Good Morning Race Fans!
It’s a cold morning on the Kuskokwim as Pete and the Team are out of Kalskag on the trail to Aniak. Comparing the last several years races, this appears to be a really fast one. Ryan Redington is the apparent jack rabbit with a time of 4 hours 36 minutes from Tuluksak to Kalskag. Comparing other past races, Nicolas Petit made the run in 2019 in the same time.
Jason Pavila took an hour’s rest and will be the first Team into Aniak, while Fr. Alexander Larson, and Pete took 2 hours. Ryan Redington took 3 hours and dropped two dogs. It will be interesting to see how these strategies will play out. Many times in fair weather, Teams will split the runs into 2 hours at each checkpoint. That gives time to feed the dogs and give them a good break at each location. Since the breaks must be to the hour that means that Ryan will need to short rest one checkpoint or maybe even skip Aniak and rest again in Kalskag. It is going to be interesting to be sure!!!
Temperatures this morning are -24 with light wind which is good news for Teams as they head into what is going to be a beautiful sunrise this morning. Skies are clear and it’s going to be a beautiful run. The full moon last night that should be at their backs this morning must have made a really awesome experience for Teams last night. Aniak is reporting -29 with a high temperature to day of -22! BRRR!!! Skies will be clear and sunny with light wind.
In Pete’s early days he wasn’t as strict on checkpoint time management. He learned over the years, however, that wasted minutes in the checkpoints can bite you down the trail. He is exact in his out times and generally is waiting for the checker to say he is clear to go. This morning was no different as Pete paced back and forth waiting for his out time. When Pete takes a 2 hour break, it is EXACTLY two hours. This morning he had to wait a few minutes to take care of the differential time that is added to compensate for different start times. Watch for yourself when Pete is ready to go, you’ll see him checking his watch- He’s ready and no minutes will be left in the checkpoing. As soon as the checker says go, they are off!
I mention this because if you watch other Teams, especially the younger mushers, you will see a more loose checkpoint schedule and those minutes really can add up.
The Team looked great as we watched the first ever livestream from the Kalskag checkpoint. It is a tremendous addition to see and experience first hand what the mushers, Teams, and other conditions are present. It’s truly a front row seat! Thanks to SpaceX and Starlink and other technologies that are finally making their way to our region, we can finally get the most out of this technology! Check it out here!
Lots of action today! It’s a bit cold, but there’s hot action out on the trail!!
Go Team Kaiser!!
