Get While the Gettin's Good

 Sorry for the delay in posting, the gig that pays the bills (and an increasingly needy brown dog) aren't playing nice right now :-)

From what I hear, a fantastic day on the trail for Mr. Wanless. After leaving Bentalit Lodge, he pushed to Skwentna (Checkpoint #3), took an hourish break and then pushed a bit more to Shell Lake Lodge (at times shirtless!)  He has now surpassed a 10th of the way hahaha...😯.  

He was able to text a bit, watched the second half of the Wisconsin Badger game on his phone, accepted updates from me on the SOTU, and verified Shell Lake is not run by the devil (read: they serve HEINZ ketchup).

I would have thought a nap at Shell Lake was in order, but turns out trail conditions were too enticing to pass up.  I spoke with Ryan this morning, and I'm paraphrasing here, he wanted to "get while the getting was good".  He walked all night and arrived at Finger Lake (mile 124.5) this morning around 5am AKST.  The checkpoint is at Winterlake Lodge, but I hear they like the race just enough to allow a warm tent to be set up on their frozen lake.  Good news is the race plants wonderful volunteers there and the racer's first drop bag is available. 

Quick note about drop bags:

*There are four supply drops for the 1000 mile race, with the first three coming in the first 350 miles.  *These bags are handed off to the race several weeks in advance and are brought to the respective checkpoints (Finger Lake(124.5), Rohn (200ish), McGrath (350ish), Cripple (475ish)).  Additionally, 1000 miles racers can mail themselves additional supplies to villages along the way. 

*The addresses for these are hysterical...some are sent to a trail fairy or local pizza place, but for most, the race guide suggests and you hope it's at the post office and the post office is open when you arrive to town:

"Your Name, ITI Athlete

General Delivery

Town, AK Zip Code"

*Racers may only send "consumable items"...so food, fuel, batteries, hand warmers, toothbrush (hopefully, did I mention candy consumption is the main source of calories?!?!), etc.  Clothing, socks, and equipment is not allowed in the drop bags.  

Access to a checkpoint drop bag meaning Ryan can reup on...you guessed it: more Reece's Pieces!! That and other racers left-behinds :-)

Speaking of other racers, the first of the 350 bikers finished around 10pm AKST...Tyson and Ryan rode in together to take the joint win in 2 days, 7ish hrs.  Wicked fast.  Ryan mentioned that if records were to fall,  the weather and trail conditions so far make this year the year....only one way to find out!