2007/2008
Race Schedule
A
Little Race History....
2007
Chugiak 36
Chugiak 36 is a fun race that is run on the home trails
right in and around Beach Lake. I wanted to be one of the
first teams out of the chute since last year we had some
problems passing some teams that were just out to see if
they really could run 36 miles. You can only run 10 dogs
and you can go with an empty sled and most of the speedy
sprint teams stay home since 36 miles is just to far for
them.
My guys were still in excellent shape from their outstanding
performance in the Yukon Quest 300. I kept everybody under
control and stopped twice in the first seven miles to keep
the speed up. When we dropped down to Clunie Lake I saw
that the team behind us was actually catching us. I knew
that the only teams that could keep up with my guys in Chugiak
were all running in the Iditarod so I was a little surprised
to have some competition. I called the team up and they
all leaned into the harness by the end of the lake run we
had just about caught the team ahead of us and put a nice
gap on the team that I’m sure thought were going to
pass us. We followed the team ahead of us and I looked for
a good spot to pass but they were moving nicely and my guys
were drafting on them. Where we hit the halfway point there
is a bit of trail confusion but my team new right where
to go (home field advantage) and the guys in front tried
to take a right and we used the delay to shoot right by.
I thought we were in there and cruising when a loose dog
its owner was down on the lake ran right in to my team and
got us slightly off course for only a short time maybe 30
seconds. When we dropped on the inlet I saw no sign of the
other teams behind me and sighed a little relief (would
we win our first race). We did the rest of the run with
the team just moving with smooth power.
As we crossed the finish line I knew that the teams behind
me had to finish at least the amount of time behind that
they started. Every team started in 2 minute intervals so
just because you are the first one back does not mean that
you actually win. I anxiously waited for the rest of the
teams to come in. I got the team unharnessed and a nice
snack to enjoy before the team that started behind me showed
up. It seemed longer than 2 minutes but according to the
timer they got us by 20 seconds. That is fine we did our
best and just came up a little short. We did have the fastest
time around the lake where I saw we were getting caught
and won a bucket of Caribou Creek fat blend (mmm fat) for
our effort.
2007 YUKON QUEST 300
The Yukon Quest Race Officials created a race
in 2000 to provide another qualifying race opportunity for
mushers who wanted to enter the Yukon Quest International
Sled Dog Race and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. This
race, now called the Yukon Quest 300, in recognition of
the trail distance, gives mushers an opportunity to sample
part of the Yukon Quest Trail under real time and race conditions.
It is also becoming popular as a training race for experienced
mushers while retaining it's original intent of providing
a quality learning environment for beginning long-distance
mushers. I completed the 2007 Yukon 300 race in 6th place.
2006 KNIK 200
The next race, the first for 2006 was the Knik
200 from Knik to Skwentna and back. This was an interesting
test for the young team. I should mention the majority of
the team was yearlings last year so they were not exposed
to a lot of conditions. One part of my training that I had
neglected was running on rivers. I thought it would be easier
than running in the hills which it probably is physically
but mentally running on the Yetna River with its many different
trails can confuse dogs not used to it. It took about 50
miles before my leaders realized the hard packed trail was
the best way to go of course there was a driving snow storm
that made seeing that trail pretty rough.
We again stuck to a very conservative run schedule to try
and get as many dogs to finish as possible. We took a 5
hour break on the way up and on the way back. We arrived
at Skwentna at the back of the pack since a lot of teams
did not stop or took shorter breaks than we did. I put the
team to bed and I went in the road house where Lynda Plettner
was in pain with an obstructed intestine that required emergency
surgery. After the mandatory 8 hour rest we headed back
to Knik. The run back was pretty good until we hit the Iditarod
trail off of Flathorn Lake. It seemed like the markers had
been knocked over or not marked as well in the incoming
direction.
Jag my leader at the time was just flying and I should of
taken him out of lead because although his is fast he couldn’t
follow a trail of rib eye steaks much less the extremely
complex trail system around Knik. I was using this race
figuring it would be marked as my initiation to the trails
around Knik. I had avoided them since poor snow and icy
conditions would most likely result in a dog injury. The
snow for this race was great and I now know the way to Skwentna.
The rest of the race was relatively smooth although the
team probably did an extra 20 miles. I got them to the finish
and they all made it.
2005 SHEEP MOUNTAIN
150
I started with the Sheep
Mountain 150 not an Iditarod qualifier but a great early
season race that gives the dogs some race experience (and
me) but with the hills, still a good test.
The race did not have a very good start for me as we were
running along the Glenn Hwy and the sled busted through
the ice and I had to turn the sled on its side to gain control
as the team was in a frenzy to just fly down the trail.
With a young team the main goal is to keep the speed down
and conserve their energy of course this is as easy as catching
a bullet. So my plan was, to stop every 15 or 20 minutes
and give the dogs 30 seconds to a minute to eat snow go
to the bathroom or have a snack on the trail and most importantly
conserve the teams energy since the plan was to get everyone
to the finish line. Even with my slow pace I passed a few
teams and thought we wouldn’t be in last place anyway.
Most of the race was uneventful as the team remained steady
and I was doing all I could to keep them happy. Until about
halfway through the last 50 miles the team just slowed down
to a crawl. The fact that they didn’t rest or eat
enough during the layovers was catching up with them. Of
course at this point I was at the back of the pack since
most the teams we had passed ended up scratching from the
race. After I got passed by Karen Ramstead I knew something
was wrong so I stopped the team fired up my cooker and fed
and watered them, they also got to lay down for an hour
as I prepared everything for them. After a rest and refuel
the team was back up to speed and we finished stronger than
I would have believed. I am looking forward to doing this
race again I really liked going over Bellangers Pass.
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