Parked just off the main road in Takotna, Aaron Burmeister is in the “transit” parking spot.  He can easily haw (go left) his team back on the main trail from town.   He intends to stay for five hours, then mush towards Cripple for his 24 hour break.

Seeing that his dogs are inhaling offered food, Aaron offers, “I am the weak link, the dogs are great.”  Despite an obvious diagnosis that he has torn/broken an ACL, he has decided to continue racing with his team.  I  think he can’t bear the thought of abandoning his super team.

The knee is outfitted with a brace, thanks to the efforts of a medic in Nikolai, and he  hopes to persist.  He moved stiff legged to the hot water tank just in front of the community center/checkpoint  and prepared another bucket of fish and kibble.  His dogs are piranhas, consuming the ration.

Meanwhile, Robert Sorlie has parked up the hill from checkpoint near an old church that is used as a sleeping quarter for some of the resident mushers.  Sorlie has parked his dogs for a 24 and told Insider Bruce Lee that he was very pleased with his team.  He should be.  I saw them loping into Nikolai earlier today and all 16 looked solid.

Aliy was eating a high protein dinner of steak and eggs.  She is a very conscientious athlete.  I asked her about the bread, which she had not eaten.  “It’s like a candy bar.  I could eat it since I am burning so many calories, but normally I wouldn’t.”  She insists that Sonny Lindner actually  has a time advantage to her since he started 70 th.  Obviously, the difference in start times must be resolved to determine actual time.  In the Iditarod, start times are adjusted with an exit time after the 24 hour break.  A math genius has already figured it out.  Sonny, for example will leave after 24 hours in his announced 24 hour checkpoint, but Aliy will leave after about 26 hours, therefore adjusting times.

She also told me that she uses several methods for wrapping wrists.  “I am probably too fussy and waste a lot of time.”  It’s subjective , but she feels the compression, the adjuval lotion she uses, and the heat are a precaution her dogs deserve to keep their wrists supple and free from tenderness or swelling.

Question.  Do mushers declare a 24 hour well past the half way point? Not normally, although a few to the Yukon have been successful.  Lynwood Fiedler, on the southern route, went to Anvik and later placed 2nd.  Paul Gebhardt, in a move that seemed ridiculous and futile, declared a 24 hour on the northern route at Galena.  He sling shot off the 24 with a well rested team and passed tens of teams in a flurry.  He eventually placed third, to the surprise of Iditarod fans.  To many, including me, it confirmed that a 24 hour break further in a race is a wise move.

 Robert Sorlie resting by the church.   Zirkle secure behind the checkpoint.  Burmeister determined to move further up the trail.