March 8 5:54pm Ruby Wade Marrs 8miles out—-Ruby be Mine

Joe Runyan

Bruce Lee and I took a direct Tanana to Ruby flight route in 56 minutes and now find ourselves at the Ruby communityt hall waiting for the first musher off the Yukon.  The very reliable Insider Gps indicates Wade Marrs 8 miles out and approximately 6 miles ahead of following competitor Dallas Seavey.   This is another move by the lead pack to keep Dallas from gaining enough momentum to control the front.  First Martin Buser, then Nic Petit, now Wade Marrs appear to have the firepower to launch strategic moves to counter the current champ.

Weather has moderated to a balmy 7f, the wind a whisper, with clear cloudless skies.  Travel speeds indicate that their trail blazers efforts have been succcessful.  Our first musher will divert off the Yukon and climb the south bank up a steep road to the community center.  

view of the long climb from Yukon to checkpoint in Ruby

another splendid photo by Jeff Schultz Wade Marrs climbs hill to Ruby checkpoint

NOW WADE IN

Of course you watched it all on the insider.  Wade’s sixteen dog team marched up the hill, ignored a Roman phalynx of media soldiers armed with cameras and microphone bayonets, and accepted the Spirit of Alaska award from Penn Air owner Danny Seibert.  NOt only has Danny Seibert and Penn Air supported the Iditarod,  DAnny is presently serving on the Iditarod board providing valuable business acumen and an Alaskan sense of history.  Danny and IDitarod President of the Board Andy Baker often work together on proposals and innovative business solutions to keep the Iditarod as Alaska’s great adventure.

Media surrounds Wade Marrs

Wade declared his 24 hour break as a cautionary move on arrival.   30 minutes later, while taking booties off his dogs, he thought about his place to the front of the race and mused that a 24 hour break might be a good idea.  His orginal plan had him taking the mandatory in Huslia.

WEll, for what it’s worth, the dogs looked well hydrated and animated one would think a 6 or 7 hour break would put in perfect shape to launch on the next run to Galena.  Maybe he should push the 24 further into the race.    Huslia is generally in mushing considerations as the middle of the race.

The run to Galena

The big hop of 120 miles from Tanana to Ruby is seldom travelled.   It’s a tough trip, expensive to break out a trail in terms of gas purchase, and long grind.  Many on the Yukon consider it one of the least travelled sections on the lower Yukon (confluence of Tanana River and Yukon River 750 miles downriver to the Yukon Delta at the Bering Sea.)

But, the runs from Ruby to GAlena  and beyond to the Bering SEa Coast all the way to Nome are well travelled with constant communication, especially in this modern age of snowmachines.  Therefore, the trails from Ruby on are usually well established with a good base and relatively easy pulling.  

downriver view of the yukon from ruby checkpoint. Could be my best photo ever

Dallas—just guessing—is probably still in the “build the team mode” and not that concerned about raw speed as long as he remains near the front of the race.  You can bet he is till rotating dogs, while others like Wade Marrs are running the entire team on the tow line.

additional edit—–Dallas arrived with three in the basket, even climbing the hill off the river to the checkpoint.

What to watch for?

Let’s see how the front pack guards the lead  Will Nicolas Petit execute his stated plan to push the race past the halfway point and take a 24 hour mandatory in Nulato or Kaltag?

Temperatures are forecast to rise.  Given the propensity of sled dogs to run best at the turn of light in morning and evening, mushers may start skewing their schedule to rest in the warm afternoon sun and around midnight, the down turn for dogs and people.

our checkpoint in ruby. corner reserved for our comm people. Center was built about 1970