SPK Dog Log

WOOHOO!

Congratulations to Aliy, Commando, Junior, Amber, Violet, Chevie, QT, Jefe, Perky and Decaf – and Champ, Sanka and Razz! It was cold, it was dark and it was hard yet they crossed the finish line with wagging tails and huge grins at 4:21pm this afternoon. In a surprise move she crossed the line with Commando and JEFE in lead. Junior needed a wee break from leading so ran down the back for a bit, one up from wheel position. Jefe the lead dog – who’d have thought? Good boy! You can hear Karolyn’s surprise in the video…

The final line up as they crossed the line was Commando and Jefe, Amber and Violet, QT was running on her own, Junior on her own, Decaf and Perky in wheel with Chevie hitching a lift in the bag and Champ, Razz and Sanka in the truck. Chevie has a sore wrist and the trail was a bit rutted in places so Aliy decided to carry her.

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Congrats to Nic, Brent and Ryne on their fantastic races too!

The dogs all received some fat ball snacks and thawed meat in the finish chute and wolfed down a big meal back at the truck while the crew undressed them and massaged their limbs and feet, then popped them into their boxes for a sleep. Junior got to say hi to some of the assembled kids, she’s a great ambassador for the kennel and loves the attention. Aliy has had a change clothes, a bite to eat and is now enjoying the hospitality of the Old Paths community and watching the NCAA College Football Championship.

The crew will leave the dogs be for a few hours before getting them up and moving around again later this evening. They’ll receive more massages and as much food and snacks as they want to eat, and then get settled back down for the night. The finishers’ banquet and prizegiving is tomorrow night so the crew will have tomorrow to sort all the returned drop bag equipment (used booties, coats, food etc) and bestow tonnes and tonnes of TLC to the dogs.

Thanks for following along with us. We’ve appreciated every view, comment and like. There is more to come so stay tuned.

After three hours (and two minutes) of rest Aliy and nine team mates left Chistochina for the final leg back into Glennallen. Evidently they looked great leaving and were enthusiastic to get back onto the trail.

Returned Dog Update

Aliy left both Razz and Sanka with the handler crew in Chisto to finish the race in the truck. Razz developed some soreness in her back left leg while Sanka has is sore in her front right. They are both best not to continue running today. Both will receive lots of massage, rest and some anti-inflam meds and will take some time off to heal. We expect they will recover quickly. We are so proud of these two young ladies, they have been rockstars this weekend. Aliy was sorry to have to leave them.

The team had a great rest at the checkpoint and ate a good meal. Aliy managed a quick nap herself so all 10 athletes were keen to get moving again.

Immediately after the checkpoint the teams had to cross the road and take a sharp left behind the snow bank to get onto the trail. The handler crews were allowed and encouraged to help teams navigate this as it could be a little confusing. It was easier and more appealing for dogs to go straight down the road so Karolyn ran ahead of the team to indicate the way and they had no issues at all, Aliy even pulling off a beautifully controlled skid around the turn.

Some of this final leg parallels the road so spectators are able to watch for a while. The crew were able to find a spot where they could hide the dog truck and watch as they went by (nothing worse that getting 250 miles into the race and the dogs see their own truck and make a bee line for it). Aliy was ski-poling to both help keep the speed up and to keep herself warm. They were looking great as you will see from the video Lisa caught of the team as they went by.

The team is currently running in 4th position. They were about one hour behind Ryne and 1.5 hours ahead of Matt when they left the checkpoint as Matt had to take at least four hours stop at Chisto. This final leg is about 50 miles.

CB300 website describes this leg as follows: “Within one-half mile after leaving the Chistochina checkpoint, the race trail crosses over the second manned road crossing at MP 33 of the Tok Cut-Off Highway. From the road crossing, the race trail parallels the Tok Cut-Off Highway for ~ 30 miles southward toward the small community of Gakona along the historic Valdez to Eagle Trail. The race trail then spills out onto the Gakona River and follows it ~ 1 mile until passing under the Gakona River bridge, then up onto a riverside trail which parallels the Copper River for ~1 mile. The race trail then turns right and climbs uphill toward the highway and then turns left and parallels the road for ~1 mile toward the junction of the Tok Cut-Off Highway and the Richardson Highway. Once at the Gulkana River, the race trail crosses under the Richardson Highway bridge from east to west, and then out, paralleling the Richardson Highway while heading south towards the finish line in Glennallen. Total distance from the junction of the Tok Cut-Off Highway and Richardson Highway to the finish line in Glennallen at Old Paths Baptist Church is ~ 14 miles”.

GO TEAM!

The handler crew will now head back to Glennallen, thaw some meat and prepare a meal for the dogs to enjoy at the finish line then partake of the superb hospitality at Old Paths as they wait for the team to arrive home. Karolyn, Ryan and Lisa have worked hard over the weekend so hope they can enjoy a few hours of relative calm as they wait.

Aliy and her team rolled into Chistochina checkpoint at 6:54am after a good run over from Meier’s Lake. The team took The Hump in their stride and worked hard through the night to make the run in 9 hours, 37 mins hours. They will all enjoy their rest here in Chisto.

Evidently the team hit some overflow water along the way so Aliy has swapped out jackets and T-shirts on everyone so they have warm dry clothing to sleep and finish the race in. Aliy said it was gorgeous at the top of the hill.

Karolyn and crew parked them in a lovely camp spot amongst the trees and the dogs will get a good sleep. The team will have a rest here for at least three hours before embarking on the final leg back into Glennallen.

