ID: Thursday Morning Out of Ruby

It's 8.30am Thursday.

RED TEAM UPDATE

The Red Team has left Ruby after seeing out their mandatory eight hour rest. Aliy will have been able to get some good sleep herself and is hopefully feeling great now. In an Insider interview yesterday at her half-way camp spot she was concerned that the team was moving slowly, but towards the end of the run into Ruby they had picked up their speed again which will have buoyed her going into the break. Maybe they are now feeling better after "losing their mojo" a bit due to the tummy bug they had earlier. We hope so!

At the time of writing the standings haven't been updated so I am unsure how many team mates she has with her. EDIT: Race standings show she has left one team mate in Ruby. At this stage we have no idea who it is so we appreciate your patience as we wait to get more information. Often times we won't know until he or she arrives back in Anchorage and we will let you know as soon as we find out.

If you want to know what it looks like to have 16 dogs stretched out in front of you, Aliy took this video on one of the final training runs on our local trails in Two Rivers. The team isn't the exact one she has with her now but it will give you an idea of how far the leaders are in front of you. It was a beautiful day too!



The weather forecast from weather.gov for the area shows it is now starting to warm up which I'm sure will be welcomed by the mushers and volunteers, but if it gets too warm can start to sap the energy and speed of dogs so resting during "the heat of the day" will become important.

BLACK TEAM UPDATE

The Black Team is back on the trail to Ruby having camped for five hours. As I write they are just over 15 miles outside of Ruby and moving nicely.