anymore questions and off we go to spin more slow play close up. next to w. w's crime fighters are back with the africa's most successful radio drama series continues through not only because those are available online and you course you can share and discuss on w. africa's facebook page going to other social media platforms times to mean you know . every year as the extreme north of norway hosts an epic 1200 kilometer ranks in which competitors fight their way into icy wasteland this and are celebrated. my birthday and. seen all around the one for 8 days the competitors or.

teams will be pushed to the absolute limit our homes are probably something you chose to do and it's what it's like a journey into yourself. who will prevail in this grueling in joran challenge last thing over a week with sleep a rare luxury dogs are starting to get a little. and i'm getting a little bit. slower through only when. the hard work starts. in the finn mouth region of norway september 29th. here inside the arctic circle panel you know i guess preparing for the longest dog sled race in your a. oh. canada fellow musher discussed how many jokes they have with them and which

ones they'll have to leave behind the woman. and let's see. coming. right now i've been driving dogs and so i couldn't stand up straight and i've been around dogs for all my life so when i was younger dogs were like my best friend so i've always. always like seen the world with a dog or through a dog's eyes. the new. parents' farm thrives on tourism especially from the growing popularity of. the family has more than 80 dogs all of

them hybrids they've been trained in social skills on the highway. with a strong cardiovascular system and they love to run. we always start going. slower and then i'll get into shape we can always increase the distance and then the speed but these are long distance stones so they're never really run faster than. 17 kilometers an hour. long for 70 kilometers west of outer. bend folx lives with his family and 35 alaskan house gates originally from germany he met his wife while studying geography and alpha in 2010 the couple bought this old family. servant yes a very good. girl. we

just we need to warn you. that we have me right on the water should we go and fetch that too but i think. this is their breakfast and that's basically a mixture of me and dr corder what's important for them i mean taking care of the docs is a full time job for ben. his wife is a teacher at the finish school peter i'm a country. you could say we're living our dream we have a great place to live before and have so much freedom i am so happy to have the children in our own dogs it's just beyond words. was high place i. then started ducks lead racing more than 10 years ago and has also won a number of awards for the way he handles his animals the one that facet of 61 all

they're bred for this purpose and want to run but it's genetic so you can use the dogs but never should have the response you have to know them inside out from training and living with my so you know what their limits are and you know you should never push them beyond that you are constant. for a musher he was not even norwegian let alone local those distinctions are a fairy special honor. or this is ruby basically the queen our most importantly dog is always our minds i got everything so i thought they were pretty big package and sometimes they had their disputes like in a school rush weekly i saw one side of. it. and as their leader you have to master the art of creating a positive part so they work together as a team. and then 10 i still have another 5 months to prepare for the film out for ace.

$402.00 it is the ultimate challenge of course you can meet bad weather and you can get an injured dog and you get tired and exhausted so always use all these things together for. like a week. until the snow pack is firm enough for the sleds the dogs train with the court on solid ground and there has to repeatedly push on the brakes to stop the team going too fast over the entire season from august through late may they cover almost 10000 kilometers. in the evening have friends family and stuff gather for. the top subject of discussion is as ever well preparations for the race a going today had joined by a high profile guest and named. who won the event 3 time.

training going ok. yes i hope so. mother but i don't think we did enough training. in terms of kilometers yes last year we had $650.00 and now we only have around $300.00 and it's already the 19th. when it's not enough. and those performances have also attracted sponsors this season she's getting funding from a dog food manufacturer together with other successful mattias making khanna the youngest member of the world's 1st professional dog sled squad although other than sharing a sponsor the marshes a not really a team each competing fairy much for themselves. part of the team is like the biggest mushers in the world and for me it's an opportunity to.

learn from the best so now i'm a part of that and i also have a few other sponsors and for me. i don't have a job or i'm not fully educated i have to have sponsors if not i won't be able to do what i love to do every single day. then has to make do without financial back as. being a non-native makes him less attractive for no weekend companies. and only the very best mushes managed to secure lucrative sponsorship deals. start a sport you can see mushing is becoming increasingly sport a fight up here it's hugely popular now with a growing number of people going professional. we're now starting to see big money sponsors sponsor teams is inside as a family based category it's hard for us to keep up with our. mushing means

investing a lot of time and money the dogs need to be put through their paces for the entire season from walk us through the end of may the financial outlay for their food and equipment pose this in additional challenge for the family. was worked out that the animals cost us $30.00 to $40000.00 euros a year. would love to keep them and also do the race so we're taking the plunge by asking as guests might want to go on a tour with us sister for some samples for me to answer then is able to recover some of the expenses by offering docs or tours which also provides further training for the animals although that venture is compromised by having to tailor the tours to the wishes of his guests. 6 months on march 20 twentieth's and the fin marks looking is about to begin the toughest dog sled race in your up with 1200 icy kilometers awaiting the competitors.

