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Well, he has made the finish line! At 3:46 on March 14th Travis pulled into Nome in 9th place. “Our main goal this year was a top 10 finish and that’s what we accomplished,” He said. After arriving to Nome, we brought the dogs to the Nome Dog lot where warm beds of straw  waited for them to curl up in.

After the final vet check, which is used to help determine the winner of the Leonard Seppala Humanatarian Award, left to take a shower and a much needed nap! A huge thank you to Sophie DeBruin of Stump Jumpin’ Kennel for her and her family’s endless hospitality in Nome. While Travis went to get a much needed nap, I stayed with the dogs. From when the dogs arrive to when the dogs are drugged tested is approximately 3 hours. This gives the mushers (or their help) time to get a meal into the dogs so they can pee when needed.

This year, teams were required to select an individual to stay with dogs until drug testing on the dogs was performed. As I had missed the team immensely and knew the dogs, I volunteered for the job. I gave the dogs a nice snack before laying down some straw and a sleeping bag for myself to hang out in the warm afternoon sunshine with the tem. I curled up with Dolly, who was on my 2016 Iditarod team, and Gremlin.

Travis Beals Finishes 9th in the Iditarod – Iditarod

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Around 7:30 pm the Iditarod drug testing program came over to our team, walked dogs, and took samples. Watching grown adults try to catch dog pee in a little plastic bag is more than a little hilarious! After our samples were collected, I gave the dogs a big meal consisting of beef, chicken skins, a chicken fat blend, and some fish. They drank it down!

After one final pat on the head, it was off to see Travis. When I arrived back at the house, he was already napping. He wanted to be woken up after about a 2 hours sleep.At 9pm I went in to our room “Travis,” I said gently nudging him. “It’s time to wake up.”

Travis had some trouble opening his eyes from how tired he was. “Is that you, Sarah?”

“Yes, it’s me.” I got the distinct impression he wasn’t quite sure what was going on. “Do you know where you are, Travis?”

“I’m in Shaktoolik. Why are you here?”

“Honey, you’ve already finished the Iditarod,” I reminded him.

At that, a huge grin broke across his face and he chuckled. “Oh, right. I knew that.”

We’ve spent the last 24 hours since Travis’ finish playing with the dogs, getting him caught up on sleep, and enjoying our friends and family who are with us in Nome. We really appreciate all the well wishes from friends near and far on Travis’ excellent finish. We look forward to sharing more fun stories and even some videos from the trail in days and weeks to follow.

2018 Iditarod Finishers

Krum
Krum has graduated to the main racing leader this season. She’s a rock solid dog up front who is frisky, fun, and knows how to get the job done. She’s one of the younger dogs on the team at only 3.5  years old but she finished in the 2015 and 2016 Iditarod with Travis and ran to a 7th place Iditarod finish last year with Ray Redington. When Krum isn’t leading the team, she can often be found lounging on the couch inside. Krum is joined by her sisters Granger and Havoc on the team! I expect Krum and her sister Granger will lead a majority of the race!

Blue
Blue! She’s the young gun of the team at 2 years old. She’s done an impeccable job all season, finishing in every race she’s started without a problem. In fact, she’s so good she can be easy to overlook once she’s in the team because she is so smooth and steady. We expect big things from Blue in the years to come, for now, her primary goal is to get as far along in the race as possible, ideally the finish line. I expect if she has any issues, Travis will drop her immediately due to her age. Though she may be small, this little lady is fierce!

Gremlin
Gremlin is 6 years old and one of the smaller females on the team. She has raced and finished in every Iditarod with Travis. She’s a dependable little dog who works hard and knows how to get the job done. Gremlin loves belly rubs and the occasional stint indoors where she can visit with her sister, Goblin. She’s a funny little dog who is like the energizer bunny: she just keeps going and going. Gremlin typically runs in swing but can lead if called upon. I don’t expect her to do much leading but she gives a boost of confidence to the lead dogs when they know she’s right behind them.

