March 9, 1998

The restart in Willow was flawless. Under cool, overcast skies the teams headed out directly onto the real trail! Martin took on his characteristic focused look or "game face". As he was leaving the loud speakers were blaring the theme song from the original ROCKY movie.

The plan is to be conservative for the first few days. It has been a strategy that served the team well in the past.

Someone told us today that Martin has won all the races that restarted in Willow! This is the Northern Route, 2 previous wins in that direction! This is the time of the race when everyone stretches previous stats and gets superstitious. It won't last long as the real race is shaping up.

Just got a call and it's reported that Martin is first out of Skwentna. He probably grabbed his bale of straw and headed down the river to a nice quite camp spot. Skwentna gets pretty congested and noisy. I think what Martin really likes is what he's doing right now, being out on the trail alone with his friends.

Send those vibes--we really do believe they make a difference!!!!

Happy trails,
Kathy