robert

Danish athlete Johnny Andersen arrives at the 300 mile finish February 4th at 14:10. Not only does this mean he won the race but with this time he also broke the record for the foot category by more than 2 hours. And that is not even taking into account  the time he was held at McCabe. So, we all congratulate him. That was an incredible achievement. Apart from the shin splints which are not too bad he is fine and now resting at Pelly Crossing.

Torben is still in pain with his legs but he endured it to here and I am sure he will have enough motivation to reach the finish. Right now he is at Pelly Farm where Nic and Dale take care of him.

Earlier today I saw Brian Bell arrive in Pelly Crossing. He was still going strong but he did admit that he is getting a bit tired. He is currently resting.

The last athletes to reach Pelly Crossing were James Binks and Robert Hodges. Robert has some back problems. James is fine. They will have a rest and then head out to the farm.

Eliot and James who form team Eliot Edward Endurance are on their way to Pelly Crossing. When I saw them this morning they were fine. Tired but fine. Those two have a great humor. It’s really fun to see them at the checkpoints because they may have had a really rough time on the trail but they keep their positive attitude. And that’s key.

Gabriela and Pietro were driven to McCabe and continue their race unranked. They both actually are in great shape. I guess they just misjudged their speed a bit. And I am sure their filming project cost them some valuable time, too (they are filming their experience for Italian TV).

All in all I am really impressed about how the athletes are handling the – 30 degree temperatures. No signs of frostbite so far.

Johnny did not have spare batteries. That is why his SPOT stopped working. He made it to Pelly Farm, slept there and left early this morning. He wants to get to the finish by 3:00 PM which means he would break the current record.

Everybody else is doing fine. We will close the Carmacks checkpoint now and move up North.

Temperatures are now at – 30 ° C. However, so far all athletes seem to cope well. Ali did get a bit of a scare yesterday on the way to Ken Lake. He thought he went past the CP, back tracked, got cold fingers and then his stove did not work. It all worked out in the end but he sure won’t forget that. Because of the Carmacks time limit and not having Linda there with him, Ali decided to scratch.

I brought Linda, Ali, Jorgen, Tim and Stefan back to Whitehorse and drove up to Carmacks again.

Everybody who still had been here is now on the way to McCabe or already arrived there. The only two athletes who had not made it to Carmacks were Gabriela and Pietro from Italy. Unfortunately, they came 1 hour and 20 minutes late. It is tempting to say, “forget about the time limit and just go”.  The problem is it would be unfair to all athletes who had to stop their race because of it in the past. And the time limit is there for a reason. It helps to prevent the field spreading out so much that we can’t really support everyone. Furthermore, we have found that athletes who arrive after the time limit have a very hard time to reach the 300 mile finish within the 8 days.

In the meantime Johnny left Pelly Crossing and Torben arrived in Pelly Crossing. Still the same problems of shin splints but going strong anyway. Brian Bell arrived at McCabe and so did Robert Hodges and James Binks. All doing fine.

John and Eliot are about half way to McCabe. They had a good rest at Carmacks. That helps dealing with the very cold temperatures.

John and Eliot arrived in Carmacks at 03:20 AM. They are tired but overall I would say in very good shape. “You learn a lot of lessons out there” Eliot said as he sat down. “About the race and life in general”, he added. I am sure every athlete could not agree more. They are eating now and will have a good rest.

James also made it safely to Carmacks. He arrived a short time after Robert. Some athletes get more tired as the race goes on. With James it seems to be different this year. He is feeling better and better every day.

Still did not hear from Gary and Josh in Pelly. I will let Johnny go at 5 AM. That gives me enough time to drive up to Pelly and see what the problem may be.

Robert Hodges arrives in Carmacks at 23:22. He is feeling good and I would say he also looks like it. James Binks is not far behind and after him Eliot Caton and John Greenslade. Meanwhile at Ken Lake the crew is waiting for Ali, Gabriela and Pietro.

Johnny is at McCabe and ready to go again. However, we have to hold him there as Gary reported problems with the trail near Pelly Crossing. So for his safety and rather than maybe having to stop him on the trail we decided to ask him to stay in McCabe until we are sure it is okay. He will be credited the additional waiting time.

When Glenn and Spencer went in to Ken Lake to bring out Stefan and Jorgen, they saw Tim. Initially he said he would try to continue. But the hills were too much pain and when the guides went past him again, he did want to be brought out. Jorgen and Stefan are in Carmacks now. Glenn went back to bring Tim. With Jorgen it indeed is his back and Stefan has got too many bad blisters on his feet.

Johnny is in McCabe now. Just does not want to stop. Maybe he trains with Casper?! I need to ask … Gary went on the trail with his snowmachine to check the trail to Pelly and they will also improvise a checkpoint there for him if needed.

Brian is very close to Carmacks now. It will be good to see him and I hope he is fine. Judging by his speed, he should be.

Unfortunately, this afternoon three athletes had to scratch. Linda Pomeroy asked guides Glenn and Spencer to bring her out as she had a bad cough and stomach problems. Her team mate Ali is still out there and he will try to get to Carmacks in time. Linda is resting now and will likley stay with the crew to the end of the race. About 45 minutes ago we were told by Ken Lake that Jorgen Thorsted and Stefan Zahlten also need to be evacuated. Since transportation by ski-doo is not a problem, it’s nothing serious. With Stefan it could be his blisters and Jorgen may have a sore back. Glenn and Spencer have left to bring them back. They took along some extra clothes as the ride out on the back of a ski-doo can be pretty cold.

After a good ret Torben looked a lot better and he left Carmacks. Johnny is very fast as the trail is hard packed. He continues to have shin splints and it’s almost like he wants to be faster to get rid of the pain. As I write this Gary and Josh are reaching him. They will also ask if he plans on having a rest at McCabe. I hope so. That way we can slow down a bit, too 😉

Pictures of day 1 and 2 are now online in our gallery. Sorry it took a bit longer. More pictures hopefully later today.

The rest of the volunteer crew just arrived with me in Carmacks. Now we can help Nic who did a great job welcoming Johnny and Torben upon their arrival. Athletes love this place as they can actually have a shower. To be honest with you the support crew loves it for the same reason …

Torben is doing okay but the speed he is going at is taken its toll. He does have shin splints on one leg and problem with a tendong. He was awake a few minutes ago and will think a bit about when to continue.

As temperatures drop, we will now also check more for frostbite. The athletes have been briefed that if they do get frostbite we have to take them off the race course. For their own safety. Often it happens to the fast guys. So, I hope Johnny is carful.

Ken Lake is busy but I am sure everyone enjoys the experience because Marta, Graham and Bernard who are there to support the athletes are a true dream team!