It’s Monday morning. On the slough at Unalakleet is Allen Moore. His wife and kennel partner is resting the required eight hours in White Mountain. I couldn’t help but wonder how Allen could concentrate on his race when Aliy was working hard to claim the Championship. Allen as calm as could be said that it is a little hard but right now they’re resting and there’s really nothing he can do but wait and wonder like everyone else. He was quick to add that he wouldn’t know the outcome for another couple of checkpoints, perhaps Koyuk. While Jeff was into White Mountain nearly an hour ahead of Aliy, Moore thought there still was a chance for Aliy to earn the gold.

Aliy has worked very hard on training, conditioning and nutrition to prepare herself to be a dynamic member of the Zirkle Red Team, not the human that’s the weakest link. Unique to Zirkle and Moore is the single poling technique they’ve developed to take some of the load of the dogs. The poling action is something that takes time to become proficient at. They start pole training in September to build the upper body strength, especially triceps, as well as the necessary cardio efficiency. Competitive mushers are taking a serious look at what their role is in the success of their team.

Allen pulled the hook and took the outbound trail shortly before noon. He was pleased with how his team was running. Moore is resting at Shaktoolik and as he said won’t know the outcome of Iditarod 2014 until he makes the next checkpoint. He did admit that he’s stayed in a few checkpoints a little longer than necessary to follow Aliy’s progress and times into checkpoints.

Also on the slough in front of the checkpoint was Jason Mackey. A group of spectators who were on a day trip from Nome to Unalakleet to follow the Iditarod were enjoying his stories. He told them about his adventures going down the Dalzell. Mackey unhooked a few of his dogs and let them trot along side the sled. Once he was safely at the bottom, he hooked all the dogs back to the tug line and headed to Rohn.

As Mackey booted his team he talked about Hurricane, one of the leaders he depended on. Jason sold Hurricane to Lance and Lance was kind enough to lend Hurricane to Jason for the race. The dog has been anything but a destructive storm for Jason on Iditarod 2014. Hurricane has been a rock, a go to sort of dog whose attitude has been a great asset for the Team Mackey.

As Jason urged his dogs out past the berms, there were a lot of interesting tidbits in the straw that had been used by other teams. Even though it had been racked to the side, Mackey’s leaders, Hurricane included, did some dumpster diving. Maybe that’s not the term to use but you get the idea. Their super sensitive noses told them there were delectable morsels in the straw and they were going to find them. Jason jumped off the runners and lined them all out only to have them hit the straw again. Paul Gebhardt came over to guide the sled and let Jason walk the team out past the straw. Once they made it that far they were ready to go. Getting past the straw can sometimes be a real challenge.