Havoc
Havoc is a quirky, expressive dog who graduated from Sarah’s 2016 Iditarod team and believe me, she’s come a long way since then! Havoc wasn’t always a hard worker — she’d travel down the trail well enough but she didn’t pull. Not anymore! She’s learned how to work hard while still maintaining a fun, carefree attitude. Havoc stands out for her extremely expressive “Yoda” ears and her gentleness. This lovely lady is a real gem!

 

Mongoose
Mongoose or “Goose” has always been excited to run every day of this season. He’s put on strong performances in the 2016 and 2015 Iditarod. Now at 4 years old, he’s a dynamite force, a solid leader, and a dog capable of charging the team with an electric current of excitement! Goose is also a dog that constantly makes us laugh. He loves rubbing up against things. He also has a very goofy toothy aligator grin. He’s a little on the shy side and prefers to be around people he knows and works with routinely. At dog mushing events, he’s the dog whose feet you can see sticking out from under the trailer.

Dolly
A graduate off of Sarah’s 2016 Iditarod team, Dolly is a phenomenal leader and all around go-getter. She’s one of the most excitable dogs in the team. She’s 4 years old and has single led some of the tougher portions of the race thus far. She’s a fun dog but can be a total pain in the butt: she’s good and she knows it and can sometimes be a little ornery with her teammates. I expect Dolly will do big things for Travis on the coast. She’s always been a real stand out to me, though it’s taken time for Travis to come around to her and let her train with his team. I expect she will be the dog he didn’t know he needed on the coast!

Kip
Kip, like his brother Mongoose, has been ready for Iditarod all year. Each training run he greats with so much enthusiasm that even though he runs in the middle of the team, we often have to hook him up close to last. His excitement spreads quickly to the other dogs. More importantly, Kip is a steady worker who always gives his best. He’s a gentle soul and a rather agreeable dog so he often runs with Dolly as he can put up with her sassy attitude.

 

Fidget
Fidget is THE leading lady, the go-to girl. She has been there every step of the way for Travis in every Iditarod and is the leader he has always been able to count on. When the going gets rough, Fidget gets tough! This amazing lead dog will single lead through the nastiest conditions Alaska can offer and do it with an attitude that says  BRING IT ON! This is one tough dog. She’s pretty well known in Iditarod circles because she is THAT good. Travis felt a pang of pride at vet checks when one of the guys on the insider crew asked: “Where’s Fidget? She’s my favorite dog on the race.”

Check
Check is goofy. He’s a happy go lucky carefree dog. He reminds me of someone with headphones in, grooving to their own beat, walking down some city street. Check does his own thing with a smile on his face. He isn’t the hardest working dog in the team but he is the type of dog who will always find the finish line. Check will lead if he has too, but his carefree attitude and march-to-my-own-beat style don’t always make him a good fit up front.

 

Rowdy
Rowdy is, well, rowdy. Although he is one of the smaller males on the team, what he lacks in size he makes up for in sheer enthusiasm. At the end of a run, Rowdy will be the first dog on his feet saying “WHY ON EARTH HAVE WE STOPPED!” Rowdy will be the dose of pep to the team that they need when the trail gets long and tough.

Travis is into White Mountain! Travis arrived in White Mountain at 9:33pm and will have to take a mandatory 8-hour rest there. This rest will provide a much-needed break for dogs and musher: it will mark one of the first good opportunities for Travis to sleep since he took his mandatory 8-hour layover in Shageluk 435 miles and 4 days ago. This rest will be crucial for the 77 miles he will have to travel from White Mountain to Nome.

When Travis leaves White Mountain, he is going to need every ounce of energy: it’s going to be one heck of a race to figure out 7th through 10th place. With some of the mushers moving significantly faster than Travis, I expect that he may drop a place or two in the standings but am hoping he will still be able to achieve his goal of his first Iditarod Top 10 Finish.

This race is far from over for Travis but for now, he and his team of loyal dogs get a much-needed rest.

Go Trav, go! Only one more run to go!

Boy, was that a doozy of a run! It’s going to be interesting to hear Travis’ stories from this stretch of the race: getting spun about, ground storms, and just a long, long, long run.

The Iditarod lists the run from Shaktoolik to Koyuk as a 48-mile run. Due to the sea ice that the mushers usually run on getting blown out to sea two weeks ago when the trail crews were going through, the trail was routed closer to the coast and partially overland. This added about 7 miles to the trail when all was said and done so the route was closer to 55 miles.

