Iditarod 2009, Part 4: the finish
One trail marker after another slowly ticked by, often the visibility was too low to see from one to the next. The wind drifts were getting higher and Nemo and Inuk were running zig zag around them. If at the wrong time a big gust would hit, we were completely blown off course. Their steering was getting worse and I had to go up front repetitively to wipe the ice crust from their eyes. Snacking the team was a huge challenge. The kibbles of the wet snack would blow away before the dogs could eat them. So I had the dogs eat out of my scoop, which took too much time and some dogs started to dig nests to settle down. Nemo was budging to go after one of those stops. Not good at all I thought to myself. Finn seemed not too intimidated by the wind so I switched him in lead next to Inuk. We were moving again, but I noticed how big Inuk tried to hide behind little Finn out of the wind. Finn got annoyed with that and the 2 got in a quick fight. Not much left for options I moved Inuk back in the team and had little Finn out single lead. Head down he plowed straight into the wind. No more going around snow drifts, he went straight for them. In amazement I watched as that little dog did his job, for hours on end. I stopped every half an hour or so to wipe a few dogs eyes clear and to give them meat snacks. I fed them directly into their mouth. If they would loose a piece and were not quick to retrieve it, it also would blow away. Planes were buzzing around, some of them flying into the wind and being at standstill overhead. I was wondering what those tourists inside them were thinking about us mushers down there on the ice. Most likely snapping a few photos, sipping some wine and already thinking about their next adventure. Finn was the man of the hour, but at one of my next stops I noticed that old Austin was rolling on his back, wiggeling with joy. I thought what the heck; I put him up there with Finn. Off the old geezer went, giving Finn some much needed company. Hey is this grass showing trough the snow? This must mean we are over the ice and already close to shore. I did not even finish the thought and the dogs must either have sensed my rising mood or seen the same thing. They switched gear and I had to flip down my drag to keep them from loping. Sure enough the shore line became visible, much closer than I had anticipated; people were waiting on snowmachines and visibility improved big time. Nice we made it over the sound in one piece. After being checked in and directed to a parking space I immediately dropped Moose. He did not look good after this run and also did not devour his meal as usual. I was afraid he was developing a stomach ulcer. He sure would be much better off in vet care and a warm tent, I still had plenty dogs left with a team of 14.
Taking care of the team was a struggle. The dogbowls blew away; the cooker took forever to heat the water in the constant blowing wind. Once again I had to put weight on each dogs fleece blanket to keep them from blowing away. When I came back outside a few hours later to check on the team, I noticed that I did loose a few this time. Lance was still here, he had rested for a long 9hrs before leaving close to 9 p.m. He was still driving a string of 15 dogs, which looked very sharp leaving. He is a true master of things. John Baker was the next team to arrive 30minutes after Lance had left. I had thoughts of following Lance. Inside I overheard talk, that only Mitch and Arron were at the shelter cabin and that nobody else had left Shaktoolik, or some of the mushers had returned to Shaktoolik. This meant there was a gap forming between us 3 teams on this side of Norton Sound and the others. I was sure John Baker was in no rush to leave, so I went back inside for another few hours of sleep. At 2 a.m. the situation had not changed, the wind was still raging outside and no teams had arrived. I fed the team a second meal, we were here for 8hrs already. I went back to sleep for 2 more hours, that sure felt good. John and I agreed to leave around 6 a.m., which we did. The wind was still blowing, but had eased up quite a bit. Once again I noticed, that a long break is not necessary good for the team. They left more sluggish than in a long time and looked much better when I came back out to feed them at 2 a.m.. We were back to the snowdrift game, this time I let the dogs find their own path and only corrected when I could tell we were getting too far of course. The Wind was from the side, but the trail was well marked, except one section close to Moses Point we were guessing out way for a while, but moving in the general right direction. I could see John’s team in some distance behind me.
About 1 p.m. we made it Elim and I was more than surprised to find out, that still no other team had reached Koyuk. I had planned to go through Elim, but decided different on the spot. Lance had left 2 hrs ago. As my experience had shown in the Quest, this would not mean an insurmountable time, but some hours of rest right in the heat of the day sounded good to me. If John would have pulled though, I would have chased after him, but he also decided to stay. I guess we were both content with our places. John, always up for a joke called over: “ Sebastian, the most beautiful woman of Elim is cooking lunch, lets go inside.” That was an offer hard to resist. John always has his chores done much faster than me and he gave me some valuable pointers with that bootie issue. We asked the checkers to wake us up, as soon as the first team arrives in Koyuk, which they did, about 4.30p.m. Knowing that after all the rest those teams have had, they would continue to push on hard, we also left quickly. We pulled out around 5:30 p.m heading for the mountains. Popcorn was favoring his right front. Damn, I missed that in Elim. He had a slight sore triceps. I massaged him down several times during that run. John caught up and passed me, specially going down little McKinely I had to be real careful to not run the team too fast and injure Popcorn any further. We were treated to a beautiful sunset. Down on Golovin Bay, I decided it was time to put a bit distance between myself and John. The trail was hard packed and well defined so I let the dogs switch gear and we were leaving John behind. In Golovin an older lady handed me a plastic bag. My first thought, of course, was cool fooood. I was hungry as always. Once out of town, this time without wrapping around a power pole, I opened it up to find a pair of hand knitted socks. I mean how cool is that? Again one of those moments edged into my mind for the rest of my life, they have a special place in my cabin now.
