Anvik 8 20AM , Burmeister through Anvik
A short update on the lead pack here in Anvik this Friday morning. Aliy Zirkle came in and out Anvik at 7 20 this morning. I didn’t see her but was told that she rolled in at a lope, signed in, at left at a lope.
aarion’s team snacking just before leaving anvik
aaron with rain coat. the trail is a skating rink on the river.
A little more than an hour later Aaron Burmeister arrived at a trot, snacked his dogs, and left wearing his rain coat. Lucky he has it on because it is RAINING and the temperature is 42F (unofficial thermometer hanging outside the checkpoint window.)
nicolas petit reviewing times in the checkpoint. He is running top ten
Personally, I thought Aaron’s dogs were subdued and not at all like the wild entry of Buser’s team at 2 am this morning. Still, I looked at the times, and Burmeister was actually faster than Buser from Shageluk to our present location in Anvik. In some ways, it just may be a personality evaluation of the mushers themselves. Martin gets excited about arriving and the dogs want to get in on the party, and Aaron is a more calculated person, and the dogs figure if they saw one checkpoint they have seen them all.
To summarize to the front, Aliy is running first, followed by Aaron out of Anvik. However, crunching the numbers, Martin is still the leader of the race. Unless he takes a wrong turn out of Anvik, he will leap frog Aliy and Aaron and resume control of the race—maybe at Eagle or Kaltag.
Unfortunately, Aaron was in and out of Anvik so fast that we didn’t get to ask him why he stopped just short of Shageluk for a three hour stop. I just couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t have continued all the way to Anvik. A couple of people, including Sebastian, who is sitting just next to me, said it was a good move to get him back on a morning and evening running schedule. The way I count the numbers, Aaron is 6 or 7 hours behind Martin Buser.
Still, I find it a bizarre development. All things being equal—nobody takes a wrong turn, something a calamitous doesn’t happen—-the only competitor in range of Buser is Aliy Zirkle
A call from Dean Osmar, the 1984 Champ, and analyst with a photographic memory
In the confusion, I just got a call from Dean Osmar. In his opinion, the race is only half over and new thrusts and parries could shake up the race. But, he conceded that Buser was clearly in command.
Nicolas Petit and Joar
Nicolas Petit and Joar Ulsom (Norwegian, you have to roll the r on Joar) are parked in Anvik next to MaRTIN Buser. Nicolas told me he and Joar were somewhere in the top ten, an incredible accomplishment. Nicolas is running Rayme Redingtons dogs (Ray Redington’s dad). “The only dog I own was dropped,” which brought a good chuckle from Sebastian and I.
“IN the hills it seems like I am fastest, but when we get on the flats, Joar is faster,” commented Nicolas.
Jake Berkowitz
Jake in and out about 9 20 Am with a very focused dog team at a trot. I think the calculation is right—maybe 3 hrs 5 minute from Shageluk—so theoretically he is now the fastest on the trail.
MaRTIN is going to be out of anvik within the hour with a huge time advantage. His fans will be watching he and team pass Berkowitz, Aaron and Aliy resting —maybe in Grayling— and just wondering how much time he has on them. He’s probably a real 6 hours in the lead. That’s a lot of leverage for Martin.
Travel times are the key to a shakeup. Even a team with a lot of speed may not have enough miles to gradually chip away at Martin’s lead.
Interestingly, Martin is acouple of hours ahead of John Bakers record setting pace in 2011, but the rest of the front pack is right on John Baker’s schedule.
