Huslia-Koyukuk-Nulato

[mamamia]

It is hard to say what Ray will do. It is warm and it is the wrong time of day and he is still 6 hours from the checkpoint. His runs don't fall into a distinct pattern. He started out running short and resting 4. He took his 8 in Tannana. Since then he has some some long runs and some short ones. His run from Galena to his current resting place has been 9h 40m. He has always rested his dogs at least 4 hours and often more than 5. And remember he was down on dogs early in the race. I wouldn't be surprised if he rests long here and runs through Koyukok and onto Nulato (70 miles).

[elsietee]

Agreed on Wade's lead dog - look at the legs on that thing:

[coldfeet]

Looks like Mitch is off to Kaltag for his 8. Fresh for the portage.

(pulling for Wade/Joar/Nic/.... )

[elsietee]

I thought all three front teams looked great. Both Wade and Mitch were standing on the mat to slow them down. Dallas' looked a little more business-like which is typical for him.

Dallas confirmed what we saw yesterday- that the heat mid afternoon yesterday suddenly hit them, so he opted to just shut the team down. Said the dogs didn't sleep, just play-fought and chewed on willow twigs (wait? Isn't that like aspirin?).

He said looking at Mitch's time to Huslia and having talked to a local, the trail was supposed to be really good. But it wasn't, it was breaking down and you'd suddenly drop from 9 mph to 7 mph in the soft stuff. So his run took him longer than expected. He'd hoped to have a couple of hours on Mitch out of Huslia, but instead was behind. He said he'd think of some way to catch up - it's still a long way to go.

Wade acknowledged that Mitch was faster, but said he'd wait until Unk before things would be really clear.

Frustrating for him, once again, to be fiddling around looking for trail coming in to Nulato when he has no minutes to waste.

Wade and Dallas both declared their 8. Mitch did not.

[txbennett]

Mitch can take his 8 in Kaltag and then -- maybe -- if he wants to really push it -- run all the way to Unalakleet with just short snack breaks along the trail, then another longer break (4 to 5 hours) before heading up the coast.

[coldfeet]

Mitch sets an all-time record of 2hr to Nulato. 11mph!
The run to Kaltag is always faster. 12mph?
On 11 dogs and he carrying 120 pounds of dead weight (2 dogs).
In the heat of the day (24F).
Only stops for 1 minute in Nulato and takes nothing.
Wow.

[braider]

From Huslia to Koyukuk, Jessie passed 4 mushers = Kaiser, Diehl, Red jr, and Zirkle.
Go RoyerGo

[mamamia]

Whoa! Jason Mackey just ran thru Koyukuk in a bold move towards the front of the pack. He arrived in 12th place and this pushes him to 7th. We will have to see if this pays off for him and if his team can handle it. This is what his day has looked like...

As you are all probably aware it has been a long slow slog with warm tempatures for those teams making their way from Huslia to Koyukuk. Many of those coming off their 24 like Jason had no choice but to run through the heat of the day. Jason left Huslia at 06:51, ran for 5:24 and stopped at 12:15 pm. He rested for 2:25 starting back at 14:40 (2:40 pm) He then ran 7:47 to Koyukuk. Nulato is another 22 miles so at his current 7.5mph another 3 hours. By contrast Ray is running towards Nulato at 8.6mph.

Also consider this... If you look at his actual run time from Huslia to Kuoykuk (time en route minus rest) it is 13:11. Michelle Phillips left Huslia one minute after him. She rested on the trail from 12:15 to 4 pm (an hour and 20 minutes longer than him) and arrived in Koyukuk 5 minutes ahead of him. She rested longer in the heat of the day and although their run time on the stat sheet is roughly the same her adjusted run time is actually 11:45 compared to Jason's 13:11 reflecting the difference in speed due to rest.

So Jason's team has been working hard today and he is asking them to run for 3 hours more. Right now he is traveling at 7.6mph and Jessie is on his heels at 9.3mph. A big gamble so we will see how it pays off.

[elsietee]

It doesn't look good for him. I clicked on him before I read what you wrote and noticed a slower speed, but figured it might just be a slow snapshot. But then I clicked on him again just now and he's at 6.6 mph. (Contrast with Mitch's phenomenal 11 mph for that stretch).

Jessie's right behind him at 9.2 mph.

[mamamia]

Ray Reddington said something interesting in one of his interviews while talking about rest. He said that what you do today you will see the effects of in two days. It seems like the short runs and fast trail of the Yukon tempts mushers to cut rest and over the years I have seen plenty of mushers pay for that decision on the coast. The year Jeff's team quit on him on the way to Unalakleet he had cut rest dramatically chasing the front of the pack. Keep an eye on Ray, he is preparing for his run up the coast. On the slog from Huslia today he stopped and rested his team for 6 hours from about 9am to 3pm. (adjusted run time 11:25) He ran through Koyukuk but was still able to post a run time from Koyukuk to Nulato of 2h 8m (third fastest) and at the end of a 8h 45m run. I am expecting him to rest here then run through Kaltag and rest at one of the points on the way to Unk. He has been very disciplined with his run/rest schedule and never rests for less than 4 hours.