Iditarod Trail Invitational

Two Thelen Coaching athletes took on the Iditarod Trail Invitation this year. Dennis returned to the trail in the 150, a new distance this year that replaced the 130 he won last year. I'll have his report posted once I get it. After getting stymied by the weather at JP's Fat Pursuit, this was the goal for the winter. It wasn't about place or time, it was about reaching the finish line safely. It was also one step closer to the ITI 300 in either 2020 or 2021. Every race is an opportunity for learning and that becomes even more important with the extreme weather winter racing can throw at athletes. This edition of the ITI had some unexpected challenges including a sudden temperature drop and a malfunctioning tracker that required a longer then anticipated stop at the first check point. Overall, his plan of forward momentum and assessing the upcoming conditions at each checkpoint proved smart. Dennis reached the finish of the ITI 150 in second place this year.

View from the trail
Photo - Dennis Staley

Dennis at the finish of the ITI 150

Judd had some demons to face for the ITI 300 this year after a challenging 2018. His strategy this year was to act like a rookie and take on the trail in a new way with one of the other BPR racers, Steve. They had a plan in place for staying in the back of the pack of the cyclists, but ahead of the foot traffic churning up the trail. Just between the wave of racers, they were able to utilize the checkpoints and aid much easier and able to keep moving throughout the race. They did take two zero days to recover from the effort of riding and pushing the singlespeeds, but breaks were worked into the plan. They managed the sleep demons, the temperature plummeting to -35 in the first night and then the inconsistent trail conditions that lead to pushing more then 50 miles of the race. In the end, they still finished a few hours faster then Judd's last time on the trail in 2017.

Judd at the summit of Rainy Pass

Judd has a great race report with some awesome photos on the BPR site. Check it out for more details.