Subj: Adrian Crane: Iditasport report Date: 98-02-23 05:59:32 EST From: nagle@tammy.harvard.edu (Robert J. Nagle) Sender: owner-ara@tammy.harvard.edu To: ara@tammy.harvard.edu ------- Forwarded Message The Iditasport Race. 100 miles , Big Lake Alaska. Feb 14th 1998 Top ten tips for the Iditasport Race. 1. Drink your water fast – or it will freeze in the bottle. 2. Don't step off the trail – you'll be knee deep in snow 3. Don't try to eat a VO2 Max bar until it has thawed. 4. Watch out for moose footprints – they are 12 inches deep in the hard trail and twist your ankle. 5. When crossing lake ice, don't walk on the airstrips! Alaskans like their ski-plane landings smooth. 6. Check for frostbite when changing socks. 7. Dog sleds have right of way on the trail! Untangling 20 dogs is no picnic. 8. Don't scald yourself when you fill bottles at the checkpoints. 9. Always carry one day of survival rations even if it is only 10 miles between checkpoints. 10. Remember to turn left at the sign that says 'Nome 1049 miles'. The 100 mile Iditasport Race is not your ordinary race. On Saturday the 14th of February 1998 a small crowd stood under the starting banner on the shore of Big Lake, Alaska at 5 minutes to nine in the morning. The pale light of a northern morning had arrived but the sun was still not above the tree-covered horizon. The temperature had risen only a few degrees from the pre-dawn level of –20F. Athletes in heavy down jackets or layers of pile and polypropylene were answering as their names were called from the starting list. 'Foot', 'Foot', 'Ski', 'Scratch', 'Bike', 'Ski', 'Shoe' were their responses. Having seen the snow and weather conditions each athlete was nominating their choice of 'weapon' for the race. The 100 miles of packed snowmachine trails through the woods of central Alaska would be negotiated either on mountain bike, skis, snowshoes or on foot. The cry of 'scratch' was given by a young man from New Jersey who decided there was no suitable method of traversing the course in these conditions. At 9 am the 99 starters cast aside their heavy jackets and set off across the lake ice and into the cold blue yonder. Snowmachines are the Alaskan winter equivalent of jetskis – small , fast, noisy and popular. They do perform the useful task of supplying remote cabins with winter access and in so doing a network of hardpacked snow trails is produced. In good conditions the trail is hard enough for fast mountain biking and good running. Six inches of fresh snow or a few hours of sunlight can change that into a grueling hike and leave the ski and snowshoe competitors smiling – such is the luck of the draw in Alaska. Once off the frozen lake the trail crosses tundra and frozen rivers as it heads towards the mountains. In the thick woods the cold shadows lurk. In the clearings where the birch trees are sparse and the willows are covered by snow the icy wind is present. It quickly counters any slight heat from the sun, which for most of the short day will hover just above the treetops. Only a few minutes into the race it becomes clear that the human body generates a lot of heat during exertion. Those experienced racers who shivered on the start line are now comfortable. Many others are discarding layers. of clothing. Each racer has a t least 15 pounds of equipment on a sled or in a backpack. The distances between checkpoints are long , from 10 to 25 miles, and if anyone must stop between checkpoints the mandatory stove, sleeping bag, bivvy sack and food will salvage mere discomfort from almost certain disaster. The adrenaline of competition, the high spirits of the racers and the beauty of the clear and now sunlit morning disguise the nature of the undertaking. A minor mistake in the midst of an arctic night in the wilderness can have serious consequences. The first checkpoint on Flathorn lake is 25 miles. The cyclists and most of the skiers move ahead. The runners and snowshoers string out along the trail. Denali, the highest mountain in North America can be seen to the North against a pale green Arctic sky. At Flathorn a warm cabin offers hot water and Jumbalaya but few athletes want to spend precious daylight time without progress. The next section is 21 miles to Eagle Song Lodge which the runners hope to reach by dark. Once across the cold open expanse of 'Dismal Swamp' the route drops to cross the ice of the Susitna River