The trail from Glennallen to Chistochina follows the road for some miles so handlers and spectators are able to watch teams go by to see how they are going. We managed to miss all three of our teams but we tend not to stop anyway, preferring to get to the checkpoint to get the lay of the land before the teams arrive.

This trail crosses several creeks and rivers such as Bear Creek, the Golkana River and the Gakona River but all were reportedly dry with no open water to speak of.

At the Red Eagle Lodge at Chistochina the team parking area was laid out in a kind-of herringbone design with each “bone” holding three or four teams behind one another. These then lead out to an out trail and was very well thought-out. We parked both Allen and Aliy’s teams away from the main busy throng to ensure good sleep for the teams.

As you know by now Allen and the Black Team rolled in at 3.45pm with a run time of 4 hours, 35 minutes. As they pulled in, cheerleader Scooter was really going to town; telling all and sundry how great the team is. It probably sounded like barking and howling to most. Allen reported having a good run with most of the passes going well. There is a race rule that states that if the team behind you calls “trail”, the team in front must stop to let them go by. (The exception to this is what is called “no man’s land” which is right at the end of the race where it’s all on!).

Allen was fairly self-sufficient at the checkpoint. He got some warm dog water from the lodge to make the team their meal, but other than that, he stayed with his team the whole time. He made extra water by melting snow in his cooker, made himself a freeze-dried meal and even slept in his winter sleeping bag right next to his team. Seems they all got a great rest!

After five hours of rest and a warm, nutrient packed meal, the team was rearing to go. Allen said Kodiak did so well in the first leg that he decided to leave him in front with Scout for the start of the next leg to Meiers Lake.

Aliy and the Red Team arrived only 21 minutes behind Allen at 11.06 with a run time of exactly 5 hours. She had switched out Scruggs and Waylon for lead at some point – Waylon adds a little “attitude” when in lead. She said her run was great and everyone did well.

Aliy snacks the team after arrival into Chisto while the Black Team beds down

Aliy spent a couple hours in the checkpoint that was fiercely warm with the famous sweet rolls and other goodies on offer. When I saw her she was asleep ON TOP of the woodpile right next to the fireplace. Despite the hustle and bustle of the checkpoint she was fast asleep and enjoyed some good rest before setting on the 73-odd mile run from Chisto to Meiers Lake.

The Red Team also took 5 hours rest here although we had some difficulty keeping the team in place for the last 20 minutes. We parked Aliy behind Allen, which has advantages when the teams are resting: they are near their mates and seem to rest more comfortably. BUT when Allen’s team pulled out we need to enlist the help of Scott Smith’s handler Jeremy to help Moira stand on the sled brake and snow hook while Ray and Aliy negotiated with the team to stay put. Thanks Jeremy!

Spencer and his youthful team made the run in 5 hours, 55 minutes. They made great time in the sticky snow. He made particular mention of Violet and Chena, saying, as they are smaller they didn’t sink down into it and were superstars on the run. Everyone else did very well also and he was happy with how they coped with passing and being passed. His team was parked among many other teams at the checkpoint but they did bed down for a while and all of them ate really well. The older pros Lester, Viper, Beemer and Puppet showed them how it’s done.

The Red & Blacks left the checkpoint at 10.45pm (official time to be confirmed) after about six hours rest. A head’s up for those following Spencer’s tracker: He will be running a very conservative race plan for the youngsters and is likely to stop to camp along the way on the longer runs so don’t be alarmed if his tracker suddenly stops for a few hours. It’s all in the plan. He packed some straw with him to bed the team down and will prepare a light meal for them making it a nice, positive experience for them. Spencer himself is doing a great job!

The handler crew is going to catch some rest now before mushers start arriving and I’ll update you again once there is something to say and/or when I have internet coverage. In the meantime, Macgellan will keep his knowledgeable eye on the trackers and times to give you more insights.

It doesn’t look like I am going to be able to upload videos at this point in time so I may have to do a catch up at the end. Sorry ‘bout that but I will try to keep the photos rolling in.

– Moira

Those of you who have followed the CB300 before probably know what I’m going to say, but here it is for any newcomers and those of you who could use a reminder:

In the CB300, the only race stat you need to watch is run times between checkpoints.

Because all mushers are required to take 18 hours of rest — and top teams will only take that amount of rest — the winner will be whichever musher has the lowest cumulative run time between checkpoints from start to finish.

Don’t get confused about who takes how much rest where. That all goes according to individual musher strategies. Before the race is over, all their rest times will be the same 18 hours. Don’t drive yourself crazy about “start differentials” either, they will all be worked out during one of their checkpoint rests.

The fastest team with the lowest overall run time will win the CB300… Period.

With that said, here are the top dozen Start-Chistochina run times in order. This is not the order they arrived in Chistochina, but the amount of time it took them to run there.

Allen had the fastest time, arriving well ahead of the second fastest team. As I wrote before, he has set a blistering pace, even more impressive considering the number of teams he had to pass along the way. Passing slows you down — like trying to get around a slow moving vehicle on a two lane road — but Allen zipped right along anyway.

Aliy’s time was sixth fastest, a credit to the quality of both her SPK “B-Team” and her own mushing mastery. Although she isn’t likely to catch Allen’s “A-Team” you can be sure that she is in full competitor mode and will do the best she can in the field.

It is far too soon to start making any predictions, because there are so many things that can happen on a trail. Nevertheless, both teams have made a very strong showing on the first 50-mile stint of the race… Go SPK!

Communications and information are spotty as usual, but here’s what we know so far:

Moira emailed this photo of the Chistochina checkpoint from her phone and texted that all three teams arrived in excellent shape. Spencer made particular mention of Violet and Chena, but all his dogs are doing extremely well. Aliy spotlighted Junior’s super enthusiasm and Allen reported that the trail is pretty dry with sugary snow that is sticking to everything.

At this moment, all three teams are taking a long rest in Chisto. We will look forward to a more complete report from Moira when she gets to wi-fi coverage at Meiers Lake.

Completely amazing is the fact that after starting in 36th position, Allen was 5th to arrive in Chistochina. That means he passed 31 teams in a 50 mile stint, or about one every ten minutes. He is obviously on an absolutely blistering pace and has passed everyone except the 6th, 9th, 14th and 16th starters.

I have no information about why Allen didn’t start Quito in lead, nor any information that anything is wrong with her. My guess is that he decided to hold her in reserve for more open trails ahead, letting other leaders do the passing work on the first stint.

Checkpoint times are only just beginning to be posted, and I will have more analysis to offer as they become available… So SPK!