Copyright 2010© Evy Gebhardt
IDITAROD 2010 UPDATE #11 as of 10pm Wed, March 17, 2010
TOP TWENTY FINISH! Paul Gebhardt 9 Days, 20 Hours, 31 Minutes, 1 Second: 19TH place
As of 11:31am today
Kristy Berington Bib #38 in Position #38 out of ELIM as of 9:42pm
Next checkpoint: WHITE MOUNTAIN
Under sun-filled skies, Paul’s team of 12 dogs motored into Nome and the finish line of the 2010 Iditarod today to claim yet another Top Twenty finish – after one of the most challenging races of his career.
The dogs, in a testament to Paul’s ability to remain committed to making certain that they were cared for despite the seemingly insurmountable health issues that they weathered, were truly happy and impressive crossing the finish line. As a matter of fact, Paul’s speed coming into the finish line set the pace as the fastest from the final checkpoint of SAFETY in the exclusive Top Twenty Finisher realm.
In his finish line interviews for the media, Paul both congratulated Lance Mackey on his victory, but also noted that he felt that because of the illness within our team, the potential of the athletes that Paul was coaching on the trail to Nome was not realized on this run. The fact that the solid group of 12 dogs that he finished with is comprised by a third of the team that were all on their first run to NOME as yearlings, bodes very well for the future. Paul was commenting to me about watching his young front end of veterans that had made this run last year. As he was coming in on the final miles of trail after leaving SAFETY, he said he could literally watch the dogs pick up on their surroundings and recognize that they were approaching the finish line. He said that when it clicked, the team took off at a lope and really motored into town. He laughed when he encountered the large wooden gnome figurines that are situated alongside the trail just as the teams come into Nome. These have little messages for the mushers – such as a gnome holding a sign that says “Hot Bath 1-mile”, etc. A couple of the young dogs on the team absolutely freaked out at these big wooden gnomes, and barked and did not want to go past them. Paul said it was almost like being a parent that needed to go and assure the kids that it would be ok, and that the gnomes wouldn’t hurt them. He said one little female on the team, SNICKERS, had barked at every rock and tree that seemed out of place to her alongside the trail.
Paul had LIEUTENANT & TESSA in lead when he came in, and even the checkers that were waiting for Paul with me beneath the burled arch noted how clean and focused his team was coming down the length of Front Street to cross the finish line. The team was treated to a snack of beef while Paul was interviewed (a portion of which can be viewed in the Iditarod Insider video files), and plenty of spectators enjoyed the chance to take photos before we headed down to the dog lot here in Nome. It was very cool to have dogs in the finishing chute that were barking and immediately responsive to go. Paul noted to me that he never once had any issues with the team balking – when he called them up off the straw they responded to him and went. Surely this is because of the trust they had in him, to stop when they needed it.
With the wonderful assistance of Kristy’s sister, Anna, the team was treated to the first of several meals that they will enjoy every couple of hours. We have all the dogs in kennels with a fresh bed of straw, and they are feasting on meals of beef fat, lamb, tripe, ground beef and salmon. They are remarkably upbeat and happy. You would have thought that TESSA had just jumped off a couch and was ready to frolic around the dog lot when the vets did their post-race assessment – you wouldn’t guess she had just finished running 1,100 miles. She rolled on her back in true fashion to enjoy a belly rub and just kept smiling. We did spend some time with the head veterinarian, Dr. Stu Nelson, discussing the illness the team had experienced, although as exactly where and how they contracted it still remaining a mystery at this point. The vets had commented how nice the feet were on Paul’s team during the race – surely a kudos to our master bootie makers in Ohio!
Paul has also shared some stories from the trail as well. He told of experiencing dry dirt mushing on the run out of ROHN, where he then stopped the team to rest. They bedded on straw and he laid in his sleeping bag alongside his sled. When he awoke from a nap, it had started to snow and he found himself covered in 6 inches of wet, snow. For anyone in farm country, his Minnesota dairy farm roots came through when he used the description of the trail in the Farewell Burn as having been “like running through a cow pasture”. By this, he was commenting on the endless field of large frozen tussocks that the trail bumped along in the journey.
Earlier he had arrived at ROHN only to discover he was minus an entire bag of meat and food for the dogs that he had shipped out. This was because one of the many fox in the area had gotten into the supplies and eaten the whole thing. As to what happened to another bag of gear that went missing from what Paul had paid to ship to the checkpoint of SHAKTOOLIK, it was unknown as to why it was not there. This came as a very frustrating loss to Paul, as the bag not only contained the hand warmers Paul needed, his personal food and dry gloves, it also held the fresh sled runner plastic that he had planned to switch out for use on the long run across the sea ice going into KOYUK. Instead, he was forced to make that run with the scarred plastic he had run in on over the Blueberry Hills from UNALAKLEET that would not slide easily on the sea ice.
With the temperatures along the trail, sometimes plummeting to nearly -60 below, he was singing the praises of Grabber warmer products to no end. He had just one small patch of frozen skin on the edge of his chin, a spot that the cold had revisited from an earlier Iditarod when he froze the same patch. It seemed almost surreal standing at the finish line, with sunny skies and temperatures that were well above zero – knowing that it had been paralyzingly frigid just days before.
There was a wind that was stirring as evening fell, and although it remained warmer than it had been for some time, Paul expressed concern for Kristy’s continued travels. He was proud of how she had been doing, and noted that he was sure she had HOUSTON in lead judging from the pace she was moving at. He shared a conversation they had back in TAKOTNA when their two layovers overlapped and they visited together for the only part of the entire run. Kristy had encountered blizzard conditions by the time she reached the pass through the Alaska Range. With heavy snowfall and winds obscuring the trail, a musher ahead of her was stopped in an exasperated roadblock with leaders that wouldn’t march into the wind. HOUSTON however, just took it in stride and slid around the other team and continued to motor up the trail. The benefit to the team she had just passed is that those leaders would suddenly earn courage in the wake of Kristy’s team, and would follow.
I am sure there will be more stories to share, and we are still preparing for Kristy’s arrival in the evening tomorrow. A rule of thumb is that it is a window of about ten hours from the time a team leaves WHITE MOUNTAIN to when they expect to cross the finish line.
Stay tuned for a couple more updates – the race isn’t over yet!
Until later, life is a journey, enjoy the ride …. Evy.
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