SPK Dog Log

Thank you all for your touching and heartfelt comments and messages. Aliy will see them in the next couple of days.

I don’t really know what to say. Honestly, I’m sitting here thinking how I can possibly describe what happened here tonight. I wanted to avoid the words “roller coaster” but there is nothing else that I can think of to describe our emotions over the last 12 hours. Everything including hope, joy, worry, pride and relief all in very quick succession and over and over.

Mother Nature was brutal out there and we are so happy Aliy, Quito, Nacho, Willie, Waylon, Clyde, Pud, Olivia, Boondocks, Mac and Sissy are now safe and well in Nome and all of them sleeping comfortably.

Chica was left in Safety and she will be nicely tucked up and sleeping there with the vets and volunteers. She will complete her journey to Nome once the weather settles a bit and she can get transportation along the trail. Aliy thought she tweaked her shoulder and she didn’t want her to continue.

The news agencies will write their stories overnight and I’ll link you to them tomorrow. We’re spent so we’re going to catch a couple hours of rest before heading back to the dog yard. And don’t worry – there are plenty of volunteers at the dog yard keeping watch over our best friends. Don’t tell anyone but Waylon is sleeping in bed with Meghan. Aliy apparently promised him if he made it to Nome he could sleep in the bed.

It was such a frantic and fast moving finish that I didn’t get very much in the way of video or pictures. I’ll go through what we have and get something to you tomorrow. Until then: thank you for staying up/getting up to support Aliy and her Red Team to the finish. Thank you.

– Moira

Moira is sending photos of the Red Team members via iPhone from Nome.

I’ll post them as I get them!

First we have Willie, posing for the camera — and probably waiting for more snacks! — from his comfy bed in the dog yard.

All the dogs have their own “half-crate” filled with straw, a fleece blanket and all the food, snacks and pampering they could possibly want!

Quito — who ran another magnificent race — has probably had more than enough of the paparazzi for a while and has called it a night!

Sweet dreams Quito!

Aliy and the SP Kennel Red Team have finished second, by just couple of minutes!

This just in from Moira and the entire SP Kennel crew, waiting at the finish line:

If you’ve been following the race all night, you know it’s been crazy out there!

For those of you just tuning in, here’s my best shot at summarizing reliable reports:

Just short of the Safety checkpoint — in a notorious and aptly named area known as “The Blowhole” — horrific winds kicked up, with gusts up to 65 mph.

Jeff King and his team were blown completely off the trail, got tangled in driftwood and were unable to get going again. After two hours stopped on the trail, Jeff hitched a snow machine ride to Safety and officially scratched. His team is okay and is being ferried to the checkpoint for later transport to Nome.

In the process, Aliy passed Jeff to take the lead going into Safety. She parked her team at the checkpoint and had been resting there for over two hours when Dallas Seavey arrived and continued through.

Twenty minutes later, Aliy was back on the move with ten dogs in pursuit of Dallas and his team of seven. At the moment she is about a mile behind him as they race to Nome.

So, after more than a week of astonishing sled dog racing, we’ve got a real nail-biter heading to the finish line!

The two teams are about 20 miles from the finish line. Aliy has more dogs on the line, fresh off a rest of more than two hours… Stay tuned!

The team has just pulled into Safety IN FIRST PLACE!!!!!! Safety is the final checkpoint before the finish and they have 22 miles to go. GO TEAM GO! I’m not ready to call this one yet.

Aliy, Quito, Waylon, Nacho, Boondocks, Olivia, Chica, Scruggs, Scout, Chemo, Willie, Clyde, Pud, Mac, Sissy, Schmoe and Biscuit – you are our heroes! They have all worked hard and deserve so many accolades for what they have accomplished regardless of their final position tonight. We are incredibly and unashamedly proud of them all.

Remember this from just over a week ago? The team leaves Willow on their way to Nome.

We are heading down to Front Street to the finish line shortly to complete the dog yard set-up and await the team’s arrival. We can’t wait to see them and tell them how proud we are.

Macgellan will take it from here and see them in – thanks Mac. I’ll get pics and stories to you as soon as we have everyone settled.

If you are wondering how Allen is faring out there without a tracker and updates – Terrie Hanke caught up with him in Unalkeet – click here to read the story. He’s still in Shaktoolik, expect him to sit there for a while!

Yep, we can see what you can see. It appears (according to the tracker – disclaimer alert!) that Jeff King has stopped and Aliy is less than one mile behind him.

What we do know: the weather is bad. There is a big ground storm right in that area and it is blowing hard. Visibility to limited. Also, if Jeff is in any kind of trouble Aliy WILL help.

Other than that we don’t know what to say! Your guess is as good as ours. We just hope everyone is safe. Stay tuned…

It’s 6pm Alaska time.

Here’s a quick pic from the tracker for those who don’t have access. At this moment (disclaimer: according to the tracker!!) Aliy and team are 9 miles behind King.

Looking at pics from Sebastian’s blog (below) Quito will single lead the team to Nome. He described Aliy as “determined” and the team “nice and solid”.

Waking up from a nap

Quito; the team ready to leave White Mountain

Casey Grove from the Anchorage Daily News reported Aliy as saying “I’m going to try to catch him, the team looks good.”

Click the pic below for the Alaska Dispatch article that describes a few mishaps on the team’s run from Elim to White Mountain! Yikes.

In other news: Allen and the Black Team are in to Shaktoolik at 5.37pm! They are making great pace and doing so well; they’re averaging 7.7 miles an hour! We’re so so proud of them too.

And for a little light relief, here is Biscuit with Dr Mike Davis at the Clarion Suites yesterday evening. I told Mickey that I hoped he didn’t pee inside. Biscuit too!