FL-1000: A lonely battle in the back

Skrevet av: Niels Westphal/Mads Gløtta/Trine Kvidal-Røvik
Dato: 17.03.2017 15:27

While the teams in the lead are fighting over places on the podium, many others are fighting a more or less lonely battle in order to make to the finish line in Alta.

Friday afternoon three teams are headed toward Karasjok, while Swedish Nora Själin is the only musher in Levajok. The 28 year old woman from Storuman, who lives in Northern Troms, is a professional dog trainer and is doing her first FL-1000.

Nora Själin in Levajok. (Photo: Mads Gløtta)

Nora Själin is a rookie in FL-1000 this year, and her team consists of dogs from Tom Johansen. The goal is to make it to Alta with as many dogs as possible. He now has seven dogs left in his team.

Even though her two lead dogs were dropped at Levajok 1 and Tana, it has gone well, circumstances considered. She is especially pleased with her young dog Gappo, who has done a great job – often in the lead. Nora’s goal?

- Arriving in Alta in time for the dessert at the banquet!

Gappo, Nora’s lead dog, is resting in Levajok. (Photo: Mads Gløtta)

Several teams behind Nora

But Nora is not last. There are three teams behind her on the trail. Both Miguel-Angel Martinez and Hendrik Stachnau are headed toward Levajok, while Christer Afsèer and his great team of Malamutes, is the last team on the trail right now. At the momene, Christer and the dogs are resting at Sirbma.

In principle the Finnmark Race has no deadline for making it to the finish line in Alta, but the regulations state that teams must leave checkpoint Karasjok before midnight Saturday in order to be able continue.

This means that Christer must keep moving in order to make it before this. His heavier Malamutes keep a much lower speed than the fast Alaska huskies most other Finnmark Race participants have in their teams.