Towards Skoganvarre

The track conditions up towards Jotka have been tough today, with soft tracks and a lot of wind.  Nevertheless both Elisabeth Edland and Ronny Wingren passed the station at a good pace around 2 p.m today. There is about seven Norwegian miles from Jotka to the next checkpoint. On this distance the track conditions are even more varying, especially on the last kilometres down towards Skoganvarre.  The trick now will be to keep the speed down a bit.

During these conditions the best thing to do is to stay calm, and it will be better to keep the speed down a bit instead of letting the dogs run at full speed. This early in the race most of the mushers will probably care more about finding a rhythm in their dog team than being passed by competitors.

Anyway, Edland will have to put up with being labelled as a favourite on the 500 km after her victory in 2007, but there are many good mushers following her. Neither Arnt Olav Skjerve, Svein Sødahl Kvam nor Jon Øyvind Selmer, to mention some, will give up without a fight. There is still a long way to the finishing line.