ALLEN MOORE took 2 hours 31 minutes from SAFETY TO NOME. In the wee hours of the morning ALIY ZIRKLE (his wife) was at the chute to welcome him in.
4 degrees in NOME today but clear no wind.
ERIN MONTGOMERY - Teacher on the Trail-- went to the library in Nome to check out MARTIN BUSER'S talk (he has one every year, Hank and I did go to one)
He spoke about the highs and lows of the race. One highlight of the trip was 18 years ago a lady with her child asked if they could have a picture with him. Of course he agreed and this year he saw a fellow approach him in SHAKTOOLIK--about 18 years old and YES he was the same fellow from 18 years ago!!!
MARTIN gave HUSLIA high marks. The entire community was excited and came out. He was feeling a bit low on his way there and he noted the school children had made signs along the way and one read "we teenagers look up to you". That really hit home for him and made him smile and feel better. At one point he was thinking about the name of his kennel "Happy Trails". He asked himself, were his dogs happy---that's most important. When they are not ,its time to quit. His dogs are very happy, thank heavens and he decided at that time in the race that he would not "rush". He would take his time, perhaps visit all those cabins along the way, and just enjoy the trip with his dogs. He said that is exactly what he did. If he came in 8th or 28th it didn't matter to him at that point as long as the race was fun and he had happy dogs.