Skrevet av: Fredrik Ljone Holst
Dato: 09.03.2015 13:40
Many of the mushers who have arrived at cp Neiden chose to take their mandatory 16-hour rest there. Ralph Johannessen and Nina Skramstad are two of those. Two other favourites, however, Harald Tunheim and Steinar Kristensen, chose to postpone their long rest until they arrive at then next check points.
- I run my own race. It is a bit early to rest now. I meant to go to cp Ellentjern and take my 16-hour rest there, however, due to the mild weather the trail is a bit soft, so I will rather take it in Kirkenes, Kristensen said to our reporter in Neiden.
Harald Tunheim earlier in the race. Photo: Mads Suhr Pettersen
Ralph arrived first at cp Tana Sunday night, five minutes ahead of Ronny Frydenlund. When leaving the check point that order was reversed, and Ralph hit the trails after having rested almost one hour more than Ronny. But five short hours of rest were not enough for the man from Bergen, who says he was very tired on the leg towards Neiden. That means that there will be 16 hours' rest for the dogs - and a bit less for Ralph, who still has tasks to do - before they all move on towards Kirkenes.
Nina: Trouble with the lead dogs
As for Nina Skramstad, it appears to have been speed rather than tiredness that was the problem on-trail towards Neiden. From being third in Levajok she has dropped ten places on the way to Tana, and one more on the way to Neiden.
- I struggled to find a good combination of lead dogs. I have good lead dogs, but it was difficult to find the right combination, so it went very slowly. Steinar Kristensen caught up with me, having started 45 mins behind, she says while caring for her dogs at the staging area in Neiden.
Nina Skramstad in Tana. Photo: Anna Riebelova
A closer look at the preliminary table of results show that Steinar did not only catch up those 45 minutes - when arriving at Neiden he is almost that long ahead of her. While it took Nina 8 hrs 14 mins to get to Neiden, Steinar covered the same distance in just 6 hrs 50 mins. That is almost as fast as Harald Tunheim. But with just four hours' rest for the two Alta mushers, it will be exciting to see if they can keep up the speed.
Early rest for Fagerli
Yngve Fagerli chose a tactic that's quite the opposite of Harald's tactic. Arriving at cp Tana as # 3, right behind Ralph and Ronny, he chose to take out his 16-hour mandatory rest in Tana. He thus left Neiden as # 29, but is the only one to have completed his mandatory long rest and has an 'advantage' of 16 hours. Given the fact that the mushers can chose quite freely where to take that rest - the rules require it to be taken no later than at Levajok2 - there is still some way to go before we can say for sure who is actually in the lead of the FL-1000 race.