March 4 - Afternoon Update

It was a rough morning for our mushers.  The big news today is the harsh trail conditions from Rohn to Nikolai. The forerunners are heading from Rohn into Nikolai through some of the toughest sections of the trail, including the Farewell Burn.  Iditarod.com has a great detailed description of this part of the trail.  Jen Seavey says this about this section of the trail:

The Burn is bad. Low snow years in the past have resulted in jarring, musher busting, sled breaking trips, but this year there is no snow. Expect to see a lot of broken sleds and tired, bruised mushers in Nikolai.

The scariest part of this section is always the first 20 miles out of Rohn. The trail weaves through a gravel bar and drift wood obstacle course on the glare ice of the Rohn River before suddenly veering into the trees. (You don't want to miss that turn!) For the next 15 miles, it winds through the trees and alternates between glaciated side hills and frozen dirt moguls. Once you careen your way through there, you are faced with several more hours of frozen tundra tussocks to bounce over. The trail gets better as you get closer to Nikolai. Post card worthy birch tree forests and a pristine snow covered river lead into the checkpoint.

You can imagine that this area is still filled with rocks, stumps, hillocks, logs, ditches and other hazards. There is often wind with gusts up to 40 mph. Now imagine going over it with no snow.  In a sled.  With 16 excited dogs pulling you along.  And no sure way to stop them. 

Below is Martin Buser’s team travelling through the Farewell Burn (or, as it has been dubbed this year the Farewell Brown):

Here are some quick highlights I’ve gathered from the morning reports:

·         Aaron Burmeister crashed going down a hill when his brake caught on a stump and dislocated his knee in the subsequent crash.  He field dressed it with vet wrap and duct tape and is hoping to get a knee brace in Rohn so he can continue.

·         Hugh Neff said “it’s a minefield out there!” and broke his break off the sled.

·         Jeff King’s team jumped over a deep, wide hole, but the sled (and musher) weren’t so lucky, slamming into it hard.  Jeff says “it’s the roughest I’ve ever seen it.”  He ought to know, as he is a 22-time race finisher and a four-time winner.

·         Linwood Feidler scratched in Rohn, citing “physical injury from driving the Dalzell Gorge.”

·         DeeDee Jonrowe scratched in Rohn, saying she was “beat up physically by in the Dalzell Gorge.”

·         Jim Lanier scratched in Rohn because he injured his leg.

·         Mike Santos scratched in Rohn for “personal reasons.”

·         Nicholas Petit arrived in Nikolai about 5:35 this morning with a trashed sled, 16 happy dogs, and a twisted knee.  Comments from Joe Runyan’s blog:

He was having fun with the image of catastrophe, in a satirical way, but was also genuinely irritated and frustrated with the mushing through the Dalzell and across the Nikolai Burn.  I enjoyed talking with him and believe him when he said no human would ever intentionally or knowingly mush dogs over the previous day’s trail.  Incredibly, the dogs had fun and Nicholas plans to continue with his sixteen dogs.  ”We train all the time on bare ground in the fall time, but we use a four wheeler.  This time we were mushing on a four wheeler trail without a four-wheeler.”

He was quick to point out that the trail was good for DOGS, just not humans.  With solid footing, the dogs were just as they were in the fall time training before the snow falls.  ”Oh  yeah, the dogs were having lots of fun.  They love it because it’s not boring.  The trail is changing all the time.”

·         A number of mushers have already left the Nikolai checkpoint heading out towards McGrath.  Sonny Lindner, Hugh Neff, Aliy Zirkle (go Aliy!), and Nicolas Petit have checked in, had a short rest and headed back out on the trail.  Race commentators speculate that they plan to skip the hubbub of the checkpoint and bed their dogs down for a good rest somewhere along the trail.

Don’t forget that the mushers cannot accept help with their teams at the checkpoints.  They have to take care of all their dogs’ needs – feeding, watering, booties, jackets, etcetera – before they can get some rest and take care of themselves.  And for a team of 16 dogs, that takes a while!  That’s 64 paws to bootie up!  I expect that there will be some scratches later on from mushers with the more serious injuries as they realize that they can’t take care of their dogs because of their injury.  Of course, they don’t only rest and feed and water their dogs at the checkpoints, but multiple times on the trail between checkpoints.

