SPK Dog Log

It’s 11.30pm Saturday night.

RED TEAM UPDATE

Aliy and the Red Team are currently resting in Koyukuk. They arrived just after 8pm and we expect 4-6 hours rest here.

She pulled into the checkpoint with Mismo and Junior in lead, Spark and Dutch in swing, Commando and Iron, Izzy and Driver, Amber, Schmoe and Rodney, Champ and Felix. We have concluded that it was Kodiak that she left in Huslia but we don’t know why at this point.

Mismo and Junior lead the team into Koyukuk

You can see just how warm it is in the video with several of the dogs running without their jackets and Aliy with only her red beanie and one neck gator.

Formally signing into Koyukuk

We also see that Aliy has attached one of the Head-lites glowing collars to her sled. She will be lit up like a Christmas tree tonight.

Remember when I mentioned that at some points through the race we watch inch-by-inch and minute-by-minute of the tracker. The next leg is one of those times. Thanks to everyone that is doing that right alongside us.

BLACK TEAM UPDATE

Allen and 15 team mates left Huslia almost exactly as the Red Team pulled into Koyukuk, after resting nearly seven hours. He has left one team mate behind to be returned to our Anchorage team of Linda and Margie. As you are sick of me saying by now, at this stage we don’t know who he has left so will have to wait and see until he or she arrives back to Headquarters. This info can take a few days and there’s not much we can do to hurry it along.

They are currently 25 miles outside of Huslia and we expect them to camp along the trail at some point. Allen may break it into half with two 45-odd miles runs like he did the Galena-Huslia stretch or go a little further, blow through Koyukuk and head straight for Nulato. Or he may choose another option – I really don’t know.

The stretch they are currently on has been slow for everyone and with the temperatures rising we are presuming the trail is getting soft and slow. Jessie Royer described that part of the trail as having a thin crust on top like an eggshell and once it’s broken through it doesn’t have much of a base. It’s possible it may “set up” overnight in the cooler temperatures and make it easier going.

RETURNED DOG UPDATE

Woody and Violet are now with Margie at her kennel in Knik. It is a beautiful spot there and they get to have their own space. They’re doing well – they seem happy and having had a couple days rest their soreness is mostly gone. They ate a nice meal and are settling in for a sleep.

No, Linda, you can’t keep her! Walking the neighbourhood

Good boy Woody; with Margie (yes, they are holding hands)

NOTE

Alaska moves into Daylight Savings time tonight so for those of you watching from outside the US and you are wondering why things look about an hour out, that’s why.

Good morning! It’s 10am Saturday

RED TEAM UPDATE

Aliy and 13 team mates went through Huslia around four this morning. They are currently placed 9th on the leaderboard but there are still teams to complete their eight hour mandatory stops and only once all teams have both green ticks next to their name will we really know what’s what.

Aliy spent just 16 minutes in the checkpoint where she has left one more team mate with the vet and volunteer team. At this stage we don’t know who that is and, as ever, we appreciate your patience as we find out.

The team is camped 30 miles outside of Huslia, about 55 miles since their last camp. This then gives Aliy a few options of where to stop next. The most likely stop, if she continues this current run/rest schedule, is the village of Koyukuk – another approx 55 miles away. Nulato checkpoint is another 22 miles from there.

I don’t need to tell you that this next stretch of river will be emotional for Aliy, as it is for us watching her. She will be determined to continue to focus on the dogs and the job to be done, and we are focussed on sending positive energy to her.

BLACK TEAM UPDATE

Allen stopped his 16-strong team almost exactly half-way to Huslia for around three hours, which leads us to believe he is perhaps planning to stop in the checkpoint. They are back on the trail now.

The Black Team’s schedule is very different to that of the Red Team as Allen has different goals for the team. He’s not alone in his goal of wanting to get as many healthy and happy dogs to the finish line as possible but he and his older dogs are also teaching the youngsters how to be 1000 mile racers. That is a different kettle of fish than for those racing seasoned, experienced dogs.

