FL-1000: Tunheim losing ground

Harald Tunheim says it took a while to find the right speed on the leg from Neiden to Varangerbotn. And this time, too, he arrived at a check point with a dog in his sled bag. - I am dropping one dog here, and that's the fourth dog in four check points, he says. The fact that all four are strong male dogs leads to his teams' speed decreasing.

Harald Tunheim at Neiden2, before leaving for Varangerbotn. Photo: Dimitri Sharomov

-The team ran really well until Neiden 1 and I had the fastest times, however, then it started changing and I simply haven't got the right flow as of now, he says. - It's tough luck, but that's how it is in the Finnmark Race; you never know. You can get here with the best team, and then a dog has to be dropped.

Tunheim says the trail from Neiden was rather soft, and the dogs were trotting along for 20-30 kilometres. It took a while to get speed into the team. - And then there are some monster hills that require their efforts from the musher! he says. The temperature was cooler in the mountains and things got easier, but coming down from the mountains lead to milder temperatures again, and the speed slowed down - Using 6-7  hours to Varangerbotn is not exactly a record-high speed.

Harald Tunheim hit the trails more or less at the same time as Steinar Kristensen, but the difference between the two has increased to more than half an hour. As Kristensen and Ekran have raced equally fast on this leg, Tunheim has also lost some time to Ekran, who was the first musher to arrive at cp Varangerbotn.