Coming into White Mountain near 1 a.m. Lance greeted me. He was on his way to his third Iditarod victory in a row. We chit chatted a bit about our teams before both going back to business. John arrived about half an hour later. White Mountain was quite, arriving in the middle of night was perfect, no planes, no snowmachines, hardly any media people bugging us. The dogs ate well, there was no wind here and everybody got a good full night sleep. The alarm was set for 7.30. Normally I dump everything out of my sled here, but heck, it has been in there that long, so it can stay in there for the last 77 miles. I dropped Popcorn who could not understand the world. I just did not want to take any chances and load a dog on this last run. Somehow I managed to diddle daddle around too long and left about 4 minutes after my time. A beautiful sunny morning, no wind, team running strong. Also running in 2nd place. Life was grand. We were making good time. As usual I had a hard time on the side hill stretches over the mountains. Yonder was still in wheel, he had been in wheel for 1900 miles now. I know that it is better to rotate a dog in and out of that position, but he is being a complete idiot in any other place. On the other hand he is wheeler par excellence , so wheel is his place. Planes started to appear from the west, that meant Lance must have already finished. I snacked the team right at the shelter cabin before entering the blow hole. The blow hole blew, but it could have been much worse and we were clipping away at a steady pace. It started to sink in, that it looked like we were going to hang on to 2nd place. In Safety I stopped and snacked each dog, giving each one a quick check over but decided to keep on going with all of them. No sign of John Baker behind me.
ACDC in my ears, I stowed away the skipoles and enjoyed the last 22 miles to Nome. There was a lot of traffic, cars lining the roads and people hollering and waving. My dad and brother had come to Nome for the first time. I could spot my dad from a mile way with his trademark ugly hat, the same ugly hat he has worn for 50 years. Maybe that is why I am a creature of habit also. It was an emotional moment seeing them and Libby waiting beside the trail. John and Dianne, friends from Juneau were also there. What a nice welcome. Much better than finishing at 3 a.m. with nobody waiting for me, as it had been in the past.
Well at 7.05 p.m. we crossed the finish line in our 5th Iditarod in 2nd place. John arrived about an hour later. I was proud of my team, they looked good. It was hard to tell, that this gang just ran 2000 miles in less than a month. Many hugs and well wishes later, the dogs were bedded down in the doglot and I finally got a full nights sleep. We were once again staying at our friends Chris in Jim Rowe. In hindsight there is not much I would have done different in either race. I could have gone through Grayling, but I am not sure that would have affected the outcome of being 2nd place.
My thanks goes out to all the many helping hands. I realize that I often ask a lot of my help. I have been very fortunate to race as many races as I did over the last years. It has made me many new friends, but unfortunately I also have lost a few friends during the process. I hope over time, they will see the necessity of me being so disciplined and hard most of the time.
The dogs. The lifeblood of this passion. They never seize to amaze me. It is their love an enthusiasm which keeps me going. How they do it, it often beyond my understanding. How can they scream and bark to go, after they have just come off a 15 hr run through the most horrendous conditions, never mind having run 1800 miles in less than 3 weeks. Where is their limit? I clearly once again found mine, in Koyuk. The dog who grew a lot this season and who did a bulk of the leading was Inuk. The man of the hour in the Iditarod was for sure Finn. I do not know what would have happened if he would not have stepped up to the plate during the storm. I think he senses his accomplishment, normally being a rather shy dog , he lately displays utter confidence. Nemo disappointed me a bit on the coast, but heck, nobody is perfect, but he is pretty damn close to it, same as his brother Popcorn. Austin, good old Austin. After the Superdog Article in Mushing I finally found out where he came from and how old he is. Strangely enough he is half border Collie. Gas and Diesel also had a second wind during this years season. I did not really expect them on my team anymore. Saffron and Denali were the usual invisible workers in the team. Always getting the job done, no fuss. Ricky finished his 4th Thousand Miler with me, 2 Iditarods, not bad for a 4 year old dog. Grisman, Vasser, Yonder and Scruggs hopefully finally accepted me as their new boss. The 4 amigos were a joy to drive.
A common question in the last weeks has been. “ Why do you think you had such a good season? “ The answer is not easy. I think it is a combination of different things. For one I did have a good crew this winter, which allowed me to largely concentrate on training. Except very few runs late in the season, I was the only one running my team. We were on target training schedule wise, long runs very early on. With that I am talking about 60 milers on a Quad in late October. Of course having the choice of my best dogs and Rick Casillo´s best dogs gave the team a boost. Feeding wise, handling wise, training wise, I did not change much compared to the previous years. Slow and steady is what I have done for many years. If anything, I slowed down even more. Another factor is of course, that I am having quite a few 1000 Milers under my belt. The Quest was my 9th one, so it got about time to perform, or I´d better be looking for new job. I hope to be building on this years foundation with this team. It will largely remain the same. I added some proven dogs from Jon Little, that should give the team another boost.
My goal for 2010: I want to come back to Iditarod and focus. But, there is always a but in life. I am not 100% sure yet, if I really will go one more time. There are some other factors in life which influence that decision. But I know one thing for sure, I only be at the starting line, if I have confidence that bettering my finish is a real possibility.
Most of the pictures in the album from Jeff Schulz or Anchorage Daily News can be ordered as prints or on mugs, etc.
Sab
