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| Beat and Anne Ver Hoef in McGrath. Photo by Iditarod Trail Invitational |
Beat finally finished this crazy race, reaching the finish line in 8 days, 2 hours and 20 minutes in seventh place with our friend Anne. Sorry for the lack of updates as it's been quite a busy weekend. More soon.
Well done Beat! Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteGut gemacht!!!
ReplyDeleteobviously he is very mentally tough to push through those conditions. glad he is safe and healthy!
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Beat. Looking fwd to your post race write-up. Perhaps insight to your sled & footwear (especially footwear, looks light).
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think a relaxing day for you is planning your next adventure. CHEERS, very well done.
Nice job, Beat! It sounded like the conditions were hell out there for the first half, so I think finishing this year was an even more impressive feat than it usually already is.
ReplyDeleteWow - how many couples can say they both finished Iditarod? :)
Congratulations Beat! thank you for your reporting Jill. You two are an inspiration!
ReplyDeletefriggin awesome!
ReplyDeleteso excited for you Beat. way to go. seems like you had a really strong second half, especially considering how worked over you (and all of us) were at Luce's. hope to get a chance to have a long chat about it sometime soon. what an epic experience, huh?
ReplyDeleteGeoff, epic indeed. I know I was pretty down at some points, but you know - I'm a whiner, but a somewhat tough whiner ;). Deep down I knew I hadn't quit yet ... sometimes you just gotta let the bad vibes out. I was though seriously concerned about the gear and still think there's a LOT for me to improve. I was also running low on food (partially bc I had some fuel fumes contamination, making some of my food taste like white gas - yuck). My sled alone was 38 lbs WITHOUT food and water when I checked it back to Anchorage ... man that thing was an anvil. I'm definitely going the tobaggin route now - it's just more versatile and safer - the Northern Sled Works comes in at just 3.5 lbs, and Tim/Rick said they'll send me the plan for theirs which is even lighter. I also really need to lighten the load. Being able to move is actually quite important ...
ReplyDeleteI'm very impressed at your smart start and good race later on. You're not only fast but very tough - congrats on a great win! I can tell you probably hoped to beat the cyclists, that would have been so super sweet - but you gotta give it to Pete, he's a hell of an athlete too! You've probably also had some much worse trail conditions than we did on some of the sections later on, from what I could tell.
Tim tried to see if I was interested in Nome. He made it sound good ... hmmm. Not next year for sure.
Chat is in order for sure - maybe we can meet up before Hardrock, else there for sure though I presume our minds will be elsewhere ;)
Cheers, Beat
Fantastic feat of accomplishment that you'll always cherish and be proud of later in life. Reading the accounts of the tough conditions you encountered can't help but make one wonder about the limits of human spirit that drives us. Thanks to you and Jill for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAmazing!!! Great job, Beat! And thanks Jill for letting us follow along...
ReplyDeleteCongrats Beat, and also to Kill for surviving (enjoying even) the days while you were out there.
ReplyDelete