SPK Dog Log

Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but I sure didn’t sleep last night.  I went back and forth between worrying about Aliy and the dogs to worrying that we wouldn’t make it out to Nome in time to see her come in.  Now that I’ve taken a few deep breaths and eaten something, I’m worrying about Aliy and the dogs and pretty sure we will make it to Nome in time.

There is a lot a speculation going on about what is happening in the race, but this is what we know.  The trail is very tough and in poor condition.  Aliy is in the lead heading from Shaktoolik to Koyuk.  Jeff King is showing slightly faster times and has closed the gap over the last two runs.  The Red Team has had substantially more rest since Kaltag than the teams around her.

This is what we have heard.  The front runners are on pace to break the record to Nome.  The Red Team looks great.  Aliy looked great in Unalakleet, but had a rough run to Shaktoolik.  She told Sebastian that she caught her foot in a ice hole and may have hurt her leg. 

We have been doing all types of calculations, trying to figure out when the Red Team will arrive in White Mountain and then into Nome.  The actual distances between checkpoints vary from year to year.  Using the smallest reported distance and an average speed of 7.5 mph, it is possible Aliy will arrive in White Mountain as early as 6 am Monday Morning.  That would have her out on the final leg to Nome at 2pm Monday afternoon and into Nome about Midnight.  However, the biggest thing to remember at this point is that there is a lot of race left.  Anything can happen over the next 200 miles to Nome. 

As always, Sebastian has been getting some great pictures.  Click on them to go to his articles.

Allen and the Black Team have arrived in Kaltag.  He arrived at 8:59 am after a good run from Nulato.  Hopefully Meghan and Moira will be able to see him in Unalakleet before they head to Nome.

It was great to see the team in person and talk to Aliy about them.

The dogs she left in Nulato were SCHMOE and CHEMO. Schmoe developed a sore wrist and she felt it would be best for him to head home rather than continue the race. Chemo tweaked his shoulder not far from the checkpoint and it was enough for her to decide to leave him with his buddy and yard neighbor, Schmoe.

L-R: Schmoe and Chemo

This is Schmoe and Chemo’s first time in the Iditarod big leagues and they’ve had a great year so far being part of the champion Yukon Quest team and Schmoe in the CB300 winning team. They’re both still young so have plenty of races left to show us their stuff.

SCRUGGS (right) was dropped in Kaltag – he hurt his shoulder/bicep similar to what Scout did way back in Skwentna.

Scruggs has been an automatic choice for the top team this season and is a Yukon Quest and Copper Basin champion this year.

All three of them will quickly recover from their ailments and will be on their way back to Anchorage soon with the Iditarod Air Force.

They will head out to the holiday camp (Margie’s kennel) once they are back.

Aliy lead the way out of Unalakleet after a bit over 4 hours of rest. Of the front runners, she was the only musher to have rested on the trail between Kaltag and Unalakleet.  Jeff King, Martin Buser and Sonny Lindner have also started making their way to Shaktoolik.

Aliy receiving the Gold Coast Award (Click picture for Insider Video – http://iditarod.com/race/?vid=56929)

It was a race against time for us to get to Unalakleet before Aliy! Luckily Doug had gone on an earlier flight so we knew that at least he would be there. As it turned out we got to the checkpoint just about half an hour before she pulled in.

Thanks to a very friendly local, whose name I did not get, who gave us a lift in his pick-up. If you happen to be reading this kind Sir, thank you!

L-R: young Aliy fans; drop bags waiting

When we arrived we hadn’t seen the tracker in some time so we didn’t know what team was going to pull in first so were delighted to hear the news it would be Aliy and her team. They really looked fabulous as they loped toward the checkpoint and we were so happy to see them in the flesh. The Insider videos are great but there’s nothing like seeing them in right in front of you.

There was a huge crowd to greet them and as they arrived, Aliy was presented with the Gold Coast Award given to the first musher to reach the Bering Sea. Jake Slingsby and Scott A Johnson from Wells Fargo presented the award which is $2,500 (about 2oz) in gold and a trophy for the cabinet.

Lots of kids and fans lined the trail to welcome the team and to see Aliy, all of them excited to see her.

L-R: the media scrum; the Gold Coast Award

Aliy spent some time tending to the dogs trying to continue her regular checkpoint routine of snacking, straw, wrapping them in jackets and covering them with fleece blankets. She also did some precautionary massaging and wrapping of wrists – it’s nothing to be alarmed about, it just warms and eases their joints while they rest. She fixed their kibble and meat meal to soak ready for a big meal before they left.

Next she went up to the checkpoint and scarfed down two huge plates of eggs, bacon and toast then settled herself for over an hour of sleep. When she woke she said that was the deepest and best sleep she had had for days and days!

L-R: Clyde wolfs down his meal; Meghan loves Willie

She told us during the run she was determined to catch Martin Buser and she never saw him for the whole run so she was surprised to be the first in to the checkpoint! She had no idea he had stopped and camped at what she presumes was Old Woman Cabin so she was honestly surprised to receive the award.

When she pulled in she had Quito and Waylon in lead, Nacho running with his sister Chica in swing, Willie running alone then Pud and Clyde, Boondocks with Olivia and Mac with Sissy in wheel. When she left she moved Waylon back from lead to run with his brother Willie. She said she’s been doing that out of checkpoints so Quito can navigate their way out and later she will move him back up.

Dropped dog update coming soon… stay tuned!