The good news is the trail ahead is looking good with the snow cover increasing.  As Joe Runyon says in his blog “happy times on the forecast!”  Weather for the Nikolai, McGrath, Takotna, Ophir area at 1:45 was 14 degrees with light snow.  The National Weather Service issued the following warning for the area around Anchorage (which is now 250 or so miles behind them):

. SNOW RETURNING TO SOUTH CENTRAL ALASKA...
A SLOW-MOVING WEATHER SYSTEM OVER THE INTERIOR OF THE STATE WILL RESULT IN A PROLONGED PERIOD OF SNOW TO THE AREA THROUGH THURSDAY. LIGHT SNOW WILL DEVELOP OVER THE SUSITNA VALLEY THIS MORNING AND SPREAD SOUTH TO THE MATANUSKA VALLEY AND ANCHORAGE BOWL DURING THE DAY. SNOW WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY AROUND MIDNIGHT TONIGHT AND CONTINUE INTO EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE HIGHEST SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WILL OCCUR ALONG THE TALKEETNA MOUNTAINS AND IN THE FAR NORTHERN SUSITNA VALLEY... AS WELL AS PARTS OF PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND... WHERE TOTAL SNOWFALL BETWEEN 6 AND 12 INCHES IS LIKELY. MEANWHILE THE ANCHORAGE AREA SHOULD BE ON THE LIGHT END OF TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR THIS STORM WITH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS LIKELY NOT TO EXCEED 3 INCHES.

More tomorrow morning!

March 4 - Morning Update

Sounds like the trail is getting rougher as the teams head deeper into Alaska.  Those reporting on the race that are trying to keep ahead of the leaders report that the trail out of Rohn has little snow, with plenty of gravel and rock showing.  The snowmobiles were even having trouble getting over the ground.

Martin Buser, who is currently in first place, arrived in Nikolai this morning at 1:09 a.m. with 16 dogs in harness, a sprained ankle and a battered sled.  According to Martin the trail from Rohn was completely snowless.  The notorious Dalzell is a tough spot in the trail on a good year and the armchair mushers are anticipating a few mushers being marooned with broken equipment.  The vets say his dogs are all in good condition and they are raring to get back on the trail.  They will probably be ready to head out long before Martin is!

Martin has declared his 24 hour layover in Rohn, which is another unconventional move for the four time Iditarod winner.

      

Those that watch the statistics (which at this point are still mostly useless in predicting who will win) say that Martin Buser has at least a three hour lead on the pack.  Joe Reddington had this to say on his blog post of 10:00 last night:

The gps tracker at Iditarod.com provides plenty of information for controversial views, depending on your favorite musher.  Case in point for Martin Buser fans who see that he has at least a three hour lead on the pack as race leader.  Zirkle fans see her edging to the front to also assume control.  Meanwhile, King, MitchSeavey, Baker, Dallas Seavey, Sorlie, Johanessan, Hans Gatt,  et al are running a more prudent schedule which, some argue , may benefit them further in the race.   ( Oh, oh, forgot Sonny Lindner, Dee Dee, Redington, Burmeister, Berkowitz, et al).

Nikolai is the first real village along the race route with a population of about 100 people.  The community allows visitors to work and sleep in school rooms and the kids help prepare meals in the cafeteria for mushers and race entourage.  More from Joe Reddington:

The Nikolai checkpoint is organized very well with parking spots arranged like a new city.   The dog teams come off the river in front of  the village, check in at a wall tent staffed by village checkpoint officials and then are parked.   The accommodations in the gym of the school are luxurious for mushers who haven’t slept in a warm building for two days of sleepless mushing.  Expect leaders to rest five hours and then depart in direction McGrath and beyond.

So far only one musher has scratched.  Cindy Gallea scratched in Skwentna, but I haven’t seen a report explaining the reasons.

The Anchorage Daily News again has some fabulous photos of the action on day 2.  Take a look here. There are some great shots of the action coming down the Happy River steps, a notoriously difficult section of the trail.  They do a great job of capturing pictures of all the mushers.

Here is some information on what it takes to keep a sled dog in top competing condition during a race like this.  Found at the ISDRA website.

WHAT DO SLED DOGS EAT?
Just like a human athlete, a sled dog's diet affects the dog’s ability to compete. A sled dog at rest in the summer needs about 800 calories per day. In the middle of a cold winter long distance race that same dog may need up to 10,000 calories per day (10,000 is not a typo!). The quest to provide sled dogs with enough calories and the right type of calories has resulted in tremendous growth in our knowledge about the canine diet, and better food for both the racing dog and house pets.

