SPK Dog Log

The team has been off the trail for over 12 hours and in that time they have all consumed huge quantities of calories and fluids, and spend many hours sleeping to aid in the rapid recovery from the race. Every few hours the crew let them out of the truck to stretch their legs, pee and receive soothing massages. Karolyn said she got to spend some fun time with each dog, individually, after their ate this evening and they are all looking great!

Allen has been resting also, restoring his body to peak before Quest kick-off in just 18 days. He will try to quickly get back into a regular rest schedule before it is turned upside down again!

Kelli Kramer, DVM, one of the amazing volunteer vet team for the race sent us this picture of the team leaving Sourdough. Thanks Kelli, both for the photo and also the care and attention you and the whole team showed every canine athlete in the race.

In Allen’s finish line interview with KCAM this morning he told us he had carried “his heaviest dog” for the final 50 miles of the race – and eagle eyes saw just ten dogs cross the line in the finish video. Five was the one who hitched a lift – he is doing just fine now but he got a little dehydrated on the final leg and Allen decided that instead of pushing him he would rather carry him. The vet team gave him a thorough physical exam at the finish line as a precaution. For those watching the tracker that noticed a marked decrease in speed – it is likely that is why. An extra 63 pounds in the sled and one fewer dog on the line will have that effect on a team. Of course, Allen does not regret carrying Five even if it potentially lost him a place or two.

After another good night sleep tonight and through the day tomorrow, the dogs and Allen will likely be getting restless and busting a gut to get back out on the trail. The Finishing Banquet and Prizegiving is tomorrow evening at Ernesto’s Grill in Glennallen then the crew will drive home to Two Rivers, ready to get going again on Wednesday. The dogs will have a few days of shorter, recovery runs before getting back into serious training for their next race.

Karolyn sent through some pics and video from the finish line earlier today.

Congratulations to Allen, Commando, Junior, Dutch, Amber, Kodiak, Spark, Nomex, Rodney, Five, Champ and Violet – and Chevie – on their 6th placing in the CB300.

The team crossed the line at 9:07am with wagging tails and smiles with a total run time of 27 hours, 59 mins. They enjoyed lots of care and attention (and thawed meat snacks) from the handler crew and are now resting in their cozy straw-lined boxes. Allen is enjoying some home cooking at the checkpoint and will soon be asleep himself. The handler crew can also now enjoy a few hours where they don’t have to check the tracker or keep an eye out for the team arriving.

KCAM were streaming live and interviewed Allen at the finish line, after race officials checked his sled for gear and officially signed off the trail.

Allen joked that he “waited till daylight” to come in and seemed in good spirits. He said it was the best conditions he’d ever experienced on the CB300 and that he had never in his 16 years of CBs seen trails like this and thought the race times would reflect that. He said they were ideal conditions for the “fast teams”. He is happy with how the dogs ran, averaging 10-11 mph which is perfect for the Quest and Iditarod but he said this team doesn’t go 13-15 mph which is what it would have taken to win today.

Congrats to Nic, Brent, Matt, Sven and Michelle!

We’ll bring you more soon. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who followed along with us! Let’s do it all again in a couple of weeks for the Yukon Quest!

Right on time, Allen and his eleven team mates: Commando, Junior, Dutch, Amber, Kodiak, Spark, Nomex, Rodney, Five, Champ and Violet left Lake Louise at 12:28am for the final 73 miles to the finish line at Old Path’s Church in Glennallen. The left the checkpoint in fifth position.

As indicated earlier, due to the warm weather (currently +5F) the dogs will enjoy the final run sans coats and Allen has also shed his outer layers as he will be ski-poling hard for all 73 of those miles. Although he is happy enough with his current position he is also reminded that ANYTHING can happen so it is always a good idea to keep pushing till the end.

Commando and Junior left in lead, having led for the entire race. Shout out to Junior, having had eight puppies back in August and coming back to lead a competitive team in the CB300! Evidently the team was lunging and pulling as they waited out their countdown to GO!

