Video Transcription Service Up and Running.

[elsietee]

Bruce Lee:

-37° at 5 am in Manley. Martin's team - first team in - very animated and looking good - hard to stop to sign in.

Mushers are looking frosty and crusted over, compared to yesterday's sunglasses and sunshine.

* * * *

Dallas in Manley:

Q: can you talk about optimum speed? You said people were going too fast...?

Faster than *I* would go. It's hard to talk about optimum speed because different people have different types of dogs. You've got speed dogs - that's their strength. My teams' strength is their power. It would be foolish of me to try to race Jeff down the river.

In certain conditions - if you're running 9.5-10 mph - you're running a pretty big risk... you might not have a problem, but it's going a little too fast around some icy turns, you know?

Q: So for you ...about 8 mph?

You can see the sugar-holes coming... and I'll slow them down to 6.5 mph - walk them through that stuff. The last thing I want to see is some dog go head first into some big, ol' sugary pit and come up with a leg on the wrong side of the line. It's just not worth it. Even if they just jam a toe, or go off-balance and pull something. You know how it is - you trip and catch yourself - you didn't really hurt anything, but you're going to be sore in the morning. We can't afford that.

The restart is really in Kaltag - we all say it's in FBs or Willow - but this thing... the first 700 miles is about "Can you travel - quickly, but correctly - with a dog team? Can you end up in Kaltag with a healthy team?" - that's really the question... not how *fast* you can get to Kaltag.

In *my* opinion. Obviously there are a lot of people in this race who've done very well and done it a lot differently to me.

[elsietee]

Mitch in Manley:

I thought the trail was pretty good. We were expecting a lot more of a soft trail.

Cold weather - it set up.

Q: It's basically 40 below... what's the critical thing in caring for dogs in these temperatures?

You've got to keep them eating and hydrated. It was actually closer to 50 below - you can get some frostbite, but I didn't worry about that so much as keeping them eating and hydrated. That's the main thing. They're eager and hot to go - it was a nice run, that way.

* * * *

Wade in Manley [ice crusting his eyelashes]:

The trail was amazing, I don't know if we could have gotten a better trail for that run. For me it went really well. It was cold, but it was good. Had a nice little camp out on the side of the trail and the dogs did awesome - they ran hard getting over here. It's good.

Q: how much more difficult is it doing your dog chores at 40 below?

<laughs> Actually, once you start moving, it's not too horrible. But it is a lot harder than in the warmth. You're a little more reluctant to do as much, but you know you have to do as much, so it's kind of a back and forth thing there.

The main thing is when you're on the sled and the dogs are rolling [going fast], so you can't really pump, or kick, or run, or ski-pole or anything like that to stay warm. You're just standing on the brake with one foot and trying to pump with the other foot to try and keep yourself warm. That's the tricky part.

Q: was it pretty cold coming in here?

It was pretty cold coming in here... but nothing we can't live with.

[elsietee]

Nic in Manley [seems a little out of it]:

[there was a shot of his ice-encrusted sled]

Q: how was the trail coming for your team?

It was great, but cold. Had to stop and make sure my boys wouldn't have any issues with the cold, but we got everything in time and they're all fine.

I went to ... what's that Tal place?

Q: Talavana Road House?

Yes, I went there... I missed the turn, first, but we got them in there. Stayed there... it was nice. I was basically by myself except for the hosts... Dave and... Lacey? I think it was? they were really nice. They had hot water and a nice bed to lay in for an hour. So it was a good place to hang out.

Q: for people who aren't dog mushers, what's important taking care of feeding dogs in 40 below temps?

Water. Fat. and Slow. It's convenient when you have a team you can ask to go slow, instead of holding them back. Less harness rubs and things like that.

It was fun leaving there - the whole team just screamed for about half an hour after leaving there - They tend to do that when we leave places. They're a fun dog team.

Q: You've always had really good eaters, it seems like?

Sometimes you have to play with them... take them for a walk... bring them back. Let them pee somewhere else, then they'll eat, s'weird.

Q: How long are you going to stay here?

Probly 2.5-3 hours. Go on the river with some straw and if it gets really hot, we'll pull over.

[Daniel]

Great stuff! Thank you for the effort! Keep em coming

[elsietee]

Laura Neese in Manley:

It's been fun. Chilly last night, another beautiful day today. Dogs are having fun, I'm having fun.

My main leader, Maple, is phenomenal - as always - she's like... I've never seen her this jazzed as she's been the last day... <laughs> she's just go-go-go, so that's pretty cool. And then ...<looking around at her team> SugarDaddy never gets tired. Young Gun in wheel - the one sitting up there - this is his first 1000 mile. So far he's having fun.

Q: How d'you keep your emotions in check - make sure you're on top of your game?

Pretty much just remember that I'm doing Iditarod - that's pretty awesome - how could you not be happy? <laughs>

* * * *

Cody Strathe in Manley:

Been going pretty good. The dogs have been doing an awesome job, the trail's been hard and fast - maybe a little too fast, so we have a couple of dogs with sore wrists because they've been pounding the pavement, but they look really good. They're really excited about the hard fast trail. We've had soft snow for the last couple of weeks, so it's been fun for them. And running in the moonlight has been really beautiful - runs last night with the headlight off, so you see the 16 dogs shadows ahead of you dancing in the moonlight - that's pretty amazing. Good aurora last night.... and to top it off it got really freaking cold and I froze my hands and arms a bit... so that's why I'm here. I was going to go through, on a little faster schedule, but decided to warm up and become a human again, so I can take care of my dogs. If you don't take care of yourself, you just fall apart and then who can take care of the doggies?

They need a brain to think... to take care of them, rub them in the right place, so sometimes you've got to do that [take care of yourself].

