Good Morning Race Fans!
As we stretch and look at the clock that sprung forward last night, Pete and the Team were out of Kaltag and onto the trail towards Unalakleet. As I found it a little hard to get up this morning, I related to watching Team Kaiser last night leaving Kaltag. They all were stretching and peeing and slowly getting back into the mode of running after a nice long 8 hour rest. Bethany was almost beside herself watching. “They aren’t going to leave.” But Pete was patient and understanding and slowly the Team was ready and more ready and GO! Off to the hills as they made their way West. As hard as you might find it to arise this morning, those puppies wanted Pete to press the snooze button as well!
But there is a race to run and we are seeing a solid leaderboard building that is narrowing in its scope. With 300 or so miles to go, there are less and less ways to gain time, but it is still not out of total reach.
Nic Petit left Kaltag 2 hours before Joar and Jessie and 3 hours before Pete. Looking at the tracker this morning as Nic is just outside of Unalakleet, the interval is almost identical. The trail appears to be fast with Nic pinging 10mph on occasion in the flats before Unalakleet.
There is a real nice place to rest about 20 miles before Unalakleet. It is still in the trees and provides cover from the wind and the activity of Unalakleet. It also breaks the Kaltag to Shaktoolik run into two runs. Joar and Jessie are camped there this morning and I have to wonder if Pete will join him. We are in full chessgame mode right now and being in a place where the leader really doesn’t you are can be a good thing.
A long distance race is all about minutes. You think about the hours and hours of a race, but mushers are totally intent on minutes. The activity of a checkpoint can rob a musher of those minutes if they don’t need to be there. In Kaltag, Pete was required to stay for the mandatory rest stop. But by going by Unalakleet he won’t have to talk to anyone or use up valuable minutes that could be used to rest and care for the Team and himself. He won’t have the straw or as much food, but if he was planning a move like this, he would have what he needs to rest, camp, and stay out there.
So here is the kicker… The trail north… It’s not the normal trail over the ice to Koyuk. That section of trail is now the Bering Sea. Warm temperatures have already broken the ice and the trail north is going to be around the sound. This will add many miles to the trail and it will undoubtedly not be the smooth ice that is normally encountered. I overlayed the race map with the a MODIS satellite photo from Wednesday. You can see how much of the ice has gone away. I spoke with Bob Madden, our awesome host in Nome who told me that the ice is disappearing in Nome as well and apparently some gold mining operations have lost equipment because of it. This will add a lot of drama for this next day of racing.
Sea Ice – Race Map overlay
The following photos from Jeff Schultz are available here for sale! Thanks!
The clock is ticking and all of the mushers are watching it.
Pete and the Team can leave at 12:51am. As each minute ticks of the clock and Teams behind him rest in Kaltag, Pete gains on them by doing absolutely nothing.
“His Team looks great. They could win it.” Joar Leifseth-Ulsom said as he bedded down his Team in Kaltag.
The deal is that Pete has to stay 8 hours before he can return to the Trail. All of the other Teams with the exception of Aliy Zirkle have taken their 8 hours and can leave whenever they would like.
Pete’s not worried. He made his way up to Kaltag to get all of his gear dried out and ready for the coast. He probably caught a bunch of sleep as well, but he had chores to do in terms of getting ready for the last third of the race.
One thing that is notable to me is how energetic and upbeat Pete is in this race. He looks like he is having a great time. Laughing with the Insider guys, moving quickly as he does his chores. This is a Pete Kaiser I haven’t seen before. And I have to say I am loving it! Races can get to a musher. Long hard monotonous trials in horrible weather. I’ve seen him beat up and sleeping sitting up at the end of a race. I’ve seen him that way in Takotna!
Here we are in Kaltag and there is an air of enthusiasm and I think it really is part of his new program. At the Restart in Willow he spoke about next year already. I’ve been wondering if he has finally come into his own and realize- This is who I am and this is why I’m here!
