Up the Coast with some side trips

Last evening the first racer reached the Bering Sea coast at the village of Unalakleet. Aaron Burmeister was the first one in and received the Wells Fargo Gold Coast award; Aliy was a bit behind him. At this point the dynamics of the race are shifting a bit. Dallas Seavey who had rested several hours on the portage trail across from Kaltag to Unalakleet hit the checkpoint and breezed on. Arron, Aliy, and Mitch Seavey all took several hours rest before they pressed on.

It looks like things are not going well for Jeff King. He also rested for some time along the portage trail and told the Race Watchers when they passed that, at least for then, his dogs had "lost the magic". That is not good. They had noted he looked tired at an earlier Yukon River checkpoint and the musher's attitude is very much linked with their dogs. That's where Aliy does well by staying at leat outwardly upbeat regardless.

Jeff got into Unalakleet just as Arron was heading out and left some hours later. Meanwhile Jessie Royer was into the checkpoint and out, moving into fifth place. Now both Seaveys, Burmeister and Aliy have passed through Shaktoolik and Aliy has passed Mitch Seavey. Aaron leads and Dallas is between them. Jessie should be into Shaktoolik fairly soon with other racers strung out back as far as Kaltag or even Nulato.  Aliy dropped one more dog at Unalakleet; we do not know which one yet. So she, Brumeister and I think also young Seavey are running thirteen now.

Dropping dogs becomes a strategy as well as a necessity as the leaders make their way up the coast. It is still over 200 mniles to Nome so a lot can happen but right now the same leaders with the exception of--maybe--Jessie Royer replacing Jeff King are probably the real contenders. It's going to be not quite dog eat dog here, but competitive!! Very competitive.

Further back, Lance Mackey and Deedee Jonrowe, our cancer survivors, are both dealing with frostbite on their hands but refuse to scratch--at least so far. They both went through the chemo/radiation regime which seems to damage circulation to the extremities. That really makes them vulnerable. I expect if they do finish, this will be the last run for both of them. I am sad but that is the way life goes, not always fair or fun. Lance finally kicked his brother in the backside and told him to get on up the trail at normal speed. I think a rookie/puppy team handler is going along with Lance now. I pray for both Lance and Deedee to make it okay and not to lose fingers from their determination. Such courage and toughness! I am in awe.

So the race goes on and will probably be near the end late Tuesday, All teams must take an eight hour rest at White Mountain  (Yep, the same one as in Johnny Horton's song!) which is the next to last checkpoint some 77 miles out of Nome. So we have to figure that in to the run time for a long 200 miles before one team mushes under the burl arch in Nome.