“The hardest race to run is the one waged in your mind, and it is for this reason the Iditarod Trail Invitational is the hardest race in the world. Forget the distance of hundreds of miles, the brutal Alaska winds, the subzero cold, the bad trail, and the danger of avalanche and overflow. Those are the smallest of the challenges to be met. The bigger hurdle is the sheer desolation one finds from near Shell Lake in the foothills of the Alaska Range on through Rainy Pass to McGrath, and beyond across the vast tracks of nothingness and ever more nothingness to the Bering Sea coast and, eventually, for some, to Nome.”
From Craig Medred of the Anchorage Daily News, on the Alaska Ultrasport race along the Iditarod Trail.
I know and ride with Jeff, who’s currently leading the race by (much?) more than 6 hours. Updates to follow as the race gets closer to McGrath.
Kickass, Jeffy.
Kick ass, indeed. Sucks that he lost his lead because the trail wasn’t put in. I’m glad he didn’t exhaust himself by breaking through alone, but… Jeff’s a bad ass. I’m sure he’ll take it back!