Lander, WY Stage 6

Bruce ‘The Moose’ Magnusson blitzed around the 27 mile trail in fine fashion and once again won the coveted yellow bib, meaning he will start last in tomorrow’s stage and chase the teams he is racing. Bruce has over 11 minutes to close the gap and take home the championship, which would likely require catastrophe for both Malo and Coste on such a short trail, but he claimed 38 seconds back on Coste and is trailing him by 6 minutes and 36 seconds going into the last lap. While it is unlikely that Bruce can outright outrun Coste in a clean run, the margin for mistakes from the ‘Coste Comet’ has shrunk once again. What is interesting about this ‘race within the race’ is the juxtaposition in driving style and race strategy. For Coste, each and every mile is a high intensity feat of athleticism, for both dog and musher, and he is well known for fast paced, borderline frantic stops to load, unload, rehook, or move dogs around within his team, often multiple times within a stage. Compared with Magnusson’s cool, calm demeanor who often times only gives a ceremonial pedal for show and whose focus is on clean, consistent, well executed runs. And here we are, after 6 days of racing, separated only by minutes, despite having race styles that couldn’t be more different, variances in the types of dog in their teams, fundamental differences in training philosophies, and hailing from separate continents.

Coste made time on Malo early, having caught, passed, and made a gap on the ‘Malo Machine’ before the loop. He was further gifted some time when Malo’s leaders ducked off the main course and onto a snowmobile trail entering the loop. He gave some of it back with an observable short stop shortly after completing the loop. It appears that Malo may have outrun him by a few seconds coming home, but the typical ‘blast off’ style of racing that has become a hallmark feature of Coste’s program is gaining in effectiveness in these later stages. Coste has to pull off an incredible feat tomorrow to overcome the 4 minute and 38 second gap to win another championship at the Pedigree Stage Stop Race, and will have a tough time doing so without an error on Malo’s part, which is not something that happens often in this race.

This is where things get interesting. Assuming that the race chooses to leave at 2 minute intervals again, this will mean that Coste has to catch, pass and finish at least 38 seconds ahead of Malo. Coste’s mandate for tomorrow is simple. Run. Run hard. And if he catches her, run a little bit harder. This is something that is in his wheelhouse. Something he is quite good at. While the odds are still significantly in Malo’s favor, her decision making and strategy isn’t quite as cut and dry. As long as she’s ahead of Coste, she can coast into another hard earned win. But, with Coste starting behind her, she will have limited insight into if he’s catching her, and if he is, how quickly. This creates decision points for Malo. Does she drive hard to the loop and make sure he is behind her far enough that she can roll home, considering she has outrun him from the loop in nearly all stages so far? This runs the risk of pushing a team a little too far in the warm weather, and Malo is known for having BIG dogs that are not always easy to load. Considering the challenges she faced at the loop today, and that her 2nd team driven by son Tristen Rivest also had a tough day on the warm trail, this is a risk. But, so is taking a more measured approach and unintentionally giving up more than she can get back early in the run and not realizing it until it’s too late. Coste also ran a small team today and could conceivably run an entire fresh group of dogs tomorrow, while Malo will have to at least run a few that ran today (although I predict Coste will run some from today’s team as well, he does theoretically have a larger pool of rested dogs to draw from). Also worth noting is that both Coste and Malo ran boots on every foot of every dog. This could mean a few things. Either they are being super conservative and proactively protective, which is unlikely this far into the event, or they are dealing with minor damage from earlier stages. Boots reduce traction (and therefore speed) but also make it harder for dogs to dissipate body heat, which compounds in hotter weather. Again, more decision points, and with each and every decision that gets made, an opportunity for error is introduced. With competition on all sides, neither team has room for significant missteps.

Stephane ‘Roarin’’ Roy burst from the middle of the pack for a 3rd place finish. In stark contrast to his rookie appearance last year, where he was a force of nature early on but faded fast towards the end of the race, this is a show of strength for ‘Roarin’’ Roy. Not making the same mistakes twice is the key to the continuous improvement it takes to eventually become a winner.

Malo finished 4th for the day but is still well positioned to take the overall win. Is she backing off and keeping gas in the tank for upcoming races or did the hot weather impact her team? Clean, consistent runs have become a key part of the Malo/Rivest program’s massive success in this event (and others) but we have seen several instances in this year’s race where Malo had to leave the sled, which is not something that can be afforded tomorrow. Malo has the upper hand going in to the final lap, but the ‘Coste Comet’ is a formidable foe.

Liam ‘Young Gun’ Conner had a stellar run and his first top 5 finish for the race! Liam and the Conner racing program have become extremely adept at this event in short order and are on a trajectory to become perennial contenders. Liam’s famously hard work ethic and soft spoken, serious interviews have made him a fan favorite and shows that the future of the sport is bright. Liam has an uphill battle to overtake the strong running Beaber team overall, but put a serious gap on Tristen Rivest today.

Ryan ‘The Builder’ Beaber had one of the most heartwarming moments of the race (and possibly in history) when he intentionally stopped coming out of the loop to wish his son a happy birthday on the live feed. Ryan has been running a beautiful race thus far and demonstrates that good intentions beget good things. Ryan needs his heatseeker missile on tomorrow to catch, pass, and pull a few more seconds on Crittenden to overtake her overall, while Crittenden has a nearly identical goal for ‘Roarin’’ Roy.

‘Seany’ Sean Hildreth had an absolutely amazing breakout run today! Sean is hands down the most improved from last year’s event and is taking major leaps and bounds with his program. Having finished last in some stages only a year ago, no one would have predicted a run near the top of the pack for him 5 short days ago. Kennel owners Jerry and Rachel Scdoris must be beyond proud.

Tomorrow will be one of the most exciting days of racing to watch in recent history. There are loads of close races amongst quality, strong running teams, and the perfect conditions for more than a few upsets. Will Coste go for broke and defy the odds? Can Crittenden regain her overall position? Will Bruce ‘The Moose’ go out on a high note with another lap victory? How many pedals will ‘Young Gun’ Conner take? I can’t wait to find out.