FL-1000:Tired, but has no plans to quit

Sliten kjører.

Miquel Angel-Martinez did this year receive Ishavskraft’s honorary prize based on his dedication to Finnmarksløpet. Here are his thoughts on this year’s race.

-I prepare the food for the dogs after they had their snacks, and have to hurry to put their covers on and give them blankets before they get stiff. Then I sleep, tired after a hard day, and a tough and cold leg. Some legs, like this one from Kirkenes to Neiden, have steep hills and parts of the leg are very tough. I kick a lot, run a lot and the dogs work hard. I haven’t had any major problems along the way, but the dogs have to get their rest as quickly as possible. It’s still a long way to go, but the dogs are eating well.

Enjoying Finnmarksløpet. Photo: Kim F.O. Nordsveen
 

-I am looking forward to getting to Alta. It’s a long way to go, so I don’t think too much about it, but it is lurking in the back of my mind. We have to finish the race, at our own pace. We are resting at bit more than I originally planned. My team isn’t fast, but they are holding up nicely. I have ten dogs left still, and have taken two out. One was too young, it only wanted to play and have fun. So it got to play around for a while, and then I took it out before things became boring. The other one was working hard, but had trouble with a wrist. I massaged the wrist at two checkpoints, and it got better, but not well enough, so it was better for it to get some time off.  

Running nicely. Photo: Finnmarksløpet

 

-It is a long race. I have young dogs that still need time to learn. Learn how to rest, and to keep a pace suitable for this distance. These are difficult things to teach dogs. They learn from other dogs they run with, but they are not fully educated yet. The distance is still a bit long for the youngest dogs, and it is better for us to take our time rather than wearing them out.