We couldn’t have asked for a much better day for our runners yesterday. Steady winds, clear skies, and views that go on forever. It was cold out on the frozen lakes, regularly dropping below -20c, and colder still on the final climb after stage 4 where one of the Sami Team took a reading of -40c after dark.

Kristina Madsen of Denmark came here looking for a win and she started extremely well, taking the stage win. Karl Alvarez came a close 2nd though arriving just 8 minutes behind here. That pair started today with a good hour between themselves and Christoph Castelberg in 3rd.

The top 3 women after Stage One were Kristina Madsen, followed by Rachel Belmony over 3hrs behind, with Veronique Lievin 49 minutes behind her in 3rd.

The top 3 men were Karl Alvarez, Christoph Castelberg, and Simon Winchester who was only 24 minutes behind Christoph.

The race team report that the runners at Aktse last night were in high spirits. All started the race looking strong this morning and everyone managed a good sleep in the candle-lit cabins last night.

In a correction to last night’s posts on social media, Maria and George Economou were not the only runners brought to Aktse on snowmobiles. They were joined by Kari McDonald.

Stage Two is well underway now and conditions have changed. Freezing fog and high winds are blocking the stunning view from the mighty Mt Kabla and the low visibility will no doubt slow some of these runners down.

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