Now the team has left the final checkpoint the handler crew can breath out and relax a little. They have contributed as much as they can to the race effort. They will clean up the camp site for the last time (for this race at least, only to do it all again for the Quest in a couple of weeks!) then pack up the truck for the drive back to Glennallen, 56 road miles away. Once there they will likely try to catch a couple hours rest – or obsessively refresh the tracker – before greeting the team perhaps around 8 hours later.

Once the team crosses the line they will enjoy some thawed meat snacks, a lovingly prepared meal and full body massage and then will be put to bed for a few hours to start their rest and recovery cycle. Allen always enjoys the hospitality of the team at Old Paths so will likely stay there a while enjoying the home cooking and conversation.

We will update you as quickly as possible from the finish.

Here’s a couple more pics from soon after they arrived.

And here’s a pic Karolyn captioned “When you’re ready way before you have to leave…” – Allen taking a quick cat-nap with Kodiak

Karolyn shared some snaps from The Point Lodge. Check. It. Out!

Remember – ANYTHING can happen… refresh, refresh, refresh

Allen and team pulled into The Point Lodge at 8:58pm with a run time of 5 hours, 43 minutes. Allen was really happy with how the team is going, they’ve worked well all race and he’s proud of them.

Karolyn reports that Commando and Junior were perfect leading them in and listening to Bridgett to park. It is warm there right now at around -5F and Allen will likely take jackets off both him and the team for the final run to the finish line.

Even though they were 8th into the checkpoint they still sit in 5th according to my calculated cumulative run time. Again, a disclaimer – these are only my maths and not official times or results!

You will see in the table that the teams now have differing amounts of time to wait before they can leave for the finish line. The top teams will take the minimum of 18 hours rest during this race. If that is the case, according to my calculations, Nic will be first out of the checkpoint at 11:30 pm, followed by Brent, Matt, Sven then Allen at 28 mins past midnight. Michelle and Robert follow shortly after. From there it is a straight shot through to the finish where cumulative run times, time differential and strategy are all moot. It’s all on!

Apologies to all you excel fans – I do know my formulas are inconsistent causing the green alerts but the numbers are right (I think!)

Allen and the Black Team are currently on their way to The Point Lodge on Lake Louise – at the time of posting they are about 20 miles out. He and 11 barking, leaping team mates left Sourdough after a five hour rest, at 3:15 pm. He will be hoping his ski-poling and well rested dogs make up some time on the flats of the lakes. The run over to The Point Lodge passes through Middle Lake, Fish Lake and Crosswind Lake as well as Lake Louise.

You can see from the pics below that Allen is running the dogs in the same configuration as they started: Commando and Junior in lead, Dutch and Amber in swing, Spark and Kodi, Nomex is running on his own, Rodney and Five then Champ and Violet.

This leg is reportedly around 55 miles long so will take about 6 hours for the front runners to complete.

Handlers and supporters have a treat at the lodge with a large deck on the front affording 270 degree view of the surrounding lake and mountains so will see the teams coming in plenty of time to prepare for them. They are looking forward to the hospitality after the rustic Sourdough checkpoint.

Once the crew got back into coverage Karolyn sent through a bunch of pics from Sourdough:

The top five going by cumulative run time and current data (and my maths – disclaimer) is as follows:

The run to Sourdough checkpoint was 34 miles and the Black Team pulled into the checkpoint at 10:15 am for a run time of 3 hours, 35 minutes.

As mentioned in my previous post, there is minimal coverage there to get any pics or messages from the team so this is a short and sweet update. We did manage one text message from Karolyn, I guess the wind was blowing favourably or Karolyn ran up a hill or something…

The dogs are very happy and enjoying their work. Allen is ski-poling hard to help the team along. Evidently Allen felt like it was a slow run and was surprised at his run time as it was faster then he imagined. One rule that Allen said he will never break is speeding DOWN hills. This is often when a dog can get injured if the descents down hills are uncontrolled. So, he would rather make up time up hills and on the flats and ski-poling can help with that. He did say that trails are the best he has ever seen so kudos to Jamey Kemp and his crew for getting them in tip-top shape.

Please note: these pics were from LAST YEAR but will give you an idea of what the checkpoint will be like – only with a little less snow I imagine.