A canine athlete does not digest and use food in the same way as humans. The high carbohydrate diet that helps a human runner perform at his or her peak will not have the same effect on a sled dog. Studies by veterinarians and dog food manufacturers have found that a high carbohydrate diet actually lowers canine performance.

Fats and protein are the most important sources of energy for a sled dog. The ratio of fat and protein varies depending on the distance to be run and the time spent running, however, certain minimum requirements have been determined. A typical diet consists of 32% protein, 15% carbohydrates and 53% fat.

Fats provide the dog with quick energy. They are highly digestible and very dense in calories. Protein helps a dog handle the physical demands of racing and is required in greater amounts as physical activity increases.

Dog mushers rarely rely on dry dog kibble alone to supply their dogs nutritional needs. A top quality dry dog food is critical to the diet but it is usually supplemented by ground chicken, fish, liver or other meat products.

Finally, it is not enough to provide quality food unless the dogs are supplied with clean water. Water is the most important part of a dog's diet. Contrary to popular myths, sled dogs do not get their water supply by eating snow. Snow requires tremendous energy to melt as it is consumed and it offers little water for much effort. By contrast, warm water after a night in the cold can be to the sled dog a lot like a hot chocolate drink is to a human. On the other hand, it is not unusual to see a sled dog grab a bite of snow, just like you enjoy an ice cream cone now and then!

GEE, THAT DOG IS AWFULLY THIN
A frequently heard remark at races is that the dogs seem thin. Indeed, compared to a house dog who may get out for a walk or short run a couple times a week, sled dogs are thin. Although sled dogs consume more calories than an average human, they also burn those calories working out in training. Like human runners, the intake of calories and exercise result in a slim, athletic physique. Mushers monitor the weight of their dogs, feeding them accordingly. If the dogs gain too much weight, they risk overheating, disease and injury. If they are too thin they lose stamina. Mushers balance these considerations and maintain their dogs at a healthy weight for each particular dog.

Behind the Scenes

Here is a great video posted by the SP Kennel showing Aliy Zirkle's dogs getting ready for the restart on 3/2.

March 3 - 2pm Update

Whew!  Everyone is scorching up the trail today!  At 2:00 Kelly Maixner is currently in first place, having pulled into the Rohn Roadhouse checkpoint at 11:30 a.m.  Reports say the trail is “hard” and icy.  Several blog posts I read talked about mushers having trouble getting their dogs to stop in checkpoints because their snow hooks aren’t able to grip into the ice and slow down those 16 happy, excited dogs who are doing their favorite thing in the world.

Everything I’m reading and hearing says not to worry too much about the stats at this point in the race.  Some of the most difficult terrain is here (especially the Happy Steps and the Dalzell Gorge). At least one musher has a broken sled, another lost a bunch of gear from a spill, and everyone is coming in with bumps and bruises.  There is a great article here.

I love these comments from Conway Seavey, Dallas’s little brother and winner of the Jr. Iditarod, about this first part of the race.

As I type this I'm on my way home from the 2014 Iditarod start, where 69 mushers and 1,104 dogs left willow in a flurry. The trackers are live, and the Iditarod stat sheet has already started to populate with all kinds of juicy information: run times, team size, time in, position, etc. The race is FINALLY underway, and it's time to do some serious analyzing, right?

Well, not really. Here's my advice - have a trusted friend or family member lock you in a closet for the next few days, because otherwise the stats will drive you crazy. Stay off the computer and don't worry about who has the fastest run time to Rainy Pass, or who dropped two dogs in Yentna. For years my brothers and I would intentionally disappear immediately after the start and go to the most secluded place within mushing distance. This place will have no cell service, no gps, no wifi, no trees with north-facing moss, etc. 

Why? Imagine the Iditarod as a 600 mile race from Takotna to Nome, the catch being that you have to mush 400 miles to the start (Willow to Takotna) prior to the race. That's what's happening now - each team is mushing to the "start." Mushers are paying special attention to the dogs' weight, appetite, feet, and they're setting a rhythm for the days to come. Some mushers will go TOO FAST (common), they may even go hundreds of miles without resting to get out in front. Some teams will go TOO SLOW (uncommon). Actually, nobody will go too slow, especially not on this trail. The most important thing to remember is that the winner of the race will be the team who leaves Takotna with a happy, healthy team that is ready to race, not necessarily the team that gets there the fastest.

