SPK Dog Log

I’m pretty groggy, but I think I’ve got the math right:

Aliy is 13 minutes behind Mitch… 13 minutes is 780 seconds.
The distance from White Mountain to Nome is 77 miles.
Aliy must gain 780 seconds over 77 miles… Almost exactly 10 seconds per mile.

Mitch’s pace from Elim to White Mountain was 6 mph, or 10 minutes per mile.
At that pace, Aliy must gain 10 seconds every 10 minutes, or 1 second per minute!

Is that close enough for you?

If you don’t like math, here’s another way to look at it:
Aliy gained 35 minutes on Mitch over the 46 miles from Elim to White Mountain.
Racing to Nome, she will have almost twice as far to make up less than half the time.

Either way you look at it, Aliy, Quito and the fantastic dogs of the SP Kennel Red Team are in great shape to chase down the leader and be the first to cross under the burled arch in Nome! Yikes!

A number of you are asking for an update on who is still running on each team. We haven’t seen some of them off the trail yet but by the photos and videos we are seeing from news agencies and several of us pouring over them we believe we know who is still running.

On the Red Team, in the most recent video from White Mountain, is Quito in single lead followed by Scout in single Swing, Beemer and Willie, Scruggs and Olivia, Mac and Nacho with Chica and Biscuit in wheel.

Aliy dropped Tug in Rainy Pass, Dingle in Nikolai, Rambler in Shageluk, Puppet and Waylon in Kaltag, and Boondocks in Koyuk. Tug is at home in Two Rivers; Dingle is with Margie in Wasilla; Rambler, Puppet, Waylon and Boondocks are still out on the trail getting very well looked after by the dog drop volunteers and will be met by our good friends “Team Miller” in Anchorage who will take them out to Margie. There is a possibility that Boondocks will be flown forwards to Nome and we meet her later today.

On the Black Team, in the video from Unalakleet, is Chemo and Viper in lead, followed by Schmoe and Scooter, Lester and Fang, Spicy running solo, I.V and Pud, Clyde and Moxie with Bonita and Tatfish in wheel.

Allen dropped Sissy in Finger Lake, Kipper in Nikolai and Honda in Kaltag. Sissy is at home in Two Rivers, Kipper is with Margie in Wasilla and Honda is likely to be flown to Anchorage in the next couple of days.

Sebastian Schnuelle posted this picture (below left) of Boondocks in the dogdrop area taking a nice long nap! Below right is a screen shot of Allen’s team with Chemo and Viper leading out.

Aliy and team made the run from Elim to White Mountain in just under seven hours and pulled in at 5.24, just 13 minutes behind Mitch Seavey. Jeff King arrived almost an hour and a half later. All three are now on their mandatory eight hour layover: Aliy will be able to leave there at 1.24pm this afternoon.

The Insider video of them pulling in to White Mountain shows her frosted but really upbeat! The dogs looked good coming in and I think you can hear her say “yeah, baby!” when she looked at times on the sign in sheet. There is a second video where she spends a little time with Mac, it is a very sweet moment! “Oh my goodness, the rookie comes through! Look at you, you’re so good!” She said he was barking at the people in Golovin which shows he’s feeling good.

During these eight hours the mushers will be trying to let the dogs get as much undisturbed sleep and as many calories as possible. This is Aliy’s first chance at getting some quality rest since her 24 hour break; she can be assured of getting a good five hours rest and get a wake-up call by Race Judges, as can every other musher. Mushers write on a chalk-board what time they wish to be woken.

We can be assured that Aliy will “get light” for this section by dropping as much weight out of her sled as she can while keeping all her mandatory gear!

This is no cake walk! This is the last 75 miles of the Iditarod! Here the team will traverse many rolling hills that seem endless to the musher and dog-team alike. The team starts climbing approximately two hours out of the checkpoint all the way until they come over “Topkok” where she will return to the Bering Sea Coast. They then drops back to sea level running along the beach where they will meet “the blow hole” face-to-face. The blow-hole is known for ground storms with 50-60 MPH winds in the short 3-5 mile section but conditions can change from one minute to the next due to the terrain around the area.

Allen and mates have arrived into Shaktoolik at 4.37am and are resting before heading out on the Bering Sea Coast to Koyuk. This part of the coast is described as bleak, flat, and deadly monotonous. You can see in an Insider video how Allen “got light” back in Unalakleet by taking the back-end of his sled, he wants to make it as easy on this team as he can and dropping weight to go through the hills will help.

Thanks for sending through all your pictures, here’s a taste of what y’all are doing tonight…

Chris; Cassandra and Mochi

Kristie; Kirsten

Angie; KLB

Nancy; Carolyn and Gunnar

Allen and team have had just over six hours rest in Unalakleet and are now back on the trail. He left at 11.03pm and still has 13 team mates on the trail with him.

He is heading towards Shatoolik and will travel through the “Blueberry Hills”. We thought you might enjoy seeing some “Aliy Cam” from last year’s race when she travelled through this section which is one of her favourite parts of the whole Iditarod Trail.

Here are some of the team in Nome… seriously… we didn’t pose this picture!

Who’s sleeping tonight?

L-R: Meghan, Moira, Scotty, Bridgett, Ryne and Wendy

Aliy and the team have left Elim at 10.25pm after one hour, 43 minutes of rest! She is still running with 10 dogs. Mitch Seavey is a mere two miles ahead of her and at the time of writing no-one else has checked out of Elim.

They are now on their way to White Mountain via the village of Golovin. This is a difficult section of trail as they climb the notorious Little McKinley and traverse several passes ranging 800 to 1000+ feet. Aliy will be ski-poling and running in the race of her life!

Once they climb through these hills they will drop down on Golovin Bay. Coming into Golovin can be both mentally and physically challenging for both the mushers and dogs alike, as this is not an official checkpoint of the Iditarod but a village of welcoming fans and onlookers. All mushers’ goal will be to pass through without stopping although you may see Aliy pause here for autographs as she is known, as well as Lance Mackey, to do this.

After leaving the village of Golovin they briefly leave the Bering Sea Coast to travel upriver on the Fish River to the village of White Mountain. Fans: cross your fingers, say your prayers or do whatever it is that you do as this is one of the last runs of the race.

Once they reach White Mountain all teams have a mandatory (and much deserved) eight hour rest.