by Terrie Hanke
The Siberians and a whole lot of other teams are resting in McGrath. Hank Debruin came off the Kuskokwim Wednesday afternoon at 16:52 followed by Karen Ramstead at 17:26. Folks tend to flock to the checker’s station to see the handsome Siberians. Both teams came in with a lot of spirit – tails and heads held high and leaning into their traces while waiting for their musher and checker to finish business. Both teams are staying in McGrath. As DeBruin and Ramstead spread straw, the dogs finished arranging the straw to their liking then settled down anticipating dinner. With the day as warm as it was, Debruin said he stopped often to allow his dogs to cool off. These thick coated working dogs whose ancestors are from Siberian are well suited to cold harsh environments. The forecast is for cooler weather to move in which both teams will appreciate. Other teams in McGrath taking the long layover include Justin Savidis, Kelley Griffin, Colleen Robertia, Lance Mackey, Zoya DeNure, Pat Moon, Ryan Redington and Matt Giblin.
After three days of racing, the entire field of mushers remains intact – none have scratched. This is almost unbelievable and worth asking about. Chief Veterinarian, Stu Nelson, didn’t have any reason as to why there weren’t any scratches but he did observe that they have a larger than usual number of dogs to care for at this point in the race. Race Judge, Al Marple, answered the question with two words – good weather. He felt that the elements were in the musher’s favor – no harsh storms, high winds or extremely low temperatures. Some of the mushers attributed the full field to the condition of the trail – plenty of snow. It may be soft and a little slow, it’s not punishing. Areas that often take a huge toll on mushers like the Happy River steps were covered in deep snow making the descent far better than its been in recent races.
Justin Savidis was spending time this afternoon fixing his sled after it took a beating in the Farewell Burn. Matt Giblin said the twenty miles out of Rohn were as tough as he’s ever seen it – almost bare ground. Kelly Griffin prepares her drop bags to rest anywhere from McGrath to Ruby. The early part of Griffin’s run was fast and she chose to rest in McGrath to refuel for the rest of the race. Zoya Denure has had a great run thus far but doesn’t feel her dogs are quite in sync. Denure decided to rest early in McGrath rather than pushing on to Ophir as originally planned thinking the early rest would help her dogs get into the groove.
Many mushers will be completing their long layover by early tomorrow morning. From that point forward, it’ll be clear as to who is actually leading the pack.