and then enters a narrow twisting route through the woods. I cross the Susitna river in the company of Bill Menard; we have both seen success in the Hi-Tec Death Valley to Mount Whitney races , which with their extreme heat are perhaps the antithesis of this event. When we were in Death Valley we would give anything to feel a refreshing chill breeze – here we would give anything to feel that bone warming heat. I pull ahead of Bill and from this point on will spend a lot of time traversing these wintry forests alone. As the afternoon evolved toward dusk my dreams became reality. Here I was racing along the along the snowy trails made famous by Robert Service and Jack London. The quiet and cold of the darkening woods was all around and my simple job was to survive. No doubt the wolves were watching and licking their lips. Buoyed by these realized dreams and the game of matching the memorized route instructions to the trail the hours slipped by peacefully. I made Eagle Song by dusk and sat inside with hot soup to watch the last of the light disappear from the frozen landscape though the vast picture window of the beautiful wooden lodge. The intensely personal nature of our competitive experience was thrown into even deeper contrast by the satellite TV which beamed pictures of the Winter Olympics complete with crowds, teams and bustling media . Eagle Song was the opportunity to add layers for the night that was now upon me. Dry liner and Sealskin vapor barrier socks went on the feet. A heavy polypropylene layer was added to the lightweight layers of both pants and tops. The heavy wind jacket, hat, facemask, gloves and down jacket were placed within easy reach at the top of the sled bag. Sitting in the warm to adjust these layers one felt a nervous anticipation at just how cold it might be outside. Water bottles were filled with hot water. Twenty minutes had passed – I should move on. Bill arrived. The struggling cyclist that I had passed on the trail a few miles back was still not in sight across the lake. My final preparation was headgear. First the tiny earphones for the radio held in place by a thin cotton liner balaclave (one piece hat and neck covering) . Then headband, hat and Petzl headlamp with the cable to the battery routed down my neck warmer to the battery hung in a pouch around my neck to prevent it getting cold. Finally a woolen hat. My jacket hood would cover everything once outside. I still had one more balaclava for emergencies. Gloves on and I ventured outside , hooked up my sled belt and set off. It takes several minutes for the internal furnace of the body and the external chill of the dark night to reach agreement on where they will meet - hopefully it is just around my outer wind jacket! Once a steady state is reached adjustments in pace are balanced by zipping and unzipping the jacket and adding or removing gloves or hood. A few inches of zipper travel spell the difference between uncomfortable chill and overheating clamminess which can lead to damp layers and problems later. The stars are bright in the black sky but my eyes have to stay on the trail watching for moose holes. The trail surface undulates in mogul like limps and depressions. The headlight throws few shadows since its origin is so close to the eyes. The sled tugs at me as it encounters a mogul and then pushes me forward with the sled bars as it crests the lump and slides down. The pushing invariably slides my jacket and top layers upward and my pants down so that as I run I frequently have to loosen the sled belt and water belt and overlap my layers again to keep out the cold. Each time that my attention wanders a sharp pain in the back punishes me as I step off a mogul into a depression that is deeper than I had realized. Surprisingly my feet are warm. The trail opened out onto the flats of the Yenta River. The next checkpoint is a tented camp, less roomy than the cabins. The cold air sinks into the valley of the river and it is colder than ever – maybe minus 15F. Hot soup, hot water, quick warm up, slip on the down jacket and set off into the night. A couple of other runners had just set off and I hoped to catch them for the long trek down the frozen Yentna river but they had already been swallowed up in the dark monochrome snowscape. Every one of a million Spruce trees could be a slowly moving person. I set off alone. Steady state temperature