I left the Carlson Crossing safety cabin in the middle of the night, fully loaded with hot water for a day, and with completely dry gear. An hour later, I broke through ice in an overflow section and got my shoes and socks wet again. There was a lot of overflow to deal with on that day. I stopped counting how many times I put my waders on. You rarely know before crossing the overflow section whether waders are necessary, but you want to err on the safe side. The trail was soft, there was fresh snow, and the going was tough.
The first musher who passed me before the Cripple checkpoint was Brent Sass, who would end up winning the 50th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 8 days, 14 hours, and 38 minutes. Dallas Seavey (pictured) followed closely behind. Dallas is a veteran who won the Iditarod five times already. He finished the 2022 race in 2nd place, just an hour after Brent. In 2016, Sass’ dog team refused to leave for hours in White Mountain after he tried to keep up with other dog teams. After what he called the most embarrassing moment of his life, he got a tattoo that says “Run your own race,” which reminds him not to get pulled into his competitors’ tactics.
Iditarod mushers must start with at least 12 dogs (16 is the maximum). Teams must finish the race with at least 5 dogs, and no dogs may be added on the way. Dogs may be withdrawn from the race for various reasons. There are over 50 vets at the Iditarod who will examine, evaluate, and treat dogs.
Over the next days, I would see many dog teams “float” by silently. That was especially beautiful at night. It was very fascinating to watch the mushers, to talk to them, and to see how they take care of their dogs. Dogs always come first. I kept telling myself that I was lucky I only had to take care of myself. That turned out to be already sufficiently challenging.
In Sass’ style, I continued to “run my own race,” as relentlessly and calmly as I could. As a clueless Nome-rookie, my goal was to finish. I made conservative choices, had redundancy with gear and calories, and avoided risk. I think that paid off.
Wolf prints, but sadly no wolf. Wolves like to follow the mushers because there is always food left behind.
Lots of overflow on that day.
Waders on, waders off. Repeat. All day.
Dallas Seavey was running in 2nd place before the Cripple checkpoint. He also finished in Nome in 2nd place, just an hour after Brent Sass, who won the 50th Iditarod in 8 days, 14 hours, and 38 minutes.
#iti2022 #iditarodtrailinvitational #ultrarunning #nome #alaska