13:11PM Seavey and Aliy to Nome

Here’s what I saw on the ice with departures of front runners Mitch Seavey and Aliy Zirkle.  The two are basically in a dead heat with Aliy definitely having the momentum— as her team demonstrated more strength last night.   Mitch was determined, brought his dogs to the line and waited for race Judge Thomas Tett to let him go at 1:11PM.

Mitch’s dogs started out uneventfully with his super leader Tanner in single lead, but they were tentative.  Like a freight train, the process is gradual as the dogs gradually warm up and reach full speed.

14 minutes later Aliy, who by nature demonstrates more emotions than Mitch, was howling to her dogs at the start position.  This greatly amused the crowd of onlookers. Her huskies responded with a howl and to subjectively thinking bystanders, looked more animated than Mitch and his team.  Aliys dogs were all in white windbreaker blankets, though the sun was brilliant and temperatures probably around 20F.

As Mitch and team almost disappeared, a small barely discernible dot on the bend of Fish River, Aliy was allowed to pull the hook.  Her dogs trotted of smartly—a word that should give you the idea they were feeling well after 8hours of rest and dinner.   To bystanders, particularly her big group of fans, she and team appeared to have more strength out of the chute.

From my view—just my opinion—Aliy’s faster run into White Mountain last night, and the general appearance of her team, indicates she has the momentum.   In hindsight, it appeared she fell behind on the Yukon, but her decision to rest her dogs when the rest of the pack was moving forward, might have been a key move by her.  The mantra is “never exceed the parameters “ of performance.  Work you and your team too hard, and the irony of it is you won’t have the zip for the next run.  The art of winning with the fastest speed is running the fine line of work effort and the ability to recover.

Back at my computer, I understood that Mitch’s tracker was not working.  Officials were checking to see if he had left gear in the checkpoint and accidentally left the device in White Mountain.

Final Thoughts

We expect an average time into Nome, and therefore looking at an 11PM finish in Nome.  Our insider camera crew is on the trail to document the action.