Travis left Shaktoolik at 12:26pm this morning and arrived at 10:19. His run time was 9 hours and 52 minutes. Ramey Smyth is starting to creep up and did the run approximately an hour faster. If you watch the tracker though, Travis and Wade got lost during the run and ended up running back towards Shaktoolik for approximately 15 minutes.  While theoretically, this was only a 30-minute error, it may have affected the overall speed of the team if their confidence was at all shaken.

I expect that Travis and Wade will take a long rest here, 5 or 6-hours, to recover the team. Richie and Linwood will be arriving at the checkpoint at some point and it will be important to look at their run times before getting a better idea of where Travis really sits.

 

Wow! Travis is into Unalakleet in 4th place. He stopped for about 1.5 hours on the trail and will rest here for 3-4 hours before continuing the 40 miles to Shaktoolik.

The dogs looked absolutely amazing coming in. There’s a great video now posted of Travis coming into Unalakleet on the Iditarod Insider. You have to have signed up for the Iditarod Insider program in order to watch this video.

Travis Beals Arrives 4th in Unalakleet – Iditarod

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Neighbor and friend, Kale Casey, was in Unalakleet and live-streamed  Travis’ arrival to the checkpoint as well as him doing his dog chores in the checkpoint.

It was great watching the team arrive and hard not to get excited by their strong performance. Travis comes into the video around the 15-minute mark: the first part of the video is Joar’s departure from Unalakleet.

The dogs all looked really strong. There were a lot of things to take away from this video: the first is that the dogs were moving great. The 1.5-hour break on the trail helped put some pep into the team and will keep them moving quickly down the rest of the coast. The other thing is that the dogs ate really well; they need this energy to continue fueling them down the trail.

Travis is clearly tired in the video and openly admits he hasn’t gotten any sleep. That’s tough. Right now, that’s going to be the most difficult thing for him to deal with. When you are that tired, even a tiny problem can seem insurmountable. From my experience on the Iditarod, Unalakleet has some of the best sleeping quarters in the race. Hopefully, Travis can get a bit of sleep here — though if he wants to stay in fighting position for the Top 5 he won’t get much more than 30 to 40 minutes; then it will be time to water dogs, booty and take off down the trail.

Travis remarked to Kale that the most important thing was that he was having fun; this has been our mantra all season. Even though it must be tough being so tired, I’m happy to hear he’s enjoying himself.

After the live feed ended, I spoke with Kale privately on the phone and he said that Travis was going to be switching out sleds. He may drop a dog, but who knows! Interestingly, he’s going to be going with his medium weight sled instead of his lightweight sled. This may have to do with the fact that his medium weight sled has a seat and his lightweight sled does not.  He’s prepping that for departure, will eat some pancakes, get a quick nap and get back out there.

Don’t be surprised when Travis leaves in a later position: Wade, Richie, Pete, and Ray will likely leapfrog Travis at this checkpoint. They rested longer on the trail and will blow through Unalakleet and run straight to Shaktoolik. Each strategy has different strengths and will unfold differently over the next 24 hours as teams make their way up the coast.

The benefit of what Travis is doing is that it will keep the dogs peppy and should keep him speedy down the coast. Travis is breaking the run from Kaltag to Shaktoolik into 3 runs. He ran 63 miles from Kaltag and camped for 1.5 hours. From his camp, Travis ran 22 miles into Unalakleet and after this run will run 40 miles from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik. These two short runs will build some speed back into the team for the final push from Shaktoolik into White Mountain.

Wade, Richie, Pete and Ray rested for Longer and broke up the 125 miles from Kaltag to Shaktoolik into 2-runs. They will rest less but rest less and longer runs will likely impact their speed.

Travis is betting that a little extra speed will help him be the musher in the front (or close to!) of this chase pack. Time will only tell how this strategy plays out.

Travis Beals Talks About His Lead Dog Fidget – Iditarod

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Go Trav go!

Make sure you follow Kale’s facebook page for more great live coverage of Iditarod 2018.