In what will easily be the story of the beginning of the Race, Martin Buser pushed through to Rohn this morning with little rest or break. Speculation from the trail is that he may take his 24 hour layover in Rohn. This is quite early for the 24, but we will see how it plays out.
Meanwhile Pete and the Team are cruising along easily towards the Rainy Pass checkpoint. We have seen leaders duke it out at the front many times and play their cards a bit too early. A steady pace at this point in the race will undoubtedly pay dividends as the race moves towards the coast.
The Delta Force is scattered along the trail inside the Alaska Range.
Richie and his Team arrived into Finger Lake at 10:34 with a conservative run that will allow the team to rest before heading towards Rainy.
Mike Jr. is leading the Delta Force bunch at this time and arrived into Rainy Pass at 11:25 this morning.
Mike Sr. is just behind him and should be into Rainy any time.
The Williams teams are on a different rest cycle than Pete, so I expect them to rest in Rainy, where Pete will more than likely snack his dogs and move on through. Mike and Mike Jr. pushed to Skwentna and rested last night, while Pete rested earlier. That puts Pete in a run period where the Williams will be in a rest period.
When it is early in the race like this, positions really don’t come into play as much as they will later on when teams begin to spread out further. Inexperience teams may burst out front but not have the stamina further on.
In any case, several different strategies are playing out on the trail today making for real excitement for those of us glued to the tracker. Stay tuned!! Remember to check the Standings Page for the latest updates!
