Races
Racing Alaskan Huskies
2006/07
We started with the WYCOLO race and finished 2nd. We finished 12 minutes behind the leader the first day and it snowed 6" that night and we finished in first the second day by 8 minutes.
Seeley Lake 200. To date I learned more from my mistakes in this race than anyother. I let them run to fast on the first leg, I dropped to uninjured dogs on the second and put the wrong leaders up front on the final leg. Although I still finished well, considering the competition, the value was in the knowledge gained by its completion not the finishing position.
Race to the Sky. This race went much better than the Seeley 200. I went in with a very conservative plan hoping to land the top 5. It went exactly as planned without ever pushing the dogs. I switched leaders out often, developing a few in the process and we finished in 3rd, just 1 hr behind the winner. After finishing this race I had 100% confidence in my newly developed racing techniques and was ready to put them to the test the following year.
2005/06
First race for the kennel was a 32 mile each day for 2 days sprint race in Wyoming, WYCOLO mid-distance race. We were not sure what to expect but I brought the top 12, we only had 15, and I stood on the break too much the first day and the second day we flew. We took 3rd overall averaging just over 13 mph. My competitors were very impressed with the new guy and had many compliments. We were quite pleased.
Our second race was a much bigger step. We headed for Montana and ran the 350 mile Race to The Sky. We were like deer in the headlights. I glued myself to John Barron and Rick Larson. I told my handler to do what ever Kathy Barron did and camp me as close to them as possible. The goal was top 10. Much to our surprise we were posting the fastest trail times or just minutes under the fastest. We were taking longer rests at the checkpoints but kept coming into the next checkpoint in 3rd position. As we were coming down Huckleberry pass in 3rd place I was amazed that we could finish 3rd out of 26 in our first big race, I was quite overwhelmed and that is when I learned a valuable lesson. During my celebrations I missed a critical turn and went 18 miles out our way. After some crude trail finding we finished in 7th place meeting our goal and learning lots from our competitors and our own mistakes.