It's pretty sunny, but there is a cool breeze - it's maybe 10 below? It's cooling off. We'll be leaving here in about half an hour or so, we're just going to take our time. I've got a bunch of nice wet snacks for them to hydrate them, and, within a couple of hours it'll be much cooler. I'll take off their coats - they don't need those to run in right now. Hopefully there's a little breeze on the river to flow through their hair, cool them off.

This is Tahoe...and this is Nukluk - both leaders.

* * * *

Noah Burmeister camped on the river between Manley adn Tanana:

I have no idea what's going on with the race, other than we're out on the river right now. On the way to Tanana. It's been fast and slow - this trail is a little bit slow, but it has a bit of a base to it which is good. The trail from Nenana to Manley was pretty quick.

All in all a lot better than I thought it would be.

Q: You said you might not want to ever leave here? <laughs>

Believe me, as soon as the sun sets, I'll want to leave, trust me. It was a chilly night last night and it'll be chilly again tonight, so I don't think we want to stick around too long out here.

** * *

Justin High camped on the river:

Asked about sharing thoughts with other mushers during the race:

Nice to BS with people. Nice to camp out with others. Last night was a cold lonely night at 60-65 below... We always bounce ideas of each other... it's just bouncing ideas... we'll always talk, but we're not going to give everything up.

* * *


Pete Kaiser camped out prior to Tanana:

Q: How are your dogs so far?

They look alright... just trying to ease them into this as comfortably as we can and remain competitive, which is tricky. So far so good, but there's a long way to go.

Q: Was part of your strategy to stay out of checkpoints?

It was more just the length of runs I wanted to be doing didn't involve stopping in those particular checkpoints. There's only been two of them. I just happened to miss them.

There's no real leader yet. Everytime a group back there stops I pass them and every time I stop, they pass me. So pretty much a leapfrog game for several days, then it'll start to sort itself out more.

Q: Good to be out front?

I'm happy with where I'm at. Happy with the trail adn the dogs. Besides the cold,... I'll take this warm any day over blowing snow and blizzarding. Sounds like we might just have to tough one more night out of however cold its going to get.

[elsietee]

Ray Red:

Tell his daughter Ellen Happy Birthday on the 10th.

I don't know where I am in the race - trying to figure out where everyone is.

Some people are going short with little rest... I figure Pete will be comign through here pretty soon. Just trying to figure out where everyone is and how they're doign it.

Q: are you running your own race?

I'm running mine, but seeing what everyone else is doign around me. There's enough people to watch.

Q: Impression of this route we don't get to travel very often?

Well.... <looks around dully> it's cold and flat... It's alright. Just trying to figure out where we'd be in relation to [the normal route]. I think we'd be on the Burn, or at Rohn, getting ready to go on the burn...

* * *

Ryan Red:

[Travelling with his brother]

The benefit is all his experience, but we've both been racing dogs a long time, adn it's just fun to run with my brother. Looking forwards to many miles ahead.

The dog team I've been putting together for a while. I do have a couple of dogs from Mike Williams Jr - he's a good friend of mine - he sent me his few best dogs. This one - Chee (?) - he finished with Mike in lead last year. So he's my secret weapon. I haven't put him in lead yet, but I know that when the tough gets going he'll be the one up front and I'm excited to have him on the team.

* * *

Kristy:

Talks about the cold. Enjoying the warm. Nice to be able to sleep outside when the temps are warm, versus last night shivering yourself awake. You have to take care of your hands so you can take care of your dogs. We do a lot of stuff barehanded - massage and bootying - def. keeping your hands from freezing up. And keeping yourself hydrated so you can focus and do what you're out there to do. Important to rest as long as you intend to - it's easy to pull the hook and say I just want to get to the check point - I hate it [the cold]. But you have to let the dogs rest.


I've got two... actually their mother's in lead right now - her name is Beatrice. I've got her two daughters in swing and Anna's got their brother. They're the "muppet litter" - Beaker, Grizzo, Fonzi, Kermit.... every one of them is a leader just like mom, so that litter's going to happen again. They're always in a good mood - they always have energy - and they goof around a little bit when we're running - they're always having fun and it's contagious to the rest of the team. I love having them on the team. They're only two.

XXXX [couldn't catch the name] went to Nome with me last year and Rizzo had a heat cycle that just started so I didn't bring her to be a distraction.

But really a lot of fun and meshing well.

<then talks about enjoying the warm temps>

[flowerpower]

Ryan Redington Camped near Tanana

Q: obviously traveling with brother. Whats the benefit to that?
RR: Benefit is all his experience. We've been racing a long time. It's just fun to run with my brother. Looking forward to many miles ahead.
Q: Tell me about your team and how you ended up in this spot
RR: Sure. The dog team has some from Mike williams . he called and sent me a few of his best. This is Chief. He's kinda my secret weapon. When the going gets tough he'll be the one I put up in front. I'm excited to have him on the team.

[elsietee]

Justin High in to Manley - says he really needs sleep. The dogs would happily keep going, but his one year old baby kept him up the last few nights before the start, so now he's really needing to catch up on sleep.

[mira]

Justin High in to Manley - says he really needs sleep. The dogs would happily keep going, but his one year old baby kept him up the last few nights before the start, so now he's really needing to catch up on sleep.

That will be the first time anyone catch up on sleep on iditarod trail (but of course, I really sympathise with him)

[fladogfan]

Justin High in to Manley - says he really needs sleep. The dogs would happily keep going, but his one year old baby kept him up the last few nights before the start, so now he's really needing to catch up on sleep.

That will be the first time anyone catch up on sleep on iditarod trail (but of course, I really sympathise with him)

I bet you do mira

Thanks elsie, love all the info you provide and especially your comments. Some of them have me LOL