By the end of the race the rookies and the other younger dogs will hopefully have the checkpoint routine down pat – settle in to sleep quickly and eat all that is in front of them. Allen’s three rookies: Five, Scooby and Hotshot, have already run further than they ever have in a race and Nomex has also just passed that milestone. He developed a sore shoulder in Cripple last year and had to go home early. Chena and Tinder, his other less experienced team mates, will be consolidating their knowledge from last year.

Chipper posed an interesting selection decision for Aliy and Allen. Although she is talented, fit and healthy and could have made the Red Team she would have been a “team dog” on that team. By running with the Black Team she is a big fish, will get to lead and boss others about, and is one of the more experienced crew. He will have fun with her on his squad.

RETURNED DOG UPDATE

Linda has Woody and Violet with her in Anchorage. Woody was dropped as he had a sore shoulder and Violet a sore wrist. They are both eating and enjoying cuddles and love from Linda. Linda did say that she might not ever return Violet and that she might have to stay at her house forever!

Congrats to Bennett Spelce who is a fan of Dancer and Gaye Walton who is a fan of Prata

Neither Dancer nor Prata are racing currently, Dancer is enjoying some spring mushing on the Two Rivers trails and Prata is playing in the sunshine with her brother and sister as the temperatures begin to rise. Dancer trained well all season and we’re looking forward already to next season to see how she and her siblings develop into “proper” race dogs. Prata is growing up fast. She and her siblings Gold and Bronze get lots of attention as they are right up near the house so everyone that walks by gets accosted by one or all of them. They will soon get their first run in harness.

Bennett and Gaye both win a signed “Iditarod” drop bag plus a photo print portrait of their dog along with a few other kennel goodies. We hope you enjoy your packets! We were going to draw winners when the Red Team arrived in Iditarod checkpoint but as the route is different, Huslia is where the supplies that were originally destined for Iditarod have been redirected.

Next draw is when the Red Team reaches the coast. Everyone who has joined by the time of the draw and hasn’t already won will be in to win!

Click the button below for more information about how to join:

Click this button to take you directly to the Dog Fan Page.

It’s 11pm on Friday night. We have landed in Nome and are back to staring at the tracker!

RED TEAM UPDATE

Aliy and the Red Team are currently camping on the trail 25 miles from Huslia. They left Galena right on time at 2.37pm this afternoon. They have been stopped there for around 1.5 hours at the time of writing.

An Insider video of the team leaving showed enthusiastic dogs and Aliy sounded perky and ready to get back on the trail. She talked about the gastro issues the team had and said it wasn’t bad – they weren’t “sick-sick” but that they just weren’t 100% and a bit flat. The eight hour rest in Ruby followed immediately by 24 hours in Galena was what she believed the team needed and what she hopes was a good coaching move. The video showed the team eating a sloppy meaty water meal and she was very happy about that!

Screen shots of Insider video: Schmoe enjoying the sunshine, Leaving Galena

Aliy talked about how important it is to make good decisions early in the race and how what you do at mile 200, 300 or 400 comes back to you at mile 800. When asked about the weather change to warmer temperatures she said: “There’s nothing you can do about it so getting bummed one way or the other is not going to help you out“. There are some great words to live by!

Leaving Galena Aliy had Commando and Spark in lead, Junior and Izzy in swing, Dutch and Iron, Mismo and Driver, Amber and Kodiak, Schmoe and Rodney, Champ and Felix. She has certainly mixed the line up around a bit!

By stopping and camping 25 miles outside Huslia we can expect the team will “blow through” the checkpoint, stopping only to get supplies for the next leg and letting the vet team get hands on all the dogs. After Huslia is the checkpoint of Koyukuk, some 85(ish) miles away. It seems unlikely they would make that 110 mile run straight through to Koyukuk so we expect them to camp again along the trail.

BLACK TEAM UPDATE

Allen and his team mates are due to leave Galena at 11.55pm tonight.

