© Paul Gebhardt - Morning View Kennel –Tustumena 200 Race Update #1
As of Saturday 7pm, January 31st , 2009
The thermometer was settled at -13 this morning as we pulled in for the start of this year’s Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race. Due to the impact of our recent weather on the trail conditions earlier, the race is already proving to be very different than any other in the event’s 25 year history.
But Paul was all calm and the dogs were eager this morning, as he and Kristi harnessed, booties and hooked up our team for the start of the race. The had pulled the #12 and #13 starting positions, so I was probably the most stressed of anybody in the final moments before we were ready to pull the snowhook and take off for the starting chute. Kristi was filled with nervous energy, and I think she was very relieved to be down the trail and on her way.
In the window of time before the race start occurred, Paul and Kristi spent time packing the last gear into their sleds, going over routines for caring for the dogs, and visiting with spectators. We had a young brother and sister that learned all about the sport during their first visit to a race.
(photo) A new mushing fan pets Paul’s dogs Hershey and Queen at the start of the Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race.
It was a highly competitive field of mushers that left the starting line this morning, and Paul predicted that it would be tight throughout the race. In races like this, there is no margin for error or opportunity. The mushers all keep their eye on the competition, and with the dynamic of the out and back trail repeating its self, they will almost always have a sense of where they are in proportion to the rest of the field. The factors that will start to impact the teams will be things like the overall condition of the team (which we will come into play on day two of racing), the athleticism of the musher, and whether a musher has to take a dog from their team to carry it due to fatigue or other factors. Carrying a dog in a 200 mile race is almost a certain recipe to keep you out of the winners seat, but one of the reasons mushers like Paul will run these mid distance events is to better assess their Iditarod team members. As far as the athleticism of the musher, I can’t underscore the importance of that component enough in terms of the Tustumena trail. This race takes the mushers from an altitude of roughly 300 feet above sea level – literally we were on the bluff overlooking the ocean when the race started. There are miles of trail that wind through a region known as the Caribou Hills. These “hills” range anywhere from 1000 to nearly 3000 ft. above sea level. So the mushers and their teams have a great deal of up and down running to navigate. Any help the mushers are able to give their teams on the steep uphill climbs, and their ability to drive the sled appropriately on the downhills will have a significant impact on the team’s performance.
One of the things Paul and Kristi will do on these downhills will be to use both the brake on the sled as well as the steel carbide-tipped drag track to bite into the hard pack snow. They want to keep the team at the same speed going down the hill as they went up. Allowing the dogs to run as fast as they want is a pell-mell ride to trouble. Paul wants his team to be safe, and it is through controlling that wild downhill journey that he will mitigate potential problems. The only irony in this, which is something that the smart mushers will be doing, is that these drag tracks and brakes chew up the trail, and eventually make them a little more challenging to deal with. Particularly considering this is an out-and-back course, every hill they go up, they will go down again eventually.
What we will see is that on day one of racing, you may have some faster speeds posted, when the trail was in better condition. As the second day of racing unfolds, it will be a different story. Add to this factors such as the temperature. The teams are heading back to the halfway point right now, where they will have their teams sleeping on straw during the cool night time hours. As the sun peeks over the horizon tomorrow, and starts to send the mercury rising, they will be making the balance of their runs. With the new snow we received this week, which feel loosely on the trail and did not really stick to the thick layer of ice, drifting could be a huge factor at the higher elevations of the trail. The race travels through some pretty wide open country “up on top” as the mushers refer to it, and that loose snow can really change the landscape, and the playing field, given the right combination of weather.
As I close this, I am preparing to head down to the layover to spend the night watching over the teams. They have an eight hour layover, and will also have their respective two minute starting intervals from the race start adjusted into this layover as well. The first teams will cross the finish line tomorrow afternoon.
You can follow updates at the Tustumena 200 race website:
http://www.aspenhollowlodging.com/webadmin/www.tustumena200.com
For the latest updates on the Redoubt Volcano activity: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php
Until later - Life is a journey, enjoy the ride! Evy
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