Sunday, March 10, 2013
Race to the Bering Sea Coast
Burmeister, Buser, Mitch, Berkowitz, and Ulsom are out in front towards Unalakleet....Aily rested a bit on the trail and is now moving about 16 miles behind the lead pack. Believe it not, Dallas and his small team of 10 dogs have caught up to Aliy.....he is resting now but wow, he made up some really good time up the Yukon when most of the Teams struggled. It is said this is where Teams will make their moves, and you can see it playing out on the GPS. Aliy is running her own schedule, she may try to blow through Unalakleet to Shatoolik. Speaking of blowing, the wind is strong on the coast. This is the next place to watch for Mother Nature to play her hand. A good wind could easily make for very poor visibility. On the Yukon it was rain that played a part in the race. Most mushers complained about wet feet that froze into blocks as temps dropped. Mackey....poor Mackey is fighting frost bite on a toe, and worse yet he broke a tooth clear off exposing a nerve. OUCH! He says the radiation from the throat cancer really did a number on his teeth....so a simple act of eating a brownie broke off one of his brittle teeth. He says the cold air is brutal on his exposed nerve!! You GOT to be kidding me...this guy is tough!! Also it is said Berkowitz contracted some food poisoning but seems to have worked through it. He dropped a dog in Katag and now has 15 on the Team. He admits he is the weak link. Burmeister nursed some dogs back from the canine creepy crud that ran through his team.....it wasn't an extensive bout of the stuff but still he had to deal with it by watering his dogs more to assure they don't dehydrate.
As the front runners roll into Unalakleet it is said the top 5 finishers will be in there somewhere. We are running out of miles for any big moves from the middle of the pack. Dallas and perhaps Ramey Smyth will challenge for a front spot, so sit back and enjoy this Sunday racing day.....and don't forget to set your clocks ahead! It could take from 12 to 15 hours to make the trek from Kaltag to Unalakleet depending upon rest times on the trail. I'll post throughout the morning with GPS milages since the stats won't be updated until they roll into Unalakleet. The first Teams could arrive there around 11 am EST.
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