but ben has doubts as to whether his team is in top shape. you would know they haven't done those long distances so far this year but have had to work really hard . not to be on board in the spirit i hope she puts in another good showing this year oh sure sure. as the clown in the team he's been great in the preparation. that doakes get a pre-race check up from veterinarians otherwise they're not allowed to compete. and ben is worried about the swelling on this one's leg. but as we will be our doctor says that if he has sound alternatives she'd suggest taking a different doctor. fortunately all the other docs are ok giving the green light for bed. and i take a photo of you next to each other pretty well the thing is the. planner is

accompanied by her mother from one checkpoint to the next trina competed in the race has self a number of times you have so much work with the dogs and to be able to be top 5 top 7 in a race like this it's very very hard because so many are good they know what they're doing and you have to have some luck but you also have to be very good yourself. it's party time in alta no ways mainly public t.v. station house daily updates off the race. this huns hotfix and has been covering the event for more than a decade. mung among them it's getting bigger every year it's a multi-faceted sport and isn't growing to watch. so. the starting positions are drawn by knots with ben in 14th the fields comprises 30

teams from scandinavia plus a couple of contestants from germany and switzerland who all the warriors are desperate to get going i just hope we get off to a good start and then run our own. on a journey that will take 8 days and 8 nights ben sets out on the initial stage. but the 1st checkpoint is 12 hours away. among the last local girl hannah. with no t.v. at the scene. you already won the 500 kilometer race and the 1200. their traditional worlds we just want to decent finish finally what's the best part of the race being out there alone with my dogs the one i want to enjoy and good luck. with. all that matters now with the finish with

no more interruptions. the rule is a simple once out in the wild they're not allowed to have any assistance. over the next 8 days the mushers the granted one extended break of 14 hours with short breezes always allowed to stage 1132 kilometers and the longest. there's little let up for the marshes as they literally dig deep and have to push their sled through the snow especially uphill. the checkpoints are manned by more than $600.00 fall and he is taking care of the dogs. almost 12 hours in hanna rives that the lever your check point and now every 2nd counts she's solely responsible for feeding the dogs the pack up emitted to take on nourishment but outside the checkpoint. the foster manages to feed the dogs and get

them wrapped up for the night. be able to get some shuteye has so for an hour or 2 it's a routine hannah has practiced dozens of times we rested 2 hours. on the thrill it's not. a lot of snow but it. is a lot of. almost 2 hours later ben also reaches the 1st checkpoint with some bad news. one of his best stall sprained his shoulder after stepping into a hole. if more than 8 of the 14 strong failed to finish the race it's game over and the early loss of you is a bit of a setback for ben. unfortunately you have all the other teams breaking which creates do that. and then you have

a dilemma. if you want to help the dog lots of braids but then get the portrayal for. whatever. i do for. 10 minutes later ben sets out again from the checkpoint he prefers to catch a couple of hours now in his sleeping bag out on the trail away from the hustle and bustle of the help as cam. takes a more look surest option and is able to get 2 hours sleep thanks to a family's camper van being parked at each check point. working. but she has no time to chat nothing can stand in the way of her hopefully finishing 1st as her boyfriend. well. she goes in the. thing they're going for the race. through the checkpoint routine just thinking about what's. what you're going to do. ban one

hand i now have 2 long stages ahead of them totaling 223 kilometers the route takes them along a river by the finnish border daytime temperatures are already below 0 celsius as the dogs plow their way through the soft snow. it's now been 48 hours since the sought in altitude. at 330 in the afternoon then reaches the checkpoint in left. over the past 48 hours histones have each burned up $24000.00 calories now they have to eat as much as possible before they get tired. then barely has time to sneak. a little over 3 hours on the slide you come close to falling off. but it's ok when

they're constantly focused on the dogs it's something you chose to do and it's fun it's like a journey into yourself. and ben is not the only one showing signs of wear from the past 48 hours ruby his lead dog has picked up an injury this is how you can cool the area and you try to massage upwards towards the heart mark you want to argue on sure or no but when you remove the ice don't spend too much time massaging or you need to get some rest and sleep and the dogs to turn off. the fin macrae says a monumental test and beast unlike. thank you need the human. this is the most important dog that's the brain of the team this team's it'll be interesting to see if it works. while ben gets

a much needed if brief bit of rest hannah gets ready to get back on the trail. but surely racing at night is even more demanding for the musher. the difference between driving the night. is a bit easier to stay awake when it's light when i'm on the slide i fall asleep pretty often not long at a time. try to stay awake. but. dogs enjoy running to my bed you get older and there are more awake. today they enjoy it. shortly afterwards the snow fall starts to get heavier.

i haven't slept a wink. i lay down in my bed seeing these wild images all i could think about was her. and now we have this weather coming up there is always going to be a pretty tough stage over the mountain. your believe me is a bit over. yeah i think that's it. for.

