Skrevet av: Olav Hatlen/Ingunn Vistnes
Dato: 12.03.2004 14:20
Nearly six days have passed since the Finnmarksløpet Race started. The mushers have climbed mountains, passed through valleys, and have met the challenges of ice and water. They have barely slept and are physically exhausted. What is spinning in their minds right now? How do they judge their own positions in the race, and which strategies are they following?
The last leg from Skoganvarre to Alta is estimated to take between seven and eight hours. There is quite a time difference between leading Bjørnar Andersen, number two Ralph Johannesen and number three Roger Dahl, but the leg has to be raced, and no one takes anything for granted.
Bjørnar Andersen's handler, Hågen Engtrø, tells about a dead tired musher. - Still, he is in amazingly good shape and his spirits are high. He has gold in sight! says Engtrø. Bjørnar himself is catching up with some sleep while we're talking to his handler, but Engtrø assures us that Bjørnar will be on the trail the second his eight hour mandatory rest is over.
It is an incredibly structured musher who is in the lead at Finnmarksløpet right now. He is part of the super ambitious "Team Sørlie". The name is borrowed from Andersen's recognized uncle, Robert. The third man in the team is no less than Kjetil Backen, the man currently in lead in the Iditarod.
Håkon Engtrø comments that Andersen has confidence in himself. He has told the others that they better race fast if they want to catch him, but that said; the finish line has to be crossed first.
Ralph Johannesen is number two to Skoganvarre. He arrived at the checkpoint 2 hours and 19 minutes after Andersen. At the start banquet he claimed the following: - I'll win the race, and I'll .... at the checkpoints! When we're calling the Skoganvarre checkpoint, Johannesen is busy with his checkpoint activities, but his handler Arne Liaklev tells us that Ralph is surprisingly awake. - Ralph's goal is to reach the finish line with dogs who are doing well. He'd rather do it better than last year, when he ranked second. But he also has to watch out for Roger Dahl, Liaklev says. The enthusiastic handler points out that Roger Dahl has the advantage of homerunning dogs towards Alta. - The dogs are always working harder when they know they're on their way home. That's why Roger is a real threat on this last stretch.
Liaklev describes Ralph Johannesen as an energy bomb who is always in a good mood. He is in good shape and spends a lot of time skiing and snowshoeing, and loves outdoor life. - He is very systematic working with mushing, Liaklev comments.
Johannesens mandatory rest is over at 15.35. Liaklev says that Johannesen will be on the trail at that time. He will probably start out with eight dogs. Before start, however, they will go through a vet check. It is therefore possible that he will start out with less than 8 dogs.
Roger arrived at the checkpoint in Skoganvarre approximately one hour after Ralph Johannesen. Roger has however clearly had the fastest team during the last leg. Tone Larsen is Roger Dahl's handler. She tells us that Roger is in good shape. Tired, of course, but his spirits are high. - Roger will mush to Alta following the condition of the dogs. We don't believe that Bjørnar Andersen will give away the first prize, but we might be able to do something with Ralph Johannsen's position, she says.
It is not clear yet whether Roger starts out with six or seven dogs. The vet will be consulted to decide this.
She is not sure about the effect of Roger having homerunning dogs, but she does not believe that his team will stop when they pass their home place. - No, I doubt this. Roger has trained specifically on this, she adds.