Trail Report

Well, Lance Mackey has made it to Nikolai. That's well before the 1/2 way mark, but past the hardest terrain of the race. They just climbed a steep incline up and over Rainy Pass and have completed the treacherous descent past Rohn to Nikolai. At this point, he's the only one who's checked in at Nikolai.

He was so far ahead when he got to Rohn that although he was the 3rd to leave that checkpoint, he'd been able to get a 6-hour rest there for him and his team. So that's got to make a huge difference for them.

So far, 6 teams have scratched from the race including DeeDee Jonrowe... whose dogs wear pink harnesses and she wore a bright pink kuspuk style coat. Photos available on our Dropshots page. I heard on the radio this morning that she'd hurt her hand on the same stretch of ice that caused Swingley to scratch also. Must be rough going on some parts of that trail!

We're watching Jim Lanier (bib #9) as he's from our town. He's apparently friends with one of Tess's basketball team mates. It's his all-white dog team that you'll find on our Dropshots page from the ceremonial start on Saturday. Really pretty. He was in 3rd for a long time but slipped back to 11th overnight and I think he's now in 9th heading out of Rohn.

Speaking of basketball, the kids have their last games tonight. If Donald's team wins, which they should, they'll be the winningest boys C-team in Chugiak High School history. So that's pretty cool. Tess's team is also expected to win. They've had a really great season as well. She's thinking of playing Spring league basketball just to keep in shape. It's more recreational than competitive. Donald will be trying out for baseball and soccer and will play on whichever team he makes!

Tess says she's going to play girls' flag football next fall instead of cheering. So that'll be something new and interesting. I think she'll do well at it.