Now that I’ve told you to ignore any stats this early in the race, here is the current top 10:

1Kelly Maixner	13	Rohn
2	Nicolas Petit	29	Rainy Pass
3	Martin Buser	36	Rainy Pass
4	Michael Williams, Jr.	7	Rainy Pass
5	Paul Gebhardt	35	Rainy Pass
6	Hugh Neff	61	Rainy Pass
7 •	Aaron Burmeister	23	Rainy Pass
8 •	Cim Smyth	28	Rainy Pass
9	Aliy Zirkle	10	Rainy Pass
10	Robert Sorlie

Below are comments from Jen Seavey, Dallas’s wife, talking about the trail conditions and what it might mean for the mushers:

Typically, when you hear talk of a "hard trail", it means well packed snow. Often times warm conditions (between 10 to 30 degrees) followed by colder temps will set a trail up nicely.

Today's trail reports are of glare ice conditions between Willow and the Alaska range. Finger Lake checkpoint looks identical to the plowed staging area for the re-start today on Willow Lake… only shinier. To call this a "hard trail" would be a euphemism.

So how will this affect the race? There may be more bruised mushers and broken sleds than usual, and a couple of teams might scratch because of it. However, the biggest role this trail will play in the race may not be recognized until several hundred miles later.

A common error for a musher to make is to let a team travel faster than they did in training. Even 2 or 3 miles an hour faster on the first day of Iditarod can set you up for trouble later in the race. You can expect two things to happen.

One: Sore wrists. The carpal joint as well as the meta tarsals are usually referred to as wrists. A common soreness for an Iditarod dog is tendonitis in the wrist caused by the repetitive motion of running. Mushers carry massage oils and neoprene "wrist wraps" to treat sore wrists, and you can usually expect full recovery in a couple of hours. If a wrist is still sore when it is time to go, then the dog will be "dropped", and sent home to the kennel to heal up. Hard trails and running too fast are major contributors to wrist injuries.

Two: Sprinting a Marathon…you get the point. Run too fast, and you lose the energy that you need to go the distance.

I expect several teams that went too fast in the beginning to either scratch in the second third of the race, or have to dial it back and rest their teams up in order to make it to Nome.

On the flip side, a team that trains faster can be really scary on a tail like this. "Rabbits" like Sorlie and Buser could very well run away with this race. If they get out in front, they could be almost impossible to catch.

Many of the mushers will start settling in for a rest now during the heat of the day.  Heat being relative, of course.  According to Thad McCracken, the Cascade Sled Dog member that came to talk to us yesterday, anything over 40 degrees is too warm to run dogs and they really like it around 20.  Right now in Willow, which is the closest city I can get weather information for, it is 33 degrees and sunny.  There are lots of pictures of dogs lounging in the sunshine out there. 

It sure is a beautiful landscape up there in Alaska.

I’ll have another update for you tomorrow morning.

Kris Leibrand, CAP-OM

Administrative Assistant to Bernard Seeger, Finance Director

Finance & Management Services Department

City of Gresham |1333 NW Eastman Pkwy |Gresham, OR  97030

503-618-2445

Kris.Leibrand@GreshamOregon.gov

March 3 AM - Into Finger Lake

Well, the race is underway!  Did any of you watch the ceremonial start?  I watched part of it, but my dogs were getting too agitated hearing all the barking and carrying on those excited sled dogs were doing on the computer so I had to turn it off.  Silly dogs!  The Anchorage Daily News web site has a lot of great pictures of the restart in Willow on Sunday you might want to check out.

 

I plan to send you all a daily update on the progress of the race, peppered with interesting tidbits I find along the way.  If you have any questions at all, let me know and I’ll do my best to find an answer.  I do have the paid subscription to the Iditarod Insider that allows access to all the great videos and interviews.  If any of you are interested in seeing some, let me know.  There is a wonderful pre-race video that is 15 minutes long that I would love to share.  If you are interested, I can set up a room for viewing.

 

There are a couple of great sites to go to for information on the race and the mushers.  The first is, of course, Iditarod.com.  This is the place you can find all the up-to-date information and commentary as well as some great videos.  I also really like the coverage on the Anchorage Daily News.  They have a whole section devoted to the race.  It is, after all, Alaska’s favorite sport!

