And In Came The Cold
We are on day three of the Iditarod Trail Invitational! There is now over 160 miles between the first athlete and last, if you want to think about how much of a logistical nightmare hosting a 1,000 mile race with three modes in Alaska is. We don’t though, we are busy cheering on these dots and what a day! We finished last night with some excitement as Justinas Leveika and Curtis Henry were the first to successfully cross Rainy Pass and safely get to Rohn, the trail was tricky for them but not too much time was wasted, in no short order they were headed for Nikolai with (maybe) bellies filled with Adrian's famous brats.
Further back down the trail athletes were getting into their groove and taking rest when and where they could. At midnight some were on the trail taking advantage of the firm snow and some found reprieve at various checkpoints. At that time over 12 people were resting at Hooligans Retreat, which is an official checkpoint of the ITI. Here they can order food off of a menu including a hot breakfast, and climb into one of the many cozy bunk beds in the cabins. Carol Seppilu took 5 hours here to sleep and rest, after getting some unfortunate food poisoning. This is something that can and does happen during the race, most likely due to tight quarters where germs spread quickly, sometimes it is a game ender and sometimes not. Well done Carol for muscling through. 350 Skier Laura Rushfeldt also took several hours here before continuing on for a (most likely) lunch at Skwentna Lodge. Fellow and lead skier, Tracie Curry made it to Shell Lake for a couple hours after some bonus miles, a few people have unfortunately continued to take this wrong path, it’s safe to say she will not be the last!
Our cyclists had an exciting day as Ginny’s solid riding has now put her in first place, she had some longer rests yesterday and Petra had spent more time on the trail, but it looks like the rest and consistent speed paid off for Ginny. They are not too far apart and worked together to head over Rainy Pass, which is always a good idea not to go alone.
Further back down the trail, for our two Nome Bound cyclists Kendall Park and Mayella Krause, today was all about strategy. After getting to Shell Lake around 1am they had a purposefully slow morning, leaving later to give the trail time to set up and the weather time to wind down. Oftentimes athletes will plan to have a layover at Rainy Pass lodge to wait for a weather window, that is a good idea but it can get crowded quickly. Remember that sickness mentioned earlier? It sounds like these two are playing smart and giving the field an opportunity to move on. For the 1,000 mile athletes, they are playing a game of strategy, and longevity on the trail is the goal.
Rounding out the bike division is 350 cyclist Frances Deblare who is still pushing on, she had an illness earlier as well and is all Grit and Go, stopping to rest at a trail angles cabin on the Yentna River as well as Hooligans Retreat. Hopefully she is remembering her own words of wisdom: Dream big and put in the work to get there. You got this Frances!
Moving onto the train of foot division folks, many of the 350 women's foot division has moved off of the Yentna and Skwentna Rivers and are making their way on land.
This can be a welcome treat from the miles of flat river trail, and they will be consistently climbing until they crest Rainy Pass. Sunny Stroeer has made incredible progress after a nice break at Hooligans, happy that the temperature is starting to drop. Our lead for the women's 350 is Natalie Taylor, who is still going strong even though she also got sucked into the shell lake detour and had to back track. She is tough and strong, and says thanks to her “training buddies for getting me out in the wet uk weather this winter” What Natalie is looking forward to the most is the views, and they are certainly coming. Tonight she will climb down the infamous Happy River Steps and then it is on to Puntill Lake, the views are coming, as well as the cold. She is also accompanied by the lead foot division, and world famous in Minnesota, Scott Hoberg who quite recently finished another Arrowhead 135! Meg Inokuma is behind them after a solid day as well, and Laura Trentani follows after, hopefully she got to see the sunrise after her rest at Skwentna and is eating plenty of ciocholats.
The 150 division started out together early this morning and still are not too far apart, with the exception of the speedy Annie Connelly. Jen Novobilski, Elsa Rabou, and Sarah Kingstrom, Sarah being the last of the foot women to leave the resting place off the Yentna River around 7am this morning, should all be off the Yentna River tonight.
The rest of the field is a large train of cyclists, making their move to Puntilla Lake and over Rainy Pass, 12 currently including multiple 1,000 mile finish cyclist Ryan Wanless, those in their rookie year would do well to stick with him. He has stories. The climb up over the pass can be a dream and there is not too much steep trail, that is if the weather is good. Today many dealt with a strong headwind, brutal cold, and a punchy trail. It was not too much better on the other side, the Dalzell Gorge saw 1.5 inches of snow over a blown out trail, many of our riders resorted to pushing their bikes back down the pass. Our two lead cyclists pushed their bikes out of Rohn, the official checkpoint and a humble tent that sleeps six, and from there have worked towards the biggest push yet, 70 miles to Nikolai. Justinas Leveika continued his steady push, bypassing Bear Creek Cabin, and much of it was most likely bike pushing, trailing behind now Curtis Henry seems to have taken two bivy stops, one close to the Post River and now again. The beginning of the Burn is quite hilly and very exposed. Those traveling up Rainy Pass today have some cold to look forward to, the rest of the field will see a significant drop in the coming days. The cold brings a firmer trail, the punchy snow on the river will be a memory. It is a good thing these temperatures are coming a few days into the race, the athletes have had an opportunity to adjust to trail life, and be more responsive to needed adjustments, they will certainly need it going forward.
Written by Kari Gibbons
Thanks to Wild Winter Women -Allison Carolan,Amanda Harvey,Faye Norby,Jan Redmond Walker,Jessica Roschlan,Leah Gruhn,Laura Wiesmann Hrubes,Lynn K Hall,Madeline Harms,Rashelle Hintz,Rebecca McVay-Brodersen, andSarah Bergstrom,
Photo credit Mark Smith
