Zirkle First Out of Ruby - Buser in Pursuit off an 8 hr Rest

Aliy Zirkle and her a Team of 15 dogs (my sponsor dog Chemo is still in there!) have passed out of a Ruby and is now on the Yukon heading for Galena.  Most other a Teams opted to take their mandatory 8 hour rest in a Ruby.....the first one to complete his 8 hour rest is Martin Buser....he left about 2 and a half hours after Aliy passed through, however Aliy hasn't taken her 8 hour rest yet, so technically speaking, Buser is leading this race even though Aliy is physically in front of him. I know....more math....right?  We only had an "apples to apples" comparison for a short time....as soon as the rest of them come off their 8 hour rest we can see what kind of time Aliy has made on them...or if she is still in 3rd place as she was before they started taking the 8 in Ruby.  My bet is she stops in Galena or perhaps even pushes to Nulato...it all depends on how her Team is doing when she reaches Galena.  The trail on the Yukon is a hard packed Snowmobile route between villages.  No hills or technical challenges....it's actually a bit monotonous.  But one can make good time if the conditions are right. Buser is coming off of a good 8 hour rest, let's see if his Team sets some blistering speeds coming into Galena.  Some say that since he and others pushed their teams hard in the beginning, they do run the risks of a slower second half of the race....the dogs simply say "I don't want to run that fast anymore".....they don't flat out quit but they can slow down.  If too much energy was "paid up front" it could backfire on them.  This happened to Buser last year and to King in the end out of Koyuk.  Aliy has ran the same schedule as her 2012 2nd place finish.....and you will notice Mitch and Dallas are also running a conservative race relatively speaking.  They are banking on the other teams balking at the speed at some point....plus they are running their own schedule, their own plan, and sticking with it.  The second half of this race will be interesting because really no foregone front runner has emerged....yet.  Look for this to begin to unfold.....it may be a 5 way sprint to the finish if this keeps going this way!  We still have half a race to go......get comfortable.....I know what I'll be doing all weekend!