Preparation

Doing a lot of running and training of Dallas' Iditarod puppies. Today we did two 40 mile runs. You can follow the race at www.Iditarod.com. Unlike the Yukon Quest, the mushers are resonsible for all their own dogs, etc so we do not drive between checkpoints. That leaves me with time to possibly run a 200 mile race of my own while Dallas is running the Iditarod. This would be my first qualifying race as I work towards running the Iditarod myself.

The Iditarod starts on Saturday March 6th!

On The Road Again...

Today we head back north to Alaska.

When we return, we will begin the final Iditarod training of Dallas' dogs. That race will begin on March 6. You can find info at Iditarod.com. I will be helping out at the start of the race so watch for me when Dallas starts the race.

Yukon Quest Banquet

As part of the race wrap up, we have a musher meet and greet at the hotel. It was mostly for the mushers but we, as handlers, were also invited for the food and socializing. I even had someone interview me for local TV!

At the banquet was a women's olympic team. Not sure what sport. I will have to find out and let you know.

The Finish Line

This morning at 4:53 my musher Dries finished the race in 12th place. He moved up 10 positions. His total time out on the trail was 10 days, 15 hours, and 44 minutes. The dogs looked healthy throughout the race although a couple were dropped for their safety. As Dries left them behind at a checkpoint, I would pick them up and they would then ride with me between checkpoints.

For the next couple days we are staying with a host family here in Canada and enjoying the company of the other mushers. Tonight I am going to the Hot Springs with one of my new musher friends, Emmit Peters. He raced in the 70's and has many interesting stories to tell. On Saturday, we will attend the awards banquet before starting our journey back to Alaska.

On The Road...

The driving in Canada is not fun. The roads aren't very good and most people don't seem to know how to drive. I am driving in a 12 truck caravan from checkpoint to checkpoint. That helps us all stay awake and alert as we drive 2000+ miles in 5 days.

Ice and Fire

Today I learned the real meaning of being cold at -10. My friend Braxton and I were waiting for Dries to come into our checkpoint at Circle City. We decided we wanted to walk down to the Yukon River and look at the trail. It was mostly jumble ice and we ventured out a little ways onto the ice. As we started to make our way back to the bank we heard the worst sound possible. The ice was cracking! We basically had just enough time to realize what was happening when the ice gave way beneath our feet. We both dove forward towards the solid ice, but that ice gave way as we hit it. We were going in! Braxton was able to grab a hard section of ice and only went in half way. I wasn't so lucky. As I fell, I hit my chin on the ice (which probably stopped my head from going under). I hit the water as Braxton tried to pull me up. The current was strong but he eventually got himself out and was able to pull me out of the water as well. Luckily, we were only 200 yards away from the local fire station so we went inside and threw off our gear. They had a nice fire going so we were able to warm up. We are both ok, but THAT was cold!

Yukon Quest

The Yukon Quest begins on Saturday February 6 at 11:00am. You can follow the race at http://www.yukonquest.com

Last night Cory and Dries attended the Yukon Quest banquet and drew starting position #22. Cory will be driving the truck from checkpoint to checkpoint during the race while Dries is running the dogs.

At the banquet Cory shared a table with Lance Mackey! He had a wonderful evening and is looking forward to the beginning of the race on Saturday.

The temperature in Fairbanks now is -35 before windchill. Brrrr...