Sorry for the radio silence! We’ve only just come back to the kennel after being in the Nenana and Manley Hot Springs checkpoints. I have plenty of photos and video from the start and both checkpoints that I’ll edit and bring to you over the next few days.
Right now Aliy and the Red Team are resting in Tanana. They arrived third into the checkpoint at 4.55pm AST. Sebastian Schnuelle saw the team come in and said "Aliy pulled in with a very energetic team. They were barking for more… or because they knew some nice straw and a warm meal was coming." She's running Scruggs and Scout in lead currently and you'll see from some of Seb's pics and the Insider video that she's running Quito a little further back in the line-up with Chica - she's fine; Aliy is just keeping her out of the fray on the hard and fast trails.
Another thing you can also tell from the video that the temperature has increased dramatically from the -35F of last night as there are bare heads and hands on the spectators!
The Red Team arrives in Nenana; The Black Team arrives in Manley
Allen and the Black Team are on their way to Tanana and are currently resting about half way and have been stopped for about two hours as I write this. Allen left the Manley checkpoint with straw so it is not a surprise to us that they camped.
Allen is running an extremely conservative race plan with this team in an effort to get as many of the youngsters to Nome as possible and teach them what it is to run 1000 miles. It is quite a shift of focus for him from the competitive Yukon Quest, where the stays at checkpoints and camp stops are very specifically timed and planned. Allen and the team will get more rest along the way and stop frequently between checkpoints, especially on the first few runs that have big mileages between them. He has a rough plan laid out but will alter as they go to suit how the team is doing. We packed his drop bags accordingly so he has lots of options.
I have a Tanana and Manley retrospective posts for you tomorrow. Right now the crew is going to bed! It's been a long "day" since the teams left from Fairbanks on Monday morning!
