As I am typing this, Ryne is pulling into White Mountain. The past 48hrs will probably end up being some of the most challenging and memorable parts of her adventure.
Yesterday a storm was blowing across the Bering Sea and mushers were piling up in Shaktoolik. Ryne came along from Unalakleet, rested a few hours, and then led a charge of about a dozen mushers out onto the ice. Her lead did not last long; with winds still whipping, Ryne’s dogs needed a lot of encouragment and ended up following other teams across the ice. In addition, somewhere out there, Ryne managed to bust a runner on one of her sleds. She 
was able to get through to us by phone from Koyuk and this started a frenzy of activity in Nome. With permission from the Race Marshall, Aliy’s sled was flown to Elim to await Ryne there. This involved calls late at night to pilots in Nome and friends of friends in Elim to ensure that the sled was flown to the airport there, picked up and delivered to the checkpoint in time for Ryne’s arrival. It’s a lot easier to write this than it was for Bridget to make it happen.
was able to get through to us by phone from Koyuk and this started a frenzy of activity in Nome. With permission from the Race Marshall, Aliy’s sled was flown to Elim to await Ryne there. This involved calls late at night to pilots in Nome and friends of friends in Elim to ensure that the sled was flown to the airport there, picked up and delivered to the checkpoint in time for Ryne’s arrival. It’s a lot easier to write this than it was for Bridget to make it happen. Ryne was in the thick of the pack and after a 2hr rest in Elim she took off for White Mountain to jockey for position for the final push to Nome. It took only a few miles to realize that this was in nobody’s best interest. She returned to Elim, dropped two dogs and rested for another two hours. This seems to have worked because she has flown along the trail to White Mountain in about 6hrs. She will take her mandatory 8hr rest and leave tommorrow morning at about 7am for Nome. A lot of her family is here and the rest of the SP Kennel crew is excited to see her and the dogs.
Aliy 
and the dogs have had lots of rest and are recovering quickly after their historic run. Yes, I said HISTORIC. As you know, this year was a personal best for her, with a total run time of 9 days, 5 hours, 29 minutes, and 10 seconds. However, it was more than just a personal best — it made Aliy the fastest woman on the Iditarod trail to date. Though we haven’t officially heard this from the Iditarod Race Organization, we did ask long time race volunteers to verify run times. They are quite certain this fact is true. Previously, Dee Dee Jonrowe held this title with her run in 1998 when she finished second with a run time of 9 days, 8 hours, 26 minutes, 10 seconds. However, this year Aliy beat that time 3 hours and 3 minutes.
and the dogs have had lots of rest and are recovering quickly after their historic run. Yes, I said HISTORIC. As you know, this year was a personal best for her, with a total run time of 9 days, 5 hours, 29 minutes, and 10 seconds. However, it was more than just a personal best — it made Aliy the fastest woman on the Iditarod trail to date. Though we haven’t officially heard this from the Iditarod Race Organization, we did ask long time race volunteers to verify run times. They are quite certain this fact is true. Previously, Dee Dee Jonrowe held this title with her run in 1998 when she finished second with a run time of 9 days, 8 hours, 26 minutes, 10 seconds. However, this year Aliy beat that time 3 hours and 3 minutes.
When I informed Aliy of this fact, in her typical Aliy style, she turned to Chica resting on the couch and said “You are also part of that history as one of the fastest females on the trail”. Chica twitched her ears, let out a yawn, and went back to sleep. Though both Aliy and Chica take this record in stride, it is one more reason to be proud of this amazing Iditarod Race.
We’ll have more updates for you tomorrow, as her run progresses towards Nome.