After some rest here the team heads to Lake Louise, to the Point Lodge. Trail notes tell us “From Sourdough checkpoint, the race trail crosses the Gulkana River again and heads southwestward toward the fourth and final checkpoint at The Point Lodge on Lake Louise, a total cross-country distance of 55 miles.  The trail through this section skirts or crosses over numerous lakes including Fish Lake (19 miles out of Sourdough) and Crosswind Lake (32 miles out of Sourdough).  The Lake Louise crossing is a distance of just over 3 miles from the lake’s eastern edge to The Point Lodge on the lake’s southern edge.”

Mushers need to be on top of their game travelling over the lakes as there are a significant number of snow machine and cross country trails, each with different markers and directional indicators. They must keep watch for the CB trail markers or they may find themselves circling the lakes.

NOTE: for those asking, we make our own spreadsheet of run times using the in and out times posted on the website.

Allen and 11 team mates left Meiers Lake checkpoint at 6:40am. They took their mandatory six hour plus differential rest here and will be credited six hours towards the overall minimum 18 hours they must take throughout the race.

Returned Dog Update

Unfortunately, Allen had to leave Chevie with the handler crew in Meiers Lake as she tweaked her shoulder just a few miles out from the checkpoint.

She had done an awesome job up to then, pulling hard up the hills and making the most of her promotion to the “big time”. She will enjoy some massage with warm liniment and enforced rest for a few days before reassessment. She gets to complete the race in the truck with the crew and will be spoilt, no doubt.

Allen was sorry to leave her as he was enjoying her enthusiasm.

Karolyn captured this video of the team arriving into the checkpoint. You can hear the checkers and officials doing a gear check of Allen’s sled. This is to ensure all the mandatory gear is present. Mushers must carry a sleeping bag, ax, snowshoes, cooker, spare booties, adequate food for dogs and human and a vet book with info about each dog as that has been deemed the minimum required for survival. Of course, mushers carry more than that for contingency, such as spare dog jackets, equipment, vet supplies, clothes, mitts and gloves depending on conditions.

You can also see how our handler crew tag-team at a checkpoint. Bridgett met the team at check-in and directed Allen to Mark, who was standing by the drop bags to show Allen where his were to pick up on the way (so he didn’t have to go back and get them after he parked), while Bridgett and Karolyn ran ahead to catch the team and lead them to their parking spot.

It’s a really efficient method and results in as little time as possible being “unproductive” with waiting around or retracing steps. An efficient checkpoint routine can make or break a race and the handlers are doing their bit to help.

While seeing out their mandatory rest here, there is also a mandatory vet exam of all dogs. Head Vet Nina Hansen and her crew of dedicated vets and techs spend a good deal of time going over every dog, checking hydration levels, movement in joints and overall condition of the dogs. They work in conjunction with the musher as a team, each with the welfare of the dogs as the top priority. They were able to advise on Chevie and agreed with Allen’s assessment that it was best to leave her behind today.

The trail over to Sourdough “heads westward along the Middle Fork Trail for about 7 miles to the first Gulkana River crossing, at which point the race trail turns southward and intersects Twelvemile Creek, 8½ miles out of Meier’s Lake checkpoint.  The third checkpoint at BLM’s Sourdough Campground is another 24½ miles further on down the trail.” With a number of river crossings and warmer temperatures the teams may experience some overflow on this section of trail.

There is zero cell coverage at Sourdough and limited facilities for mushers and handler crews (and volunteers!). It is a very ‘rustic’ checkpoint at the BLM campground where mushers must melt snow for water and often times will sleep out next to their dog team. This will be no problem for Allen, he is quite accustomed to camping on the trail in the Quest and Iditarod so this checkpoint is much the same. With no internet the volunteers employ old-school checker tactics – essentially they must just sit and wait to catch sight of teams arriving on the trail ahead of them. We will be seeing more than them via the GPS.

Here’s the top five as I see it with current information.

NOTE: from Moira. Although it is Sunday in Alaska, it is Monday here in New Zealand and I have to go to my day job so won’t be able to update as much as you and I might like. Please keep an eye on the GPS tracker and checkpoint times on the CB300 website in the meantime.