In a race that saw Eddie Burke and Peter Kaiser play leap frog in the first 3/4s of the race, it's now coming down to just a handful of minutes between two Kusko Champs: Kaiser and Matthew Failor. Matthew Failor "held back" for much of the race, contentedly staying in the chase pack, but last night he passed by many teams to come into the final checkpoint and mandatory four hour layover just eight minutes behind Peter Kaiser.
Both teams left right on time after their rest and charged down the trail on the return route to Bethel. They ran this trail Friday night, and in Kaiser's case these are the trails he trains on. Failor's team hasn't had to "break trail" for anyone and hasn't played the rabbit, but they aren't as familiar with the route - other than what they just did this weekend.
The chase pack is being led by Eddie Burke who, after leading for most of the first twenty four hours and playing leap frog with Kaiser, is having a fantastic race season running the "A-team" out of Wildstyle Racing kennel. The improvement between his first year of races (just three years ago) to now is incredible and a top five placement in this very competitive race is something he can be proud of. Burke can't rest on the runners, though, he's battling with Jacob Wiktop for third. A quick look at the trackers shows that Eddie is three miles back from Failor (give or take, can never 100% trust the trackers as they don't all ping at the same time).
The race should see its first finish around Noon Alaska Time. Will it be Failor, Kaiser or will Burke somehow manage a huge upset? We'll find out in about two hours.
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