March 6—Cripple—8:30am—Martin controls, pursues King and Lindner in Ruby
So, let’s immediately cut to the CHASE.
Insiders who have been following the GPS tracker and official time sheet understand that Buser is now the pivotal personality in this 2014 race. By several calculations of my colleagues here in Cripple who have extrapolated travel times, Martin appears to be about 6 hours to the advantage on the pack. He bootied dogs in front of our fan base in Cripple, petted a few dogs, went to the sled, pulled the hook and with Shawn White and Rigid at the commands in front, unceremoniously departed Cripple. The dogs looked animated and powerful.
Specifically, if all goes well, Martin’s 15 dog pack of fast traveling huskies should arrive in Ruby about 7:30 PM tonight—-more or less. We find that King arrived in Ruby at 6:41AM this morning and is presently completing a 24 hour mandatory. All this math can be illusory, but I think the true fan just has fun with this 24 hour mandatory confusion and watches for the grand convergence when all mushers are done with the 24 hour. Martin, in theory, should be mushing on the Yukon for six hours when King is allowed to pull the hook and pursue.
Looking south, our attention is diverted to the advancing pack which has come out of 24 hour hibernation at Takotna—to include Zirkle, Seavey family, Sorlie, et al.
Kelly Maixner, deserves respect and mention. He arrived in Cripple at 8:26 am. By our collected efforts (notjust my bias) Kelly is marginally to the front of King and the advancing mob. He can be said to be running 2nd in the race. His fifteen dogs arrived powerful and alert. His team colors are orange and green. Kelly’s parka is green with a front orange glove pouch, the sled bag is orange and green, and the tug lines are bright orange. This presents a feeling of organization, which I think accurately describes our musher personality. Maixner’s run deserves respect. He is now one of the players. “ I have been arriving about the same time Martin leaves a checkpoint,” Kelly told us. He has given five hours to Martin, but he isn’t losing ground.
I had more time to spend with Martin just before his departure from Cripple. He is running 15 dogs and pleased with their condition. Rigid, mentioned earlier, is 4 ½ years old and coming into his own as a super dog. Commenting on his trail habits, Martin stopped two times on the trail from Ophir to Cripple to feed and water. Many mushers offer clear water, but Martin is particularly consistent. He always offers clear water at his food and snack breaks. “They still like that clear water.”
Philosophically, he told me that he wants to dictate the stops, a planned intention. “Everybody likes me to be the boss.”
Temperature here at Cripple is hanging about -18F, but a gentle wind makes it seem cold. We are all pulling on parkas over our light gear and pulling up parka hoods to break the wind. At the same time, Martin is putting boots on the dogs and adjusting obviously tailored dog coats. The coats are light weight and appear wind resistant. “The coats are wind breakers, but they create a little microclimate, and I think improve performance.”
A duffel bag with four compartments sits at the middle of the team. Xlarge to small boots are stacked in neat rows. Martin, in general, puts medium in the right hand pocket of his parka and large in the left hand pocket. Not always, but usually, he puts large on the front and medium on the rear—adjusting for the small and extra large dogs. In addition, each bootie has been loaded with a dusting of baby powder and Gold bond to keep the feet dry. He is very efficient as he moves from the rear of the team to the front, picking up miscellaneous gear on return to the sled.
Asked he put his strategy together, he said that his son Rohn is a big part of his strategy analysis.
Martin’s dogs run without the classic use of necklines. “I have seen a dramatic reduction in carpus injuries.” Like King’s team, the dogs spin, look back, bang the harness, with freedom. They have considerable range of motion to avoid trail obstacles, make adjustments on down hill sections. Instead of a traditional tug line attached to the rear of the harness, tugs are attached to a specially designed harness just behind the shoulders.
A few comments about camp life. Jim Paulus, a visionary Iditarod fan, has singlehandedly transformed the Cripple outpost into a functional checkpoint. Incrementally, he has hustled building materials and constructed first class camp buildings by gradually sheathing tent frames so that Cripple now has a musher shack for sleeping, a cook tent, and comm center. He laughs, “Mark Nordman has tolerated my enthusiasm and allows me freedom.” The volunteers work hard and enjoy a really great social gathering. Lots of joking, big interest in the race, and a visit to a very raw, primitive, wilderness destination is the reward. Jim Paulus is the camp manager and universally regarded by the Cripple volunteers.
Flash!!!! Sorlie has arrived with an absolutely smoking traverse. Unbelievably fast. In fact, comms in Anchorage questioned the times before posting to the internet. In total, Takotna to Cripple was about ten hours (please use the tools at the Insider if you have spare time ). Kelly Maixner, who is parked adjacent to Sorlie commented, “His time makes me feel a little less confident in my position.”
Concurrently, Baker, Burmeister, and Gebhardt are now organizing gear, feeding their resting teams, and preparing for departure this evening. Aaraon Burmeister will leave off a 24 hr at 5pm. I have been here all night , and for the benefit of his family and friends, I can say that he has been icing his compromised knee and brought the swelling to a manageable level. He is careful to stabilize his knee and is playing it day by day, but thinks he can continue with his wonderful team. Objectively, he states that the team is performing at a very high level.
In those quiet conversations you have at checkpoints, he also observed that his dogs seem to sense that he is not the agile boss. “Unbelievable, they seem to know they have to take it easy. They sense that I am not acting the same.” He has the weight of his own expectations on his shoulders. “All this work and effort, I just can’t let it go.” His run to Ruby will be a test as he confided that as he compensates for his compromised knee, it demands more in adjustments. “I am losing time, but the dogs are just awesome.”
What we know? Aliy is probably parking on the trail, as this is her habit. She likes to break her runs into a systematic pattern. Therefore, she is temporarily out of the media’s view.
Sorlie is smoking. King has advanced to the Yukon River. Martin sustains a lead earned in the first 22 hours of the race. The pack advances, with competitors, eg. the older and younger Seavey, Ray Redington, ready to take advantage in the second half of the race—as is their habit.
