Her er mr. Kings betraktninger natt til onsdag. Foreløpig kun på originalspråket, norsk versjon kommer.
Skrevet av: Jeff King
Dato: 16.03.2011 08:30
5 teams have clearly risen to the top of the 2011 Finnmarkslopet 1000 sled dog race. Led by Roger Dahl, this group of veteran mushers is filled with thousands of miles, decades of experience and numerous championships. It is likely this years winner will be familiar with the podium. By now exhaustion has dulled their senses to a point few people would ever choose to willingly experience. 3 days and over 500km on the trail, the mushers and their teams have had minimal rest, and hour after hour of physical exertion.
The most profound difference I see between this Norwegian sled dog marathon and the 1000 mile Iditarod in Alaska is the significant addition of "handler help" at the checkpoints. Each Finnmarkslopet team includes behind the scene handlers, drivers and strategists organizing gear, schedules, and dog care for their musher, all at arms length.
Here's how it works. Rules demand that only the musher can interact with their team. Each checkpoint has a large area dedicated to the dog teams and drivers. Here all feeding, dog care, and sled maintenance can only be done by the musher. Standing around the perimeter of these "corral" area, each team has another team of "handlers". Often the spouse, close friend , or young volunteer, these handlers stand by to provide carefully prepared bags of equipment such as jackets and blankets to cover the dogs, carefully prepared plastic runners, warm dry gloves, snow anchors, and fresh batteries.
Each musher must walk from their team to their handler to receive the gear, encouragement and reminders. After the dogs are cared for by the musher leaves the 'corral' to the immediate care of the handlers. Now clothes are dried or replaced, musher food prepared and served. I have even seen the tired feet of the musher being rubbed by the stoic handlers. Many of theses 'teams' have fully modern motor homes waiting in the parking area's outside the corral, warm beds, quiet space and general pampering await the musher. After the allotted rest time, the handlers awaken the sleepy musher, dress, feed and entourage them back to the corral area to prepare the dogs for the next leg of the race. Icy dog blankets, wet clothes, snide used plastic is stuffed helper skelter into giant custom made bags designed just for this purpose, only to be dragged, brimming full, by the musher to the waiting handlers to be dealt with. After their team departs, these handlers clean and organize the gear and equipment, load up their RV and head out to the next checkpoint and do it all over again.
I like it. I like it a lot.
Jeff King
Read previously Kings Corner:
Kirkenes Checkpoint, Northern Norway