tonight heading up into the mountains. no no mercy then there's the deep snow it was slowing down the sleds 2 teams have already had to give up. but the talk certainly need no pushing the mushers wouldn't need to use whips and reins even if they were allowed the animals tend to dictate the pace because halak can testify but now it's time for her 14 hour break. dogs are stormed. and i'm getting tired. slowly through from the worm. the hard work starts. and then they embark on a 20 hour trek north east during which can or is able to overtake some granny feels she's already moved up from 20th on the starting grid to 8 less than 2 hours behind the race leader bennett struggling some way behind a further 5 hours down. 4 days into the race hannah

speeds in close to the russian border she's already covered 600 kilometers but this is only around the half way point. as always there's no time to daughter. also having to keep an eye on all the dogs. were. prepared for. the one. so we leaving as well ok her mouth about for a trick or 30 well but he's not even that well. he. eats but not well ok which one we should all rip out of them good luck one being. that would be ok. the veterinarian this received and the token payment for their assistance but for such a trout's money making the trip from the us it's worth it is very aware of the case

to be unlike the race and this is a marathon not a one or 2 day issue so she's very much on top of it and i think are timeless incredibly good. for the burger or caesar salad both are you know. she needs meat and fat so. up until now i've given my dogs a lot of rest. and i see that my team is is moving faster down the trail a band a team there from the me we have more dogs i have one dogs in my team then the people in front of me and it's still a long way to the finish line. to go over the no wonder you're quicker you're a lot lighter this your team is faster up building your little pin on the. last was a very windy oh yes a lot of headwind on the side i couldn't keep the slide steady. it's not

easy but you only took 4 hours and 58 minutes i was shown to. have boyfriends mathias also wants to hear updates. i thought morning not to the last mountain i even had to slow them down so i'm kind of. mad to put on the brakes. they don't look too bad it's going really well. not so the case with bet he's way off the pace and now stuck with his dunks of the night in check points he has now covered almost 2 thirds of the race distance but of his 14 dogs only 6 are fit to continue the absolute minimum. with a heavy heart he makes a heartbreaking decision. we wanted to set out

1st thing this morning they were not here but it turned out that 3 of the dogs had swollen like this one of them. had one of the basically we reached the limit for the number of dogs required. that we didn't achieve the goal that we've been working for all year. with animals involved you never know and you just have to accept things and try better next time. as a series when as often as once you've got the bug you have to carry on. you have to be better prepared in the future and maybe get a bit of good luck to. be sure we had on beetle. it's that way. ben was one of 10 competitors who had to drop out. ahead of hannah and her team is one of the longest and most challenging but also

most prestigious stages of the finn mark race from here they only have 250 kilometers to the finish hanna has overtaken another 2 teams and is now in 6th place it's close to half a meter of snow that we have to go through 'd and my dogs have been. running in that deep snow for around 9 hours 10 hours. working and running and kicking. coming down from the mountain i call my mom and. my guy i'm there maybe half an hour to a checkpoint and i can get ready. really really bad news and my 1st thought was ok maybe a dog has died or something like that. on march the 12th everything changed in

norway even here in the isolated north of the country due to the spread of the corona virus the film mark grace has had to be called off immediately. a shock for all involved you know we are going on. the prime minister and. said everything you have to. do to quit. it's dreadful news for tina a little to her daughter has got just a few hours' sleep over the last few days trina is worried that a weakened hannah will be devastated by the development. and i just cried all the way into the checkpoint and once we got into a checkpoint everybody was there and it would just place. weird atmosphere.

and cool and the hannah stream of the place on the windows podium. i feel really bad for she was looking forward to this race course she's been using a whole year training for this race it's obvious a lot of time. i know we would have a good finish. and i wanted to prove myself that i could do the race like this and i wanted to prove to everyone else that i could do well in a race like this and even though i know i did a good race i don't feel like i proved it because you never really finished.

2 days later hannah is but. i don't really think it has sunk and i think my body is like still in shock a little bit because we've been carrying and thinking about this race for 2 years and then we were finally doing it and it. was going very well. and it's just like it's just taking you know taken away from you and that is very hard for. for me and my body and my brain to process. reckons the race could have continued due to the remoteness of the route but by late summer. dogs were hoaxed back up and raring to go again and hopefully in 2021 hannah and her team will get another chance to get a full kill rate. of

. the christmas season is coming to him in this league and everything is almost done to. try him on mimes doesn't stand a chance don't miss the game most. compliment this start winning whimpering. and there's just no way to shock as much. because.

this is news coming to you live from. election rallies with the balance of power in washington at stake joe biden tells voters in the state of georgia the country's course generation by electing 2 democrats to the senate and repeating unfounded claims urges what he calls a republican victory so the democrats can. also coming up british prime minister of

. england back into a whore.