 

Some of the things I have gathered from reading articles and watching videos about this year’s race:

 

·         There are 6 past Iditarod winners running the race this year.  Of course the speculation is that they will all finish in the top 10, but there are a number of up-and-coming younger mushers toping the lists as well as the Norwegian mushers. 

·         The Norwegian mushers might be new to the Iditarod (except Robert Sorlie, who is a past winner), but they are not new to mushing.  All the armchair mushers I have listened to have said not to count them out.

·         Trail conditions will be tricky.  It has been an unusually warm winter in Alaska this year and the expectation is the trail will be rough.  The trails are cleared before the mushers, but imagine being the guy bringing up the rear after 68 other sleds and over 900 dogs have trod it before you! 

·         There is a lot of talk about Martin Buser’s unorthodox strategy from 2013 where he ran all the way to Rohn without a break then declared his 24 hour layover.  If trail conditions and weather hadn’t held him back, that may have been a game changer for the race.  Expectations say that he will do it again this year.

·         There is buzz about a new sled type that allows a “caboose” to carry dogs or equipment.  Check out this article for more info.

 

Sit back and enjoy the ride!  It’s going to be an exciting race.

 

Former Champion Takes Early Lead in Iditarod

ANCHORAGE, Alaska March 3, 2014 (AP)

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press

A four-time champion has taken the early lead in the 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Martin Buser, who last won in 2002, was the first to reach the checkpoint at Rainy Pass, arriving at 5:42 a.m. Monday. In second is Kelly Maixner, who left the previous checkpoint at Finger Lake 30 miles to the southeast at 2:49 a.m., followed 11 minutes later by Nicolas Petit.

Sixty-nine mushers began the race to Nome on Alaska's Western coast Sunday afternoon in Willow. An 11-mile noncompetitive, ceremonial start took place in Anchorage Saturday.

The jockeying for the lead remains fluid until mushers begin taking a mandatory 24-hour layover and two eight-hour rests.

The race normally takes about 10 days, but warm weather this winter in Alaska has prompted concerns about the trail.

 

 

They Are on the Trail!

All musher are now in the race.  Watch some of the race here from KTUU in Anchorage

Part one
Part two
Part three
Part four

My dogs, which are the farthest thing there is from a sled dog, have been really interested in all the barking and carrying on in the background.  I think they want to be a part of it all, but from a distance.

Let's Get This Party Started!

Yay!  Iditarod starts in less than 24 hours!  I bet you can all guess what I will be doing tomorrow.  Hopefully some of you will be watching the ceremonial start as well.  Unfortunately, it isn't like the Olympics and shown on every TV station known to man.  You can find it on the Iditarod web site. 

The race always starts on the first Saturday in March, at the first checkpoint on Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage. A five-block section of the street is barricaded off as a staging area, and snow is stockpiled and shipped in by truck the night before to cover the route to the first checkpoint.

Shortly before the race, a ribbon-cutting ceremony is held under the flags representing the home countries and states of all competitors in the race. The first musher to depart at 10:00 a.m. AST is an honorary musher, selected for their contributions to dog sledding. The honorary musher always has the #1 bib. The first competitor leaves at 10:02 (wearing the #2 bib) and the rest follow, separated by two-minute intervals. The start order is determined during a banquet held two days prior by the mushers drawing their numbers for starting position. Selections are made in the order of musher registrations.

This is an exciting portion of the race for dogs and musher, as it is one of the few portions of the race where there are spectators, and the only spot where the trail winds through an urban environment. However, in "Iditarod Dreams", DeeDee Jonrowe wrote, "A lot of mushers hate the Anchorage start. They don't like crowds. They worry that their dogs get too excited and jumpy. The time for covering this portion of the race does not count toward the official race time, so the dogs, musher, and Idita-Rider are free to take this all in at a relaxed pace. The mushers then continue through several miles of city streets and city trails before reaching the foothills to the east of Anchorage, in Chugach State Park in the Chugach Mountains. The teams then follow Glenn Highway for two to three hours until they reach Eagle River, 20 miles (32 km) away. Once they arrive at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building, the mushers check in, unharness their teams, return them to their boxes, and drive 30 miles (48 km) of highway to the restart point.