Overflow, basketball, and five more ITI finishes!
Our 1,000 mile foot champion Gavan bivied last night for about 8 hours along the Klokerblok River, which flows in an easterly direction and joins Fish River in its delta mouth. It was exciting to wake up this morning to see Gavan and Ryan on the move, typically athletes are all tucked in and resting this early but it seems everyone is eager to get on their way! We have got to give a nod to this year’s ITI finish photos - we love seeing these athletes have so much zest and pep left in them after so many days on the side of the trail. We must say that Gavan looks incredibly happy to have finished!
Ryan Wanless has had his heart set on finishing on Friday so that he can watch basketball stress-free and cozy and warm. Gavan reported a horrible last push overnight. Alaska delivered sleet, rain, and snow, and left our racer wearing a plastic garbage bag like a proper vagabond. To help make this difficult push, he devoured 600mg of caffeine to fight off the sleepies. We might not advise that technique in the cold to get to Nome, but in this specific scenario it appears to have been the right move! Finishing in time for breakfast and the sunrise sounds absolutely dreamy. Ryan Wanless’s basketball team is the Wisconsin Badgers, go Bucky!
Christof, Beat, and Jan were also up and at it after shorter, 3-6 hour breaks, at the cabin. Leah stopped to bivy roughly 10 miles from the Topcock hills cabin, electing to sleep in the wilderness before making a push in the morning to the shelter for lunch.
Jan updated late last night after arriving at the Topcock cabin and shared excitement that he had finally made it to the shelter! Yesterday there was heavy, deep snow, which required him to hike in the strong winds. He arrived at Topcock in the daylight and was pulled to continue, but knew that the Safety roadhouse would require him to sleep outside (which is nonsense, he says!) The temperatures climbed to zero and there is a lot of overflow along the trail. The wind was not subsiding, which he felt was Alaska’s own way of saying, “Goodbye” as he made his way closer to Nome. This evening we see these three finishing after a magnificent effort and it marks five finishers on day 25 on the trail. Congratulations!
Leah Gruhn is in her own words, was “Less than an Arrowhead 135 away from the finish” which speaks volumes about her as a winter ultra athlete, doesn’t it?! She is mentally one of the toughest humans we know and we cannot wait to celebrate with her once she makes it to Nome. Check out the podcast We Do This For Fun and listen to her episode if you’re interested in learning more about what life on this trail is composed of. With winter being a little bit of a dud in the Midwest this year, Leah is braving the elements and filling her cup with more winter than she knows what to do with out there. With a quick visit to the Topcock Hills cabin, she left as soon as she could to make her way towards Safety.
This episode of the podcast is from her adventure on the trail last year so it’s a good time to brush up before hearing about her experiences once she finishes! In this episode replay, we hear what it takes for an athlete to finish the ITI: it is not primarily a solo mission. It takes the support from family, friends, and community to get ready to compete. Thanks to Leah’s support network, she is able to participate in this multi-week expedition. All of the athletes out racing Iditarod Trail Invitational have someone or a group of people that helps to get them to the starting line, and for that we want to mention our gratitude. Leah also speaks of serendipitous moments out on the Iditarod trail, sharing experiences with other Minnesotans while listening to Bob Dylan, meeting family friends out in the vast villages. How many calories does it take to get to Nome? That definitely depends on who you’ve asked, but for Leah Gruhn in 2023 she packed 88,000 calories in her drop boxes alone. Our friend is steadily moving forward and we cannot wait to cheer for her in Nome! Will she finish her push tonight or finish on day 26? The suspense!
https://www.wedothisforfun.com/episodes
For the rest of our athletes, it has been a very damp day. From Koyuk to Elim, we’re seeing moderate winds and high humidity. It’s snowing in some spots, but a wintry mix in others. Gavin arrived in Nome wearing a garbage bag and we imagine our friends along the trail are wearing similar ensembles. A winter storm warning is issued for the Interior Seward Peninsula and remains in effect until 1pm on Friday. The National Weather Service has forecasted heavy snow, and accumulations up to 3 to 8 inches with wind gusts up to 45 mph. Areas of blowing snow could significantly reduce visibility for all trail users. The Iditarod trail is technically more along the coast in this region and out of this zone but we can’t imagine that means blue skies and easy sailing for our bunch. They’re dealing with some wet damp stuff, and in the words of Petr Ineman, “This is how you get hypothermia.”
In addition to the winter storm warning, there is significant overflow along the course, especially in areas along the sea ice. Sunny shared a photo of the trudge through shin-deep water as she traveled through Norton Bay through the Koyuk Inlet. Faye mentioned yesterday that there was water coming up near Golovin Bay just before reaching White Mountain, and Leah noted that the section turning off of the Fish River after White Mountain was one of the worst stretches. There are 8 athletes who have not gone through these areas yet, and we hope that things dry out a little before they get too soaked.
Faye and Jeff are moving along after moose meals in White Mountain, in the area that Leah described as the worst. These two have been traveling together and have been sending updates when they can. They arrived in WM past 3am, and it was a looong day. The bay crossing from Golovin was rough and they decided to get it over with in case the ice got worse. There were already spots off of the trail that had water coming up. It snowed, rained, and sleeted on them the whole time but luckily the wind remained a tailwind, helping them through the tough conditions. Visibility was challenging for most of the trek, and they were absolutely soaked when they got to the village.
Faye did the 350 mile on foot in 2020 and in 2022, which were both vastly different experiences. Her first year saw very difficult and snowy weather which was very physically demanding. When she went back in 2022, it was a warm year with good weather, and the skills needed were very different, although the trail was much less physically demanding. Jeff also did the 350 in 2020 and in 2022, and described his first experience as a surreal experience of finishing and realizing the world was beginning to shut down due to the pandemic (and lots of moose). In 2022, he realized he missed much of the landscape on his first adventure, as he was able to see it because it wasn’t snowing!
Brandon Lott has spent nearly 12 hours in Elim, possibly drying all of his gear. Hendra arrived this afternoon and they are both in the village eating burgers and no doubt watching the weather. Joshua Brown is roughly 14 miles from these two as of 5pm. With a slowed pace due to overflow, we’re hoping he’s able to get to the village to warm up for a nice long rest. Mark stopped at the Kwik River for a brief moment before getting back on the trail. Behind him, we have Petr and Sunny on skis, astounding us with their tenacity and ability to keep moving forward. Sunny’s social media has been updating us on conditions out there and we can only describe them as, “No. No. No. That’s so scary.” We wish these athletes all the very best this evening as we wind down and get ready for bed. Our dreams will no doubt be full of blue ice, slushy waters, and sleet.
Written by Jill Martindale
Photos from Sunny Stroeer, Gavin Hennigan, and Jan Francke