Day 9 and the journey continues...

Day 9 of the ITI continues to bring in athletes to McGrath, either to celebrate their finish of the 350 distance or as a stopover on their way to Nome. Currently there are 13 bikers and one skier north of McGrath. Miron Golfman and Tyson Flaharty are further north, and have been traveling together since the start. 

Miron and Tyson arrived in Ruby around 1:00am. After resting, repacking, and a few bike adjustments, they set out on the mighty Yukon river towards the village of Galena, 50 miles away. Travel on the Yukon was difficult and they returned to Ruby to hunker down and wait for the weather to clear, not wanting to “get stuck on the river” overnight. Once they leave Ruby they are on the exposed Yukon river until Kaltag, which is almost 135 miles away. Even with opportunities for respite in the small villages along the way, they have to be smart about how they tackle this next section. As Miron pointed out, the energy output to battle the conditions might be greater now than if they were to wait and tackle it the next day, with conditions that would allow them to conserve energy, and find and stay on the trail. 

They have a significant lead and the next biker, Philip Hofstetter is 50 miles south. Skier Asbjoern Skjoeth Bruun is making his way to Ophir. Asbjoern is extremely systematic when executing this race, and he was part of the The Unalakleet Eight, several 1,000 mile athletes that were stopped in 2020 at Unalakleet due to a storm surge had made all routes over the Sound from Shaktoolik to Koyuk impassable due to open water or overflow.

The two 1,000 mile womens bikers, Kinsey Loan and Leah Gruhn are also making their way to Ophir. Leah’s tracker was left in McGrath, and is being brought to her by fellow racer Ryan Wanless, they should meet at Takotna and we will be able to track her then. Two foot division men have left McGrath, Gavan Hennigan and Brandon Lott. 

In McGrath several more athletes have finished, including Amanda Harvey (2nd start, first finish) and Jennifer McConnel (rookie and world's best aunt)! Amanda has had some pretty bad knee pain and was definitely relying on her inner and outer strength. She completed the ITI winter camp in 2022 and came back to race in 2023 but suffered “a catastrophic mechanical failure on the Yentna River. So I hiked my bike like a backpack for about 7 miles”. Her advice to rookies: Get used to taking care of yourself in a variety of conditions. Start strength training. 

There are several 1,000 mile foot athletes resting in McGrath. Lone foot woman Faye Norby was greeting the finishers and resting up for the long push to Ophir, along with cyclist Missy Schwarz, and fellow foot comrades Jeff Leuwerke and 7 time finisher Beat Jegerlehner.

Headed towards McGrath are the first four athletes taking the river route to town, 350 foot athlete Daniel Héon, 1,000 mile bike division Hendra Wijaya, 1,000 mile ski division Jan Francke, and 1,000 ski Joshua Brown. They appear to be moving well, which indicates the trail may have been groomed or set, and this route can be very pleasant when it is! I took that route in 2020 with Mark Hines, so I am curious which route he will take, his choice is coming up in a few hours. He slept and woke up to wolves howling yesterday after a bivy, maybe that is why he is making such good time? 

A few athletes remain in Nikolai, and red lantern Sunny is 3.5 miles out! I bet she is really looking forward to the warm and welcoming community. She slept on the trail past Bear Creek Cabin today, and was primed for a strong day today! 

The drama of the cold, wind, and Rainy pass seem far away. But lingering damage from the past days are plaguing those that scratched and those that are continuing on. Tales of frostbite and deep fatigue, knee pain, shin splints, edema/swelling, have been mentioned more than once. For those continuing on, their task is to find a way to keep the body happy while they attempt to cross an often unfathomable distance. 

Written by Kari Gibbons

Photo of the amazing Nikki Potter, who dropped at Nikolai, crossing Rainy Pass, by finisher Daniel Perry.