by Terrie Hanke

The final four racers have all made the right hand turn at Ophir to run the Northern Route to the Yukon.  Matt Failor and Dan Seavey departed Ophir on 3/9 at 21:15 and 22:16 respectively. Jan Steves and Bob Chlupach pulled out of Ophir in the early morning hours of Saturday March 10th.

Volunteers at the Unalakleet checkpoint have established Internet communication with Anchorage Race Stats, sorted the drop bags, inventoried the drop bags and now wait for the leader to make Kaltag and run the portage trail over the Nulato Hills to Unalakleet. The first musher to make the Bering Sea Coast will receive the Gold Coast Award sponsored by Wells Fargo.

Currently Aliy Zirkle is into Kaltag and resting. Mitch Seavey, John Baker, Aaron Burmeister, Dallas Seavey and Jeff King are out of Nulato heading to Kaltag. With the Unalakleet checkpoint prepared, race volunteers and villagers have time for some speculation. Zirkle is in a good position up front. Grabbing food and straw then camping between checkpoints is a strategy that seems to be working for her. She’s running many of the same dogs that were on Allen Moore’s second place Quest Team – second only by 26 seconds to Hugh Neff. It’s common knowledge that dogs improve with miles and Quest miles are valuable training. Is it to Aliy’s advantage that husband and kennel partner, Moore ran the Quest team? Mushers don’t fare as well as dogs on the trail, and are commonly considered the weakest part of the team. Aliy comes to the trail strong and fresh. Is this to her advantage compared to 2012 Quest Champion, Hugh Neff and Quest finishers Lance Mackey, Brent Sass, Sonny Lindner, Kristy Berington, and Trent Herbst who covered the 1,000 mile trail? What about the teams that call this end of the trail home – John Baker and Aaron Bermeister. Will their dogs recognize the Yukon River as the beginning of the trail to home? Time will tell.

It appears that Mitch Seavey decided to break the run from Ruby to Nulato into two seventy-mile pieces, camping along the trail. The former champion undoubtedly has a strong strategy. The next question will be about how long mushers stay in Kaltag. If a team plans to do the ninety miles to the coast in one run, they’ll more than likely rest six hours. If they plan to stop midway on the portage trail, the rest at Kaltag will likely be four hours.

Sitting on this end speculating with Unalakleet residents and dog mushers, Middy Johnson and Sheldon Katchatag, is a great way to spend the quiet hours of Saturday before the checkpoint comes to life on Sunday morning.