Unk—9am—The race to the front

We are in a desultory lull here at the UNK checkpoint waiting for incoming mushers.  So, in the checkpoint we have a discussion with the Norwegian snowmachiners resting here, checkpoint officials, a few interested fans from Unalakleet, my colleagues from team Insider and attempt to evaluate the race.

Take it for what it’s worth—-it’s just an opinion—use your own judgement—-things could change in a heart beat—but here it is.

Using the wonderful tools available at the Insider, the invested fan can quickly understand that Aliy Zirkle is maintaining a tenuous lead to the front, having left the checkpoint of Shaktoolik  at about 7am this morning.  The lead is always a demanding  burden as the first team out leads the pack, laying down the scent trail that the following  teams recognize.  If there are difficulties in finding the trail, the front team pays the penalty, taxing leaders to sort out the confusion.  As the snow has melted and left the tundra brown, we are hearing anecdotally that trail lathe markers are falling down, making the trail even more difficult to decipher , especially at night.

Behind Aliy, we find the powerful team of Jeff King departing an hour later at 8am.  He was faster than Aliy.  In the calculus of sled dog racing, that also means he needs to rest the team less which means he gained run time plus rest.  Not so complicated, and mushers understand this is the vicious cycle of physiology.  Run time must be matched with adequate rest time.  An hour gained in run time is actually much more significant because the slower team must rest more.  Somebody from Wall street could do the math of compound interest and transaction penalties. 

Therefore, just as King and Aliy has usurped the lead of Buser, we have consensus that King will catch Zirkle—possibly on the run to Koyuk.

Reports from the Shaktoolik checkpoint indicate mushers found the barren, rock strewn, brushy bare trail more difficult than described.  That may be why Dallas Seavey had an astoundingly fast time of 5 hours to Shaktoolik as he is known to attack as he did while amateur wrestling, bouncing off the tundra, avoiding obstacles and hustling up hills.  His father, Mitch Seavey, may have the most powerful team on the trail, but he admits that his knees are sore and not helping the dogs as he would want. Still, the two Seaveys have the fastest teams on the trail—even faster  than King.

At any rate, we can see that Mitch Seavey is three hours behind King—-our theoretical race leader.  Some have said that King has a huge lead—too big for either of the Seaveys to bridge.   Yet, there may be a new paradigm on the trail.

I talked to Mitch in Unalakleet and he observed that mushers have often bought into similar strategies and therefore adopt the same mindset.  Historically, the first musher in Unalakleet is anointed by the press as the eventual winner.  In the paradigm Mitch has proposed, he says, “I am racing to the finish, not to Unalakleet.”  Translated, that means he is keeping his run and rest in balance, notwithstanding the impulse to chase the front of the race.

So, looking forward to the trail ahead,  Aliy and King are leading to Koyuk.  The trail has been routed around Norton sound (not across the ice as usual) through brush, on bare ground described as horrible with a continuous undulating trail down into gullies and over hills.  In other words, the trail that Aliy and King are presently traveling will be demanding physically for dogs and musher.  The icy trail where a dog team can skip along with little effort has been replaced by one requiring strength—lots of strength. The musher who has envisioned a run across to Koyuk, comfortably sitting and  listening to the Mamas and the Papas on a personal music apparatus and staring vacantly at the smooth snowmachine trail ahead..  Instead, they will be attentive, in motion, negotiating  raw trail, watching leaders and paying particular attention to the trail, avoiding trail obstacles that are normally buried under a blanket of snow.

Therefore, the run to Koyuk is  great spectacle for the fan.  Although Zirkle and King now control the front of the race,  they are now in a psychological state to defend, while Sonny Lindner, Mitch Seavey, and Dallas Seavey are in pursuit, a much easier focus.    

The run to Koyuk is monumental, 65 miles of pure mushing.  Dallas Seavey, now the fastest by a huge margin, will undoubtedly become the silent partner in the team.  As is his custom, he wears mountain running shoes,  on and off the runners, pushing up hills, jumping off the sled with abandon to ease the sled over bumps and corrugations in the trail.  The alternative is for the musher to ride the runners and allow the sled to hammer the irregularities in the trail, while the dogs must fight the slack and the tension on the tow line.

Zirkle in lead,  King advancing, and Lindner, Mitch, and Dallas Seavey in pursuit to Koyuk.