Willow Restart—Musher Field on Trail—Strategy for the Evening

Update:  Bruce Lee (Insider commentator), me, and a couple of camera guys from the Insider crew left Willow and arrived Finger Lake about 6PM.  Bruce is my neighbor and my good friend for 25 years, so we have been talking about this first run all winter.  Bruce has archival times from previous years for consideration and both of us have been trying to squeak out confessions from members of the lead pack all week in Anchorage before the start.  Nobody wants to confess to a strategy, but we have enough clues to hazard guesses.

The Weather 

Anticipating colder temperatures at Finger Lake checkpoint, located at the base of the Alaska Range, I put on my one piece suit.  On arrival, I was sweltering as we all had been in Willow.  Temperatures felt 40F, and although it seems to be cooling as the sun and light diminish about 7PM, it’s still very warm.

Leslie and Mark in front of communication tent. Mark looks somewhat metallic and alarmingly energized, an aberration produced by author’s camera.

Kelley, a tech genius, inside the tent with Mark, who continues to appear very metallic, but isnt in real life, caused by aberration in author’s camera

a group of adventurers who hope to follow the Iditarod trail all the way to Nome. Of course, they are asked to not disturb the race, notwithstanding the trail is public. They will try to stay ahead of the race but they are clearly set to travel in the most technically difficult ares of the trail where dog teams could pile up behind them.

camp finger tents, heated by efficient oil stoves, serve as bunk for volunteers

Volunteers here at camp felt fortunate to have a weather window to assemble tents and establish a functional camp.

camp finger lake assembled on ice of lake, houses 22 but will accept 66 mushers in next 24 hours

The Running

Despite warm temperatures, I think the dogs will travel efficiently in the night air, unaffected because they have been trained to easily trot, and predictably arrive just short of Skwetna in six hours.  None of the top mushers are going to let their teams rock and roll on the first run.  Rather they will reduce speed with the brake,  put slower leaders to the front, and rely on a winter of training at sustainable speeds.  I did ask that question to John Baker, who trains in absolutely dreadful weather in his home town of Kotzebue, north of Nome and north of the Arctic Circle, and has a team of heavily furred huskies. He said he might go a little slower in the heat, but not much.   

Jeff King, the 4x champ, is absolutely determined to keep his team under control the first several days.  Aaron Burmeister even stated, as readers recall, that he will not allow the dogs to travel faster than 9.2 miles an hour.  In the afternoon sun, mushing would be a different story for all the teams.

Now, the big question is how long to rest after the first six hour run.  Last year, some mushers only rested three hours and then continued to our present location at Finger Lake, arriving about 5AM in the morning.   Others suggested they would rest 5 hours or even more cautiously, 5 ½ hours, before departing, putting them into Finger Lake about 7;30 AM.

John Baker, Jeff King, and Mitch Seavey are examples of conservative mushers.  None of them really care about their general place.  They just want to preserve their powerful team as it courses over the Alaska Range and the most difficult portions of the trail.

Therefore, it is probably more interesting to look at the teams on arrival in Finger Lake, than actual times.  In other words, almost any team could be leading the race at Finger Lake if the musher was crazy enough to let the team rocket down the trail.  In fact, we have seen mushers lurch to the front of the standings early on and then evaporate for the rest of the race into anonymity.

Incidentally, most of the mushers will be very diligently snacking their dogs every two to three hours, particularly while running.  The snacks are usually around 1000 calories, with a total consumption goal per day of 10,000 or more (some big dogs might consume 14,000 according to musher observation in training.)

To put it into perspective, your neighborhood Labrador, lounging on the porch, occasionally barking at a cat, and chasing a ball in the backyard is going to burn 1500 calories  and eat a little less than a pound a day.  Waldo would probably not make it ten minutes running in deep snow with Dallas Seavey’s winning team.  Maybe 15 minutes.

The  Camp at Finger Lake

The camp at Finger Lake is populated with 22 people, including 6 veterinarians, three communication people, 2t checkers, 4 trail volunteers, a Race Judge, and cameramen and members of our Insider Crew.

And, as one volunteer put it, “We don’t even have a dog here yet.”

Many of the volunteers are veterans, from all parts of the country, a testimony to the quality of the adventure, the interaction with the mushers and dogs, and the chance to work with friends.

Technology includes efficient oil heaters in tents, satellite dish for internet connectivity, and a generator.

Final thought

Check out the little green flags moving on the map at the Iditarod Insider GPS tracker.  I did at 8:45 PM and of course noted that Martin Buser, the first team out of the chute and also leading the race, appeared to be the fastest on the trail.  This is no surprise considering the 4x champ as he has always been known to favor a speed strategy, and he also has a familiarity with the trail to Skwetna as he uses it regularly for training.

King, as pundits here in Camp Finger note, is also driving a smokin’ dog team.  Keep in mind that he has probably been leaning on the brake all afternoon to keep his dogs quiet.  They could go a lot faster if he let them.   Aliy Zirkle’s team is also moving nicely.

Take a look at John Baker, 2011  champ and 2012 Champ Dallas Seavey, and note their slightly slower travelling speed at the wonderful tools provided at the GPS tracker.  From everything we know about these two, the more deliberate travelling speed is a purposefully trained trot to conserve energy.

Some fans would wonder why rookie teams are charging to the front of the pack, passing champion teams  enroute.  Is it an illusion, or can an unrecognized team be making a statement?  Or does it demonstrate that a good team, without supervision can really go fast for a whileand stick with the elite teams like a rabbit in a marathon ?  One wonders if some of these early chargers will quickly fade over the next several runs.