Thanks always to the volunteer vet crew who are always on hand to check teams as they arrive into checkpoints. We all appreciate their hard work and dedication to the canine athletes.

Right on time at 9:19pm Aliy and 11 team mates left Meier’s Lake checkpoint having taken their mandatory six hour rest plus extra 28 minutes for time differential. Everyone looked very enthusiastic! (NOTE: official time TBC)

All the dogs had a great rest and ate really well, which is so important in any race but particularly a cold one. It warms a musher’s heart to see dogs eating well and fuelling up ready for a big leg ahead. Aliy also ate well, which for those that know her know that’s unusual in a 300 mile race. Her racing metabolism usually only kicks in after 300 miles. She had a good sleep, was able to dry her clothes out, and left the checkpoint motivated to make up some time on those ahead of her.

Teams have to cross the Richardson Highway immediately after leaving the checkpoint to get onto the east side of the highway. Special thanks to the volunteers who are manning the crossings, keeping it safe for dogs, mushers and motorists. You’ll notice in the video the team didn’t leave the check-out spot until the all clear was given – this is for everyone’s safety. Karolyn described the exit as “flawless”, from leaving the camp spot to getting to the trail head. Great job team!

For my own benefit I wanted to see the terrain a little closer and thought you might be interested too. This is on the “My Topo” version of the tracker. The pin is the highest point. To change to this view hit the button with three squares at the top right of the map and choose your view.

By my calculations, the team is running in 4th position right now – going only by total cumulative run time. The top four have all run quite different schedules which makes for a fun and interesting comparison. Aliy and Ryne’s teams have to take only three hours rest at Chisto while Brent and Nic’s teams need to take four. You’ll also see from this table – and as Wes back in Two Rivers pointed out – no one is consistently fastest. We also haven’t ruled out Matt and Kalyn in 5th and 6th place. Anything can happen in a dog race. (Disclaimer again: my maths is subject to interrogation if you so desire).

I heard it hit -24F at Meier’s Lake. Woohoo! Ain’t nobody upset about that.

Aliy and team arrived into Meier’s Lake at 2:51pm looking great! Their runtime over from Sourdough was 4 hours 31mins. The line-up as they pulled in was Commando and Junior in lead, Amber and Violet in swing, Chevie and QT, Razz and Jefe, Sanka running on her own and bros Perky and Decaf in wheel. Aliy often swaps dogs around in the team for various reasons, it could be that she wants more experience up front, maybe she will swap the leaders out to give them a break or sometimes just to mix it up for the dogs as it can refresh them a bit to run next to someone new.

The “warmer” temperatures will be great for the dogs to sleep as they can relax their muscles a bit more and stretch out rather than curling up tight to keep warm. They are currently bedded down for a good long rest.

You can see from this pic Aliy has shed her parka for chores so it must be pretty balmy out! Once Aliy has prepared the dog meal, repacked her sled and done all her arrival chores she will get some sleep herself. The handler crew will take turns watching over the team to ensure they are safe and sound. Handlers are not allowed to be ‘hands on’ with the dogs at all except at arrival and exit when they can help manoeuvre the team to and from the parking spot (or in an emergency) but they can watch over them. This also means Aliy can rest easier knowing they are fine.

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Aliy has declared their six-hour mandatory stop (plus extra 28 minutes for time differential) at Meier’s Lake so the earliest they can leave is 9:19pm. There is a BIG climb between Meier’s and Chistochina that everyone will need lots of energy for so she wanted the team and herself well rested before tackling that. You’ll see underneath the tracker map is an elevation map. “The hump” as it is affectionately known is 4,085 feet and is notorious for being a) just a really big hill and b) exposed to the weather so if it is blowing wind anywhere in the vicinity, it will be blowing up there. I haven’t heard reports of blowing yet but Jamey, the trail boss is yet to go over the hill to break trail so we will wait to see if he reports anything back.

Aliy and 11 team mates left Sourdough checkpoint after resting 3.5 hours. They are now nearing Meier’s Lake with, at the time of writing, about 15 miles to go.

Returned Dog Update:

Aliy left Champ with the crew in Sourdough. As I understand it, Champ was left as a precautionary measure to guard against frost nip. His particular combination of coat length in that area and anatomy made the risk a little high and Aliy didn’t want to risk any damage to him.

Each dog is different in that regard – some more susceptible than others. She is keeping a close eye and hands on all the dogs and will stand down anyone else she thinks needs it. Champ will complete the rest of the race in the truck and will be enjoying TLC from the crew.

Sourdough to Meier’s Lake

Aliy was able to catch a little sleep at Sourdough and with the darkness of night behind them, was in good spirits leaving the checkpoint. The dogs, as you will see from the pics below, had a cosy sleeping position so will have gotten a great rest. The CB website says of this next leg: “From the Sourdough checkpoint, the race trail heads north towards the third checkpoint at Meiers Lake Roadhouse, over a distance of ~ 40 miles. Teams will reach Twelvemile Creek at ~ 31½ miles out of Sourdough, then turn eastward after another 1½ miles of travel when intersecting with the Middle Fork Trail. Once on the Middle Fork Trail, teams will travel ~ 7 miles to reach the Meiers Lake checkpoint.”

The crew have arrived into Meier’s Lake and will be partaking of the hospitality at the Roadhouse and getting some rest before welcoming the team. They sent through a few pics and video from Sourdough.

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