And the common excuse I keep hearing is “not enough people to staff checkpoints”. Well, they should not have added 150 miles and should have gotten more people. They get thousands of dollars in entry fees they need to provide the infrastructure for the entrants - ThreadSky

lindaz.bsky.social • 6 days ago

And the common excuse I keep hearing is “not enough people to staff checkpoints”. Well, they should not have added 150 miles and should have gotten more people. They get thousands of dollars in entry fees they need to provide the infrastructure for the entrants

Comments

slwest382.bsky.social•6 days ago

To be fair, the race was changed to the longer course this year to avoid areas with a dangerous lack of snow. This was at mushers' and the fanbase's insistence.

kjzack6.bsky.social•6 days ago

They had the option to avoid the loop and make it shorter; they chose to make it the longest ever, starting a day late, yet made no time, money or volunteers allowances for that.

slwest382.bsky.social•6 days ago

Thanks! Was avoiding the loop an option that was seriously considered? I don't know what other factors might need to go into planning the route that would make that more or less desirable.

kjzack6.bsky.social•6 days ago

I don’t think we’ll ever know, they are very opaque as an organization.

slwest382.bsky.social•6 days ago

It looks like the total loop adds 329 miles, so taking it out completely would've made it pretty short. But maybe they could've turned the loop around sooner? (1/2)

kjzack6.bsky.social•6 days ago

There were no great options, and I know they wanted to include the two villages. But it was totally predictable that longer and the day later start would mean the race would overrun their budgets for time, money and volunteers. They made a decision that catered only to the front of the pack.

slwest382.bsky.social•6 days ago

I know in 2021 the whole route was out and back, so skipping the lollipop loop I'm Anvik and Shageluk should've been possible, but I don't know what the infrastructure of the big loop checkpoints look like. (2/2)

lindaz.bsky.social•6 days ago

Yes the race was changed but they didn’t have to add the “loop” and make it 150 miles longer

jamesfrye.bsky.social•6 days ago

The full loop from Kaltag 1 to Kaltag 2 was 329 miles.

The extra long course is exacerbated by the Monday start because that pushed everything back a day for volunteers.

They didn’t need to make it so long if they knew they were pinching time on the restart to begin with.

slwest382.bsky.social•6 days ago

Was the Monday start to give everyone enough time to get to Fairbanks?

kjzack6.bsky.social•6 days ago

Yes, they had to get their trucks and trailers with dogs up. It’s an 8 hour drive without dog stops.

lindaz.bsky.social•6 days ago

(I meant the full loop and making the race 150 miles longer than planned)

dancinghorse.bsky.social•5 days ago

I can't help but see this as the race punishing the back of the pack for their own failures of planning and logistics.

They just don't seem to be in control of their material. So to speak.

danada0109.bsky.social•6 days ago

And again, the time differential isn’t as high as in past years, and the course is longer, so the math is really not mathing.

alikclark.bsky.social•6 days ago

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