While our 350-mile finishers were enjoying the traditional Man Cakes and no doubt reminiscing with fellow participants about the last 10 days, while sipping coffee under quilts, there is still a 1,000 mile race going on. There had been no movement on the trail until the afternoon when Gavin continued his trek back down towards McGrath as did Takao Kitada. When hearing rumors of the trail conditions the words "impassable" and "impossible" come up. The other subject is the "trail math" conversation which is bad for any mode, but particularly crushing for the foot division. With no trail set in, and a large amount of snowfall north up the trail, rumors of 45 and 50 miles average per day needed to complete the race in the allotted 30 days feels crushing. When will movement happen? Any foot racers wanting to continue cannot wait for the trail breakers, who traditionally only come up two days before the lead dog team, as every minute they are stopped increases that daily mileage. Even though snow shoeing through thigh deep snow for hours and hours probably feels fruitless, some forward motion would need to happen. Easier said than done, slower pace through deep snow means more calories exerted, which leads to more calories needed to keep said pace, which then leads to heavier sleds, compounding the situation, a 3 or 4 day crossing becomes 8 or 10.
Mark's been forced to scratch after covering 306 miles, which must be heartbreaking for him but isn't too much of a surprise.
This screenshot from the ITI website explains how bad conditions are out there. #ITI #IditarodTrailInvitational
