Gerry Willomitzer

From Gerry on the trail:

Tough day. Today’s run was not what I expected, but I probably had it coming. The wrong choice of runner plastic and wax resulted in a painfully slow run right from the get-go. The grinding of the runners on the ultra-dry Wyoming snow reminded me of my grandmother’s hand-operated coffee grinder. I also think I overfed the dogs on the day off.

The aggressive snow prompted me to put booties on the dogs’ feet at halfway, resulting in additional time loss. But I saved their feet, and that may pay off as there is lots of race left. Oh, and Hippo caught a ride for 15 miles, so I had it all coming at once.

Before coming here I figured I should place anywhere between 5th and 10th place overall. Dropping from 2nd and 3rd spot to 7th is painful, but I am confident I can climb again in the standings. There is a gap opening behind me, while 5th place is only 19 minutes away.

After the run we drove over to Pinedale for a meet & greet, sled repair in the trailer (it’s windy out), and massage session for the dogs. Tomorrow morning we expect 25 below Celsius and 30km/h winds — Shaktoolik weather.