Quiet Moments

Being a 1,000 mile race that spans up to two weeks, there are lots of little things that happen during the Iditarod.  The Iditarod quickly becomes rhythmic after the start.  It is a race of repetition.  It is a race of silence.  It is a race of quiet moments that build in intensity and importance as the teams get closer to the goal.  It seems obvious from the outside, run the dogs, feed the dogs, rest the dogs, take care of the dogs, put booties on the dogs, run the dogs, rest the dogs…and on and on and on, all of the way to Nome.

Within those long days those quiet moments are significant.  In White Mountain last week, as John Baker was on verge of victory, as Ramey Smyth was giving chase, one of those beautiful quiet moments appeared.  To this observer, the power of the race, the beauty of this marathon and the spirit of competition all became clearer during a particular moment in White Mountain.

As teams arrived in White Mountain, teams were parked diagonally off the trail.  Baker was first to arrive, he was parked at the end of the parking lot, near the outgoing trail.  Ramey Smyth arrived 51 minutes after Baker and his team was parked right next to Baker’s.  Diagonally off the trail, parallel to Baker’s, Smyth’s team was no more than fifteen feet away from Baker’s.  When they arrived, the crowd was numbering close to a 100 people.  The spectators wanted pictures, autographs and acknowledgement.   The competitors were fairly obliging. The spectators, for the most part, gave room for the mushers to move as they took care of the canines that were taking them to the finish line. 

The mushers, 51 minutes apart, went through the same routine.  Take the booties off each of the dogs, heat water, bed down the dogs, cook food, feed the dogs, massage sore feet; each of the competitors did the same chores, not necessarily in the same order and each of them, 51 minutes apart, went up to the checkpoint building to eat, to visit for a few minutes, and then to sleep. 

Baker slept for about 3 hours and woke up with a couple of hours left in his 8 hour layover.  He drank some water, some coffee, ate a little bit, gathered his gear and went outside, down to the river where his team was parked.  Ramey Smyth went through the same process when he woke up a while later.  By the time Smyth got down to his team, Baker had already fed his team and was slowly going through the team, dog by dog to check for sore feet, sore wrists, and sore shoulders.  Ramey did his chores as Baker did and then one of those quiet moments came.

Baker and Smyth were on the ice alone with their teams.  No photographers, no villagers, no checkers, no veterinarians were present.  I observed these two competitors side by side quietly working.  The sky was clear and the moon was bright, each of them with their headlights throwing a bright light on everything they looked at.  I was about 100 feet away from them sitting on a bale of straw in the dark.  I could hear the quiet whispers as they talked to the dogs, the dog food cookers threw a small flame under their pots of water.  There was total focus, total concentration on the task at hand, the dog in front of them, the objects illuminated by Baker’s and Smyth’s headlamp.  This moment lasted for about 15 minutes.  Perhaps they spoke to each other, I didn’t hear it if they did.  This was the moment they trained for all year long, all these long years.  To be where they were was where everyone else wished they could be.   The moment was broken when a vet came down to the ice to see if all the dogs were good; then a checker appeared and then another.  A couple of other fans came out to watch Baker leave, the camera lights came on.  John’s team was ready to go.  John left at 12:03a.m., Ramey left 51 minutes later. 

Things you might want to know…

• The volunteer end of the race potluck was held at Race Headquarters Wednesday evening.  Jeff Schultz gave a slide show of his photography from start to finish.
• The Kobuk 440 will start in Kotzebue on April 14.  The 440 mile race has a purse of $40,000. 
• The price of gas in Nome was $4.98 this past Monday.  The price of gas in Anchorage on Monday was $3.92.  The gas prices in the villages along the trail have been in place since fall.  The spring barges will deliver fuel after break-up.  The cost will be going up like everywhere else.