I agree - Joar's team looked *great* coming in last night - I thought they'd be trudging along, so thrilled to see them looking so good. At the very least, we can hope that it didn't take too much out of them.
And Joar should be proud - that footage of them driving into a headwind, trotting along perkily is wonderful. The fact that he had one of the best runs ever will make up for it - it's the memories, not the winning that does it (I know that sounds trite, but one of the best rides I ever had on one of my horses still gives me chills because it was *so* good. We were ultimately pulled from the ride, lame, at 92 (out of a 100) miles. But that wonderful memory far out-weighs the fact that we didn't complete, and I'll remember it forever).
As a strategic move, I don't think it's going to work out, though. His team were SO slow in parts, particularly the last hour or two - travelling at < 6mph.
I'm looking at the speeds of the following mushers, and they are flying by comparison -
Ray - 8.3 mph
Jessie - 10.4 (?!?)
Mitch - 9.3
Pete - 8.7
Linwood - 9.1
Wade - 8.4
Michelle - 8.2
Matts - 8.9
...Joar never hit 8 mph
Lars was 25 mins faster than Joar, although if you take into account Joar's detour back to get his food, maybe that's insignificant. This evening, when teams start to arrive in ID will really show the time differential.