SPK Dog Log

We decided to pack up our “camp” and move from Carmacks to Braeburn Lodge to await Allen and Brent’s arrival. Thanks to the team at Carmacks for your hospitality!

There is not much to report right now; we are watching the trackers just like you and speculating on what is happening and what might happen. We’ll try to catch some rest and recharge ready for the last leg of what is turning into an epic battle between these two men and their dogs.

L-R: The legendary and oft’ photographed Braeburn Lodge Cinnamon Rolls; two of the Lodge dogs.

We’re really happy that Chemo is with us now – we picked him up from Pelly having received great care and attention from Dawson with Cody’s handlers Meghan and Thomas (THANK YOU!). He’s certainly got an appetite and polished off a large meal and is now very comfortable in the truck sleeping off his journey. Thanks also to the vet team for their care.

I’ll post again when something worth posting about happens! In the meantime: refresh, refresh, refresh…

– Moira

As predicted, it looks like Brent fired up his dog-motor as Allen approached on the river and pulled out just in front.

According to the tracker (with updates at the same minute) the duo appear to be mere feet — maybe inches! — apart.

Looking back at my data, I think I may have missed a couple of points when Brent spent a little more time in checkpoints than Allen did.

In other words, I’m admitting that my assessment of how much faster Allen is than Brent may be a bit optimistic.

I still think he’s been a bit faster, but I can’t honestly vouch for how much… It’s close!

Either way, over the next few hours I expect them to run in tandem to Braeburn. There they will both take a mandatory 8-hour rest, then sprint to the finish… Yikes!

Earlier in the race I mentioned primary sled dog attributes: Ability, Attitude and Appetite.

I hope you can now see why — in such a long race — attitude and appetite come to the fore. It’s all about the heads and hearts of the dogs, and the fire in their bellies.

I’d be willing to bet that both Allen and Brent are feeling like they’re the weakest link in the team, and hoping against all odds that they don’t let their dogs down.

Honestly, folks, this stuff makes me tear up in awe of these dogs… Stay tuned!

Let’s start with my premise that after 36 hours of resting and refueling, leaving Dawson was basically a “re-start” for the rest of the race.

With that in mind, consider that Allen left Dawson 2.5 hours after Brent but arrived in Carmacks 1.5 hours before Brent. That’s an overall “gain” of 4 hours, but to calculate relative running speeds we need to adjust for any differences in total rest time (both in checkpoints and on the trail).

After detailed analysis of the tracker replays, the closest I can calculate is that Allen took 2.5 hours less total rest time between Dawson and Carmacks than Brent did. If I deduct that from the 4 hour overall “gain” then it looks like Allen was 1.5 hours faster in total run time. Even if I’m off by a bit here or there, I think it’s safe to say that Allen’s team is a little faster than Brent’s… That’s good news!

After a 4 hour rest in Carmacks, Allen left 2 hours behind Brent (who blew right through the checkpoint). Although Brent’s team is very strong, I would have been shocked if he tried to run straight through to Braeburn. (His last rest was early this morning.)

So, I’m not surprised to see on the tracker that Brent has gone about 15 miles down the trail and camped.

Meanwhile, Allen is coming off a good rest and charging down the trail, now only about 5 miles back.

Brent has been running an excellent “match race” strategy, so he is almost certainly keeping his eye out for Allen’s team, with plans to pull up stakes in time to race Allen to Braeburn.

This is evidenced by the fact that Brent has chosen a camping spot with a direct line-of-sight up the river to watch for Allen. If he’d gone farther, he’d be around a blind corner.

Just when you think you’re getting the hang of sled dog racing strategy, a wily competitor like Brent shows you yet another trick of the trade… Good on ya, young man!

Here is the video of the team stuttering a little out of Carmacks. If you can see the tracker you will see they are going along quite happily now so don’t be alarmed!

Sorry folks, I didn’t quite catch the whole conversation detailed in the previous post but I did get Quito…

We just saw the team off from Carmacks after just under four hours of rest. The dogs and Allen all really made the most of the sleep and refuel stop. Allen made some time for a quick interview with the Quest press team before he fed the team their meal, packed his sled, bootied and left.

Allen is sticking to his plan (well, one of his plans) and this race is still on folks, there is still a way to go and, as you know in dog mushing, anything can happen.

We’ll be honest: the exit was not the cleanest. It was a little stop/start but we are speculating on the conversation that was happening:

Quito: “Hey guys, I didn’t pee when we left camp and I need to pee… I’m the Queen so can you all just wait a minute… I’ll just find a spot… over here looks good… no, wait, here is better… ahhh, that’s better.“

Boondocks: “Oh hey, that’s a good idea, I might pee too… everyone just hang on a minute… “

Rest of the team: “Yeah, ummm, actually I could do with a pee too… yeah, me too… and me…“

Clyde: “Guys… guys… what about me? I ate all that kibble and I need to poop!“

Eventually they happily trotted off down the trail towards Braeburn where we will next see them.

I’ll work on some video and get it up asap. Practice your Quito, Boondocks and Clyde voices so you can narrate it out loud.

– Moira

The team arrives in Carmacks. They’re over 800 miles into this race and look at those wagging tails!

Just in case you think we are kidding… I just ripped this frame out of a YQ video and have highlighted Mac and Boondocks for you:

She’s tiny and he’s a pony!

We just watched Allen and the team pull in to Carmacks Checkpoint with lots of wagging tails and happy husky smiles. It’s been a long run from Pelly Crossing and Allen is stopping here for a while. At this point we are unsure how long he will stay – he’s playing that one close to his chest right now as he figures out the strategy from here. He goes into every race with a plan but also with several contingencies so now he’ll be deciding what will be best for his team.

The first thing he did once the team was parked was snack the team and everyone ate everything! He even put some plain, dry kibble on the ground and they ate that as an appetiser to their large warm meal they will shortly get.

Clyde and Schmoe enjoy their beef snacks while the others look on

Usually, the routine from here will be setting down the straw beds and removing booties then preparing their large meal before coming inside for some food and water himself. Depending on the plan he may or may not stop for a sleep. As I said, right now, we are not sure what he will do!

I’ll try to update again once the team leaves and the speculation can begin (or rather, continue!)

I’m working on the video and will get something up asap.

– Moira