Mitch
11:oop.m.
March 15, 2006

by Tyrell Seavey

Ultimate Iditarod's coverage of the 2006 Iditarod sponsored by:

After a few hours sleep Mitch is much more coherent than before and he is now eating his fourth big meal since his finish less than 12 hours ago. He lost approximately 15 lbs. in the last ten days and he was too skinny to start with. Mitch always gives 100% in the Iditarod and even though he could not bring it together for a win this year he never gave up. He worked determinedly towards Nome from the start to the finish and exhausted himself in the process. The dogs were the ones doing most of the work but I have to say they appear to be in better condition than my dad. They will most likely bounce back to full capacity within a week while it will take my dad three or four times that long. It is my opinion that he pushed the envelope this year working himself hard to try and make up for his dog teamís discrepancies.

I asked him what exactly were the discrepancies in the team and he said, ìThe discrepancies were not with the dogs in the team, but with the dogs that were NOT in the team.î (I am almost entirely paraphrasing since the conversation was before he slept meaning it was nearly incomprehensible. He fell asleep probably 15 times while trying to tell a few stories sitting at the kitchen table prior to being convinced to go to bed.) ìThe dogs I finished with gave me 110% but they were not the best dogs I have ever runÖî He paused for a moment then continued, ìThey were actually one of the better matched teams I have ever raced, they worked well together and were consistent on the long runs but they just didnít have the talent to win.î

After finally completing ten tough days on the trail it would take a lot to dampen his spirits. He is very proud of his team and instead of holding their lack of skills against them he said, ìThose dogs gave me everything they had. That is all you can ever ask of a team. So yes, I am very happy with them.î I respect his attitude a lot. It is easy as a spectator to be disappointed with the team or the dogs, but the musher always has the best perspective. He knows how hard the race was for the dogs and how much they put on the line for him. Any dog that makes it to Nome worked their heart out for the musher and showed an incredible amount of fortitude and stick-to-itiveness and because of this bond it is impossible for an Iditarod musher to see their dogs as anything other than champions.

The technical challenge involved in posting these updates from Nome is substantial, but thanks to all the encouragement I have received from you readers I am still diligently typing away. Sometimes I wish I were as tough as my dadís dogsÖ