From Kaltag to Unalakleet to Shaktoolik are established trails. They shouldn’t be having to break trail. Temperatures are warm though and tomorrow we will start hearing about the coast and that challenge. Koyuk doesn’t have any ice in front of the village, so a new overland route is going to be the trail. When Pete leaves Kaltag, he embarks on the final section of the race to Nome. He enters the land of the Inupiaq and the coast and the sea. It’s a new place and this year will provide many challenges.
Mushing Weather for tonight:
Go Team Kaiser!
Correction The Award is $2000.
3 minutes! That’s what it came down to after another epic 9 hour run in from Eagle Island today. After leaving Eagle Island with Joar Leifseth-Ulsom, Pete came across Nic Petit who had been resting 18 miles up the trail. Pete arrived at 16:48 with 11 dogs followed shortly by Nic at 16:51 with 11 dogs as well.
The last hour had all of Pete’s fans pressing REFRESH on the Tracker while they two Teams made their way up the trail. In the end it was close, but Pete persisted and was first into the checkpoint. Good Job Pete! Good Job Team Kaiser Doggies!
Eventually Joar stopped for a rest and it was Pete and Petit for the run to Kaltag! Kaltag hosts the Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award that includes $3000 $2000 cash, a beautiful piece of artwork by Bristol Bay artist Apay’uq Moore, and 25 lbs of Salmon from Bristol Bay. You always hear that Alaska is the largest State in the United States, but in terms of our people, we are a close-knit bunch. I read Apay’uk’s name and said to myself, “Hey, I know her!” So I called up my daughter, Kelsey, got her phone number and gave her a ring to see what kind of artwork Pete just acquired. She told me this year it is a burned piece of spruce with a central drawn/burned piece of a dogteam. She is a master artist and we can’t wait to see it! Thanks Apay’uk for your hard work and contributing to Iditarod via BBNC!
Pete will have to take his 8 hour layover now in Kaltag, but that won’t hurt his feelings a bit. It is wet snow right now in Kaltag. Later this evening it is supposed to cool down which will be awesome for the Team and should provide a good trail. We’ll see though.
Wow! What a bit of excitement in the middle of the Iditarod!
I’ll have some stats and race analysis after more Teams make their way into Kaltag. There are several game plans that we are going to see tonight.
Speaking of which– Tonight is my first day of Spring! We SPRING forward this evening and get our light back in the evenings! Tomorrow will be a bit tough to wake up, but it is worth it. Totally!
Go Team Kaiser!!
When you are glued to the tracker it is tough to step back and really take a honest look at how the race is shaping up. Over the many storied years of the Iditarod there have been many, many times where the leader of the race at this point did not win.
As I am seeing this race shape up, I am looking at the 2014 Iditarod stats. In a very similar situation, Dallas Seavey arrived into Kaltag in third position not having taken his 8 hour layover. He sat and rested while Team after Team took out on the portage to Unalakleet. He finally got back on the trail over 9 hours behind the leader, Aliy Zirkle.
He went on to win the race…
Pete is holding to the very front of the pack on the trail to Kaltag. He knows that Teams are going to take breaks in Kaltag or at the very least on the portage to Unalakleet.
That works to his advantage because all time they take he will take as well. If Joar arrives into Kaltag and takes a 4 hour rest that will only put Pete 4 hours behind the leader. That sounds like a whole lot of time doesn’t it? But when you compare to 2014, it appears way, way less. Advantage- Kaiser!
John Baker said it best years ago. “You got to watch guys like Pete,” he said. “Once they hit the coast they go much faster.”
In years past, Pete would hold back and sometimes he held back too far. Too much room between his Team and the Leaders. This is a whole new program for Pete. Stay even closer to striking distance. The top 10 Teams are fast, dangerous Teams. Best to stay as near to the front as possible, even with the mandatory rest coming up.
As we watch the brutal slow pace and hit the refresh button on the tracker, just keep in mind that it is still early. The portage will happen and then the race really starts to get underway.
Refresh… Refresh… Refresh… Gosh I love this stuff!! Haha!
Go Team Kaiser!
Check out the Kaiser Super Dogs in Mushing Magazine!
