Bill Gallea for Ultimate Iditarod

Ramy Brooks’ dogs weren’t the only ones who would be running to Shaktoolik Monday night.

RUNNING SHOES
THE FEARSOME FOURSOME
FURTHER BACK


RUNNING SHOES

Ramy Brooks donned running shoes last evening to help him chase Robert Sorlie’s team. Apparently that wasn’t enough to close the gap on Sorlie’s phenomenal athletes. Both teams took about 6 1/3 hours to get from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik. Robert then rested 5:41, but Ramy decided to rest longer. He has headed across Norton Bay to Koyuk after a rest of 6:31.

Robert now has a three-hour lead. His team left looking strong. In fact, Doug Swingley’s word for his dogs was: “awesome”. Both he and Joe Runyan are convinced that Robert’s team has not yet dipped into its reserves of strength. They believe that if Robert feels a significant threat to his position as leader of Iditarod XXXI, he can “put the pedal to the metal”, and pull away.

Your UltimateIditarod team arrived back in Unalakleet last evening in time to see Ramy Brooks switch to his lighter “finishing sled”, and leave here. Ramy himself was really fired up, but his team clearly wasn’t as energetic. He made three or four leader switches, and had to become lead dog himself for a few yards to get the team moving down the trail.

Race Marshal, Mark Nordman, orients Robert Sorlie to the checkpoint in Unalakleet shortly after his arrival to capture the Gold Coast Award.

Robert, on the other hand, looked super-tired according to checkpoint officials who were here at the time. He has a tough time resting in checkpoints. No doubt his body is really pumping out the adrenalin at the prospect of becoming an Iditarod champion. Fortunately his dogs look wonderful. So the way the Race is shaping up at the front is that if Robert can keep himself together, and not make a major mistake, he should have the honor of being the first European musher to win an Iditarod.

Jeff King came in late last evening with a really strong looking team. But they left here 8 hours behind Robert’s dogs, making it almost impossible for him to catch the Norwegian. Jeff’s race would appear to be for second place. If Ramy continues to push to win, he might fall back and allow Jeff to finish ahead.


THE FEARSOME FOURSOME

We still can’t catch a glimpse of Cindy and Mitch. As of this writing, Mitch is out of Kaltag, having departed at 4:40 AM with 11 dogs. He rested just under 9 hours. Cindy is out of Eagle Island going upriver with 10 dogs. She signed out of there at exactly the same time Mitch signed out of Kaltag, 65 miles ahead.

The good news here is that Cindy still has Willow to lead her team. Yesterday afternoon, while in Anvik, I learned from veteran Iditarod veterinarian, Jean Dieden, that Willow was a little sore in her left front leg. Even after careful exams by Jean and her colleagues, as well as Cindy, the source of the discomfort couldn’t be pinpointed. This had shown up after resting in Grayling, and Willow seemed to improve as she mushed toward Anvik, the turnaround point in this year’s Idita-detour.

Tyrell boots up his team before heading downriver to Anvik Monday.

Jim hurries to pack his sled and sign out of the Grayling checkpoint Monday to try to catch up with Tyrell

But Cindy still has not dropped any dogs since passing quickly through Anvik, so we know Willow is still in the team. Cindy regards Willow as one of her key dogs. Last year for Jim, it was Willow and Otis who led the entire way from Ruby to Nome. The year before, Willow had stepped up to the role of main leader while Cindy and Mike Williams battled fierce headwinds trying to leave Anvik on the traditional southern route followed by Iditarod in odd-numbered years.

We finally caught up with Jim and Tyrell late yesterday afternoon in Grayling. Ty was just booting to leave, planning to travel with another rookie musher, Carla Kelly. Ty had no further mishaps since he retrieved his errant dog, as described by Daniel in an earlier update. He was hoping Jim would catch up with him soon, so they could try once again to travel together.

Carla is a very interesting woman. She is a physical therapist who works with children, but she also has special training in animal rehabilitation. No wonder her team of huskies looks so strong! They clearly feel wonderful, most likely as a result of the skilled, hands-on care they get at each rest stop. And that’s probably also why she still had 13 of her starters in harness as they left Grayling looking perky. Carla herself is one of the most upbeat, and awake mushers we’ve seen in the past few days. Go, Carla!!

Just as we lifted off the ice in the Otter we spotted Jim a mile or so out of the checkpoint. I sure appreciated Paul’s willingness to return so we could see Jim. But Jim wasn’t going to stay long. He only re-stocked his sled and left. I got a quick hug, and a couple pictures, but it was enough to confirm for me that he’s in good shape. He hopes to hook up with Tyrell soon, but only if it works out easily. He won’t push his dogs to do that. He told us that they’re “in the zone”. By that he means they’re into their routine of running, resting, eating. This is a wonderful feeling for a musher to have: confidence that twice each day your dogs will get 40 to 60 miles closer to Nome, and their much-deserved long rest. Jim will pass by Tyrell after Ty spins around in Anvik to head back upriver. That will give them a chance to discuss their mutual strategy.


FURTHER BACK

Rookie Carla Kelly signs an autograph for children in Grayling before leaving Monday afternoon.

A few more scratches have occurred. We ran into Keith Aili, who – like us – got his first racing experiences in the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Minnesota. He had a pretty smooth run last year as a rookie. But this year he had numerous injuries early on, and ultimately got down to such a small team that he didn’t feel he could continue. He noted that all of his pre-race training was on very hard-packed trail. There was so little snowfall in Minnesota this year that all the trails were icy and fast. The early miles of the “Idita-detour” this year were slow and punchy, totally different than what they were used to. This is what Keith feels led to his dogs’ injuries. But he affirmed that he’d be back next year, noting: “I’ve sure learned a lot!”

Todd Capistrant also scratched. I was really saddened to hear that, since I got to know Todd a bit in Ruby, and found him to be a gem of a guy. Of course that has nothing to do with the fact that he’s also a physician, and is struggling with how to balance family and work with his passion for Iditarod.

The word is that he couldn’t continue due to an injury. That made sense to me, since we talked quite a bit in Ruby about the creative way he treated himself after getting hurt on the way to Manley. Soon after twisting his ankle, he fashioned a split for himself. He had brought along some fiberglass casting material, which hardens upon exposure to humidity. However, unlike plaster, once hardened this stuff won’t break down if it gets wet. He made a stirrup splint over a sock, then wrapped with an elastic bandage. This helped prevent further swelling, and allowed him to fit inside his boot. I found this musher committed to going on even though he had pain with every step. Apparently the next two hundred fifty miles of pain took its toll. I sure hope he is able to come back next year.