ID: Nulato and Ruby

Linda picked up NOMEX last evening from Iditarod HQ. Linda said the fantastic team down there worked so hard to get through the large number of dogs waiting for their vet checks and release documentation. Allen left Nomex in Cripple with the vet team due to a sore right shoulder, but other than that Linda said he is full of energy and ate like a horse (note the empty dinner dish)!! He looks great and it seems like he will just need some rest (and maybe a massage and lots and lots of treats) to get back to 100%.

We're excited that Nomex made it nearly 500 miles in his rookie year! He has a very bright future and he was one of the first dogs on Allen's list to make the team this year.



RED TEAM UPDATE

The Red Team has pulled into Nulato checkpoint at 2.17am this morning, with a runtime of 7 hours 31 minutes over the 55 miles. We expect Aliy will rest the team here for a few hours before hitting the trail towards Kaltag, some 47 miles away. With the increase in miles for the leg, Nulato is spaced perfectly for her schedule.

A nice couple of videos on the Insider this morning, one of her feeding in Galena where she is concocting a delicious chicken soup with lots of kibble. The whole time she is doing it Clyde doesn't take his eyes off her and when he gets his meal you can see him chow down excitedly! If there is one thing you can rely on with Clyde is he will eat what you give him and then some!

The other video shows the team coming in to Nulato and she had Kodiak and Mismo in lead, Izzy and Dutch in swing, Scout with Chemo, Chipper and Willie, Scruggs and Waylon, Schmoe, Felix with Commando and Sandy and Clyde in wheel. They look very nice coming in after a 7.5 hour run. They are wearing their "puff jackets" so we can assume it was cooler over night which is great!

BLACK TEAM UPDATE

The Black Team completed their mandatory eight hour stop in Ruby and left there on time at 2.45am this morning. Allen still has 14 team mates with him - yay! They are currently moving very nicely on the Yukon River and depending on the speed they go he will either go all the way to Galena 50 miles away or it may suit them to stop on the river to camp somewhere. We'll keep an eye out for that.

Both teams also feature in the latest "Run Dogs Run - Finger Lake to Galena" video which is exciting! There are a lot of gorgeous shots of the Red Team and a lovely, close up shot of the Black Team coming down a hill early in the race - maybe in the Happy River Steps area. In it the team was led by Quito and Chena with Lester and Junior in swing, Chica and Nacho, Sissy and Spark, Tinder and Lydia, Nomex and Iron, then I can't quite make out the order at the back but see Champ's happy face! See below a couple of screen shots from that video showing the Black Team.





You may not hear from me much today as I am part of the first wave of the SP Crew making our way to Nome. Chris and I will drive one of the trucks down to Anchorage, ready for when we pick up the dogs from Nome after the race, then fly out to Nome. The next waves arrive at various times throughout the day on Monday. We will update as and when we can but in the meantime keep an eye on the Current Standings, the Iditarod website, the GPS Tracker and their Facebook page for details.