Skrevet av: Niels Westphal
Dato: 10.03.2015 14:45
FL-1000 is a very long race. The first 6-700 km of the race is all about using as little energy as possible. Resting enough, but still keeping the speed up on-trail in order to not drop too far behind the competitors.
- It has to do with assessing the correct level of stress that the dogs can take. It is a fine-tuned balance to maintain, and it is important not to push it too far, according to the Finnmark Race expert Trond Ørslien. He has many years of experience as a top-level musher himself.
- If the dogs are pushed too hard, the speed will decrease and in such cases you will not be able to make up for it, even with many hours of rest, says Ørslien.
Resting time in Kirkenes. Photo: Dmitry Sharomo
Banking on rest
Mushers often talk about “storing up on rest” in a race. All the rest they can give the dogs early in the race can be “stored up” and capitalized on later in the race. - If you have managed to provide the dogs with more resting time than your competitors early in the race, you will be able to reduce resting times later in the race, according to Trond Ørslien.
The musher who can reduce rest towards the end of the race without it having a negative impact on the dogs and their speed speed, can bring the victory home.
Birgite Næss Wærner going out of Kirkenes. Photo: Dmitry Sharomov
Important differences
A closer look at running and resting times, reveals small, but important differences between the mushers. Ronny Frydenlund, who was in the lead out from Kirkenes, has an accumulated race time of 36:04 and accumulated rest time of 33:17. This means 47,2 % rest out of his total race time. In comparison, Harald Tunheim, who left Kirkenes as number five, has a 50,5 % resting time.
- The numbers show that Tunheim has maintained a higher speed than Frydenlund through most of the race. If you mush faster and rest equally long, the resting time percent becomes higher. Later in the race you can cash in it, Trond Ørslien explains.
Fast and cheap
Another musher who has rested well and in addition maintained high speed, is Kjell Brennodden. Ørslien is impressed with the speed the veteran has maintained until Kirkenes, and he is curious to see what happens next.
Kjell Brennodden leaving Kirkenes. Photo. Dmitry Sharomov
- If you push your dogs too far in order to go faster, you will quickly burn up what you gained with that extra rest. It is like a car with a turbo – if you hit the gas and use the turbo, you will burn more fuel. The best thing to do is to put the car in the fifth gear and go fast, but fuel efficiently.
Whether Brennodden has hit the gas too hard between Neiden 1 and Kirkenes, or just has a very fast team, remains to be seen.