Skrevet av: Niels Westphal /transl. Elisabeth Simonsen
Foto: Therese N. Andersen
Dato: 12.03.2013 19:50
About five hundred kilometers ago Hugh Neff claimed that he didn’t need a map over the tracks in Finnmarksløpet.
-I’ll just follow the rest, he said before the race.
But today Hugh Neff has run 125 kilometers alone in the lead in his first Finnmarksløp. The tough guy from Chicago and Alaska made only a brief stop in Kirkenes early Tuesday morning, before he continued towards the checkpoint in Neiden 2 as the first musher. Since he has not looked back, but kept up a steady pace all day.
At 19.50 he arrived at the checkpoint in Neiden with twelve dogs in front of his sleigh. Happy, satisfied and mostly concerned with whether it was colder in Neiden today than yesterday when he was here.
Behind the American are 40 other mushers who have left Kirkenes so far. Who is the closest pursuer, we will find out shortly.