arrived in a few minutes and I was able to take off the down jacket and pack it away in the sled. In need of more food I slipped a VO2 Max bar into my glove. In twenty minutes it would be nicely defrosted and ready to eat. The hot water in my insulated liter bottles could be decanted into my running bottle where it would be drinkable for 30 minutes before it began to freeze – a new incentive to drink and keep hydrated. The trail markers were far apart and I was navigating more by map, following the river downstream, than by following the markers. Soon I would reach the confluence with the large Susitna River and then meet the outbound trail. The route was configured with 30 miles of common trail topped by a loop. Once back on the common section of trail some worries dissipate as various familiar landmarks give one hope that real progress is being made. Back across the exposed flats of Dismal Swamp and then onto the ice of Flathorn Lake I go. The checkpoint cabin is still in business ladling out soup and Junbalaya. With twenty-five miles of known trail to the finish there is less reason to linger. I passed some runners who had gone off route in the last section and now my competitive urges were surfacing. With dawn approaching I was keen to chase a couple of runners who had recently left. Maybe with the light I could get a slow shuffle going after a night of mostly fast hiking. Following the now familiar route and ticking off the different turns and hills was entertaining work. Just occasionally my memory would lapse and a section would drag on and on when I thought it should be short. At 90 miles I met Larry Seethaler coming the wrong way down the trail. On a little loop in the trail to avoid an obstacle he had done a complete circle and was following the trail backwards. We figured out the problem and headed out of the woods and onto Big Lake. With 9 miles to go, the sun in the sky and a nice ice road to follow we knew that the finish line was only a matter of time. My thoughts broke out of their narrow focus on food, drink, clothing and trail markers and began encompassing the big, scary complicated thoughts of success and life after the race. Steve Reifenstuhl won the Iditasport 100 mile footrace in 23 hours 10 minutes. Karen King was first women in 29hrs 44min. I finished in 7th equal place with Larry Seethaler in 28 hours 8 minutes. Twenty five of thirty starters finished the footrace. No women dropped out! Adventure Racers: Bike: Jaques Boytet 11:17 4th Chloe Lanthier 19:28 w 4th Foot: Andy Matuliones 26:09 4th Adrian Crane 28:08 7th= Karen King 29:44 1st w Ian Adamson 31:40 4th Adrian Crane Ados the Adventurer. Team Hi-Tec Adventure. Adrian Crane , Modesto CA. (209) 575-3041 acrane@medicalibration.com Top 15 each division, 100 starters total BIKE - MALE 1 10:18 Rocky Reifenstuhl 2 11:05 Michael Estes 3 11:12 Todd Scott 4 11:17 Jacques Boutet 5 11:38 Pat Norwil 6 12:47 Michael Madden 7 13:28 Thad Fitzgerald 8 13:35 David Delcourt 9 14:06 Alan Block 10 14:11 Billy Kootzsch 11 14:57 Gil Hjellen 12 15:17 Mick Kilma 13 15:20 Bjarne Holm 14 15:26 Paul Lester 15 15:30 Mark Groewald BIKE - FEMALE 1 13:38 Susan Thompson (rec) 2 15:07 Jenna Woodbury 3 15:33 Patty Struve 4 19:28 Chloe Lanthier 5 35:02 Mary Burns FOOT - MALE 1 23:06 Steve Reifenstuhl (rec) 2 23:32 Carl Johnson 3 25:39 Tom Jarding 4 26:09 Andrew Matulionis 5 27:49 James Nelson 6 27:54 David Hershey 7 28:08 Adrian Crane 7 28:08 Larry Seethaler 9 28:46 Todd Holmes 10 29:44 Jamshid Khajavi 10 29:44 Akihiro Inoue 12 30:09 Bill Menard 13 31:30 Ian Adamson 13 31:30 Gary Begley 15 34:06 John Schweiker FOOT - FEMALE 1 29:44 Karen King (rec) 2 34:32 Laurie Nakauchi-Hawn 3 37:25 Chris Ralf 4 38:36 Cindie McKenna SKI - MALE 1 13:19 Jim Jager (rec) 1 13:19 David Norona (rec) 3 14:12 Brian Gaspell 4 19:34 Tery Tielborg 5 22:41 Jan Kralik 6 23:05 John Michaud 7 31:05 Harold Hel 8 32:54 Konrad Kaltenborn 9 33:25 John Weaver 10 34:05 Brian Murphy 10 34:05 Greg Stubbs 12 35:26 Alan Mitchell SKI - FEMALE 1 26:14 Carol Stewart (rec) 2 30:35 Kristen Wade 3 32:48 Amy Maclean SNOW SHOE - MALE 1 35:46 Ed Bennett 2 38:09 Steven Nagode 3 39:19 Mike Warren SNOW SHOE - FEMALE 1 38:09 Gale Koepf RED LIGHT (cut off 50 hours) 39:19 Mike Warren (rec, fastest last finisher) 86 finishers total 33 bike M, 5 F 25 foot M, 4 F 12 ski M, 3 F 3 shoe M, 1 F 14 DNF (no females DNF) 2x bike 5x foot 5x ski 2x shoe