Allen’s drop bags for his 24 hour stop included the same kibble and meat supplies, blankets and jackets as Aliy. His human food was different through: we packed moose and sweet potato lasagne, meatballs in alfredo sauce and, as a treat he didn’t know about – cheesy popcorn!

It was wonderful to see in the video of Aliy leaving Galena, Allen was right there with her cheering her and the dogs on.

As Aliy goes through the villages along the way, keep an eye on the ANDVSA and Matson Facebook pages for pictures of her supporters. To find out more and how to donate go to andvsa.org. All moneys donated during March, April and May will go towards helping children from the villages along the Iditarod Trail attend the Lead On! Conference in November.

Take a ride on the tag sled for Allen and the Black Team’s Ceremonial Run.

Ruth wore a head mounted GoPro (thanks Verizon) so I could leave in all the corners that I had to put the hand-held camera down for!

We have received word that it was Woody that Aliy left in Ruby checkpoint and Violet in Galena.

Woody has had a “breakout” season! He had a summer on the glacier with Chris giving tourists a sled dog experience and came back with new confidence in himself. He raced everything this year! He was in the Copper Basin 300, the Two Rivers 100, the Northern Lights 300, Yukon Quest 300 and now he made the top team in the Iditarod!

Violet has gotten stronger and stronger as the season went on. She ran the Copper Basin and Yukon Quest 300 with Aliy and the Two Rivers 100 with Chris. After finishing last year’s Iditarod strongly on the Black Team she made the step up to the “big time” this season.

We are not certain of the reasons yet until we get to see the vet paperwork that accompanies the dogs home to Anchorage. We’ll let you know more as we find out.

They will both be flown back to Anchorage as soon as possible where Linda will be waiting for them with lots and lots of love. We’ll hear from Linda once she has them on the ground.

If you would like to know more about “Returned Dogs” – Kennel Mom Mickey has written a few great articles for the blog about them. Check them out here from 2015 and here from 2013. The dogs are treated like ROCK STARS and are in good hands from the moment they leave the team to the time they get home. Thank you to all the vets and volunteers that are looking after our friends.

This is pretty long so make a coffee, put your feet up and enjoy the view from the tag sled of the Red Team during the Ceremonial Start back on Saturday.

Watch out for our moose encounter at 11:50. It is hard to tell how close it was because I was a ways behind filming, but by the time we rounded the corner it was too late to stop the team, Ms Moose was right alongside and turned towards Izzy when Aliy roared at her to move along. It was pretty scary!

BTW we use the tag sled to add weight to the line. For the ceremonial start we want the teams to be going slower as they are through the streets amongst thousands of people. An extra sled and person adds more control.

It’s 5.45am Friday morning.

RED TEAM UPDATE

Aliy and the Red Team continues to rest in Galena as they have chosen to take their mandatory 24 hour stop there. The earliest they can leave the checkpoint is 2.37pm this afternoon.

Although Galena was one of the potential 24 hour checkpoints we packed drop bags for, it wasn’t Aliy’s Plan A. The dogs are still battling a gastro bug so she has altered her race plan to give them time to get over it. She’ll be working with the vets to ensure they get what they need during this break in the confidence and belief that they will get their spark back and get back on the trail this afternoon with renewed vigour.

She will be concerned they are not feeling well and will do what it takes to help them.

BLACK TEAM UPDATE

Allen and the Black Team pulled in to Galena at 10.41 last night last night. It appears Allen may have also declared their 24 hour stop there and, if so, the earliest they can leave is 11.55pm Saturday evening.

Padee caught the moment they pulled in last night and said all 16 dogs were moving quickly and she could see happiness and some lunging!

CREW UPDATE

The first wave of crew is heading to Nome today. Mickey, Doug, Chris and I will lead the advance party and get on the ground later tonight. I will be incommunicado for much of the day so continue keeping an eye on the GPS Trackers and Insider videos for updates.

To give you something to watch other than the tracker, I have finally edited up the Ceremonial Start videos. They are scheduled to post throughout the day and I hope you enjoy them.

I will update again late tonight.