Tomorrow we will take a walk around the village and see some sights to share with you as we wait for the Black Team.

We have had unofficial confirmation that it is BISCUIT that was dropped from Aliy’s team in Ruby. We’ve also seen enough videos and pictures of the team since then to be sure.

Biscuit is a mega-star and we believe it could be the first time he has EVER been dropped from a race. He’s a Yukon Quest, Copper Basin 300 and Two Rivers Solstice champion this season and ran in Aliy’s runner-up Iditarod team in 2012 and 2013. It will have broken Aliy’s heart to leave him behind. We’re not sure why he was dropped and we’re eager to see him as soon as he’s back from the trail.

L-R: Biscuit and Tatfish

We’ve also had confirmation that TATFISH was dropped from Allen’s team in Cripple. Tatfish and Biscuit are brothers and are our oldest racing dogs at eight years old. Tatfish and Allen are great mates and he’ll be so very sorry to leave him. It seems to make that picture of Mismo and Felix singing the other day a little more poignant – as Mickey said, it’s like they are saying to their Papa and Uncle Tatfish “Well take this one from here…”

DINGLE (right) was the one Allen dropped from the Black Team in Ophir. “Ding Ding” is honestly one of the best SP dogs and has been for a number of years and Allen will of course be sad to see him left behind.

He ran on Meghan’s Copper Basin 300 team and with Ryne Olson from Ryno Kennel in the Yukon Quest 300 this year leading a team of youngsters.

We look forward to meeting them all once they are back in Anchorage.

We’re still waiting news on the two in Aliy’s team in Nulato or the one from Kaltag. As always, we’ll let you know.

An update on the other dropped dogs: Scout and Scooter are out with SP Kennel friend Margie who has a beautiful kennel out on the Knik arm and they are happy and having fun. She looks after our dropped dogs until we can return them home to Two Rivers and it’s like holiday camp for them there. Thank you Margie. Boris is back! He’s still not feeling 100% but was so pleased to see us. All the vets and volunteers fell in love with him!

Boris with Meghan and Moira

It’s 8.30am Alaska time.

Aliy and her 11 team-mates left Kaltag and are on their way to Unalakleet! The GPS tracker shows they are currently stopped so it looks like they could be camping for a while before continuing to the next checkpoint.

Since the last update they left Nulato after resting about three hours. The rumours about dropping two dogs there were correct and she left with 12 team mates. She’s left another in Kaltag. As much as it will be disappointing to leave her friends behind Aliy will be confident she’s doing the right thing by them and she knows they are in good hands with the vets and volunteers at the checkpoint.

In an interview at Galena with the Insider Bruce Lee asks Aliy about Buser’s lead and that she had narrowed the gap. She says she handn’t really thought about it and she’s still sticking to her plan. In other stories it sounds like a bunch of the top mushers are doing the same. It is easy for us to see the information; compare run times and know who’s leading who and by how much but the mushers don’t have access to the same information, and it appears that in the checkpoints when they can see it, a lot of them don’t even look at it. It shows tremendous patience and faith in their strategies that they are confident enough to carry on doing what they planned despite what is going on around them. I guess this will change in the closing stages but at this point there is still about one third of the race to go.

Allen and the Black Team have completed their eight hour layover in Ruby and are currently clipping along to Galena. Allen is running a very different schedule to Aliy and his focus will be to get as many of his 12 team mates to Nome as possible. Allen is great at this – obviously he is a tremendous competitor and has shown that with his Yukon Quest and Copper Basin 300 record but he’s also really good at coaching a less experienced team along the trail. It’s a different skill set and it’s important for the future of the kennel to introduce as many dogs to the trail as possible.

A dropped dog update is coming soon; we’re expecting a flight into Anchorage and hopefully some SP dogs are on it!

It’s 9.30pm Alaska time.

The Red Team arrived in to Nulato at 7.47pm this evening are are currently still at the checkpoint.

Sebastian caught some great pics of the team on the river between Galena and Nulato and also some pics at the checkpoint. His story says she plans to drop two dogs so we are awaiting news about that and will wait the confirmed statistics once they leave the checkpoint. If this is the case, it means she will leave Nulato with 12 team mates which is still a decent sized team!

Since the last update this morning, the Red Team have completed their mandatory eight hour Yukon River rest. They’re now on an even playing field with Buser, Petit, Sorlie, Maxiner, Burmeister and Neff in the Current Standings top ten list. Lindner, King and Seavey the Younger round out the rest of the official top ten but have not completed their eight hour rest.

Emily Schwing from KUAC caught this great shot of Scruggs and we think maybe Clyde or Willie resting in the morning sun in Galena. They look so peaceful! She spoke to Aliy about her position at the time. Click here to listen.

The Black team rested on the leg from Cripple to Ruby for about five hours during the heat of the day. At the time of writing they are around 10 miles out of Ruby.

Meghan and I have the opportunity, along with Doug (Aliy’s Dad) to go to Unalakleet tomorrow to see if we can catch Aliy and hopefully Allen through the checkpoint. We’re looking forward to the opportunity to see the Village and parts of the trail from the air! We are not able to help the teams in any way so will be limited to the side-lines but it will be great to see them in person after so many days. We’re looking forward to it!

I’ll leave you in the very capable hands of Kaz for a couple of days for the daily updates. I’m not sure what internet I will have but hopefully I can post some pics from the checkpoint.