Down the Home Stretch

Wow, Aliy and the Sr. Seavey are about a mile apart now and twenty miles out of Nome. It would be a stretch but she with lead dog Quito, a girl!!, just might manage it. It will be close, a lot closer than her second place finish last year. I may not make it up and awake until midnight Alaska time but I am going to try. This has been a totally awesome race!!!

Go out to www.spkenneldoglog.blogspot.com and scan down the list on the left hand side of the supporters. Yep, that is me a space or two up from the bottom. I 'sold' a quilt for the March Book Brew event on Coffee Time Romance and More and I put part of that into something I support wholeheartedly. It gave me a shiver to see my name there and feel I have a real stake in this game tonight. Ye gods but I wish I was there at Nome waiting with the rest of the excited crowd!

This spkennel outfit  is the personal site and blog of Aliy and her husband and their kennel. BTW several of the dogs in her team were in his team last month when he took first place in the Yukon Quest, the other 1000 miler. He is running 'the second string' more or less to give her the best chance to win this one and he's back in the middle of the pack. All contestants --60 at last count--are past the middle now,  in or leaving Eagle Island which is the next to last checkpoint on the Yukon River before the trail turns out to the coast. I grabbed a few photos off the Iditarod site and this one but don't feel I should share them--they are just for me to add to my running slide show screen saver. But if she manages to pull off the win, I swear a I will get one of those shots and show it to the world!!!

If my gal comes thru you will hear me give a rebel yell from New Mexico to Alaska but even if she is that close second, I will be proud and happy. She has hung on and seen several guys who thought they'd beat her end up back in the muck now. She is young enough and has enough good dogs that there is always next year. Experience pays in the end. Mitch Seavey's father won literally by a nose back in the early 70s so he grew up with this and now young Dallas has had his turn; he is running about 5th or 6th, probably near Safety, the 22 mile checkpoint right now. No threat but running a darn good race. At last check, Deedee Johnrowe was holding 11th, not too shabby in this company. Goodnight for the time being!