SPK Dog Log

Overall, our expectations were very high for the Black Team. These twelve dogs were selected to try and win the Copper Basin for SP Kennel. The team did have great energy and speed. However, the front end experience was somewhat lacking. A team needs to be able to confidently pass many other dog teams during a competition with 46 other competitors. This team definitely needs more experience to shine in this area. Once we practice and gain confidence, this team will be fantastic.

The Black Team resting at the Sourdough Checkpoint.

Allen sat down after the race and chatted about his team and how each team member did.

Junior – my expectations for her were very high. She’s a great leader. She was just coming-out of heat which always adds a complication. She was in lead the first run and lots of boys were interested!! We had a few mishaps so I moved her to a different spot. After that she ran great until just after Meiers Lake Checkpoint. We where going down a hill where the trail was very fast and she must have stepped wrong because her bicep became slightly sore. I left her with the handlers at Sourdough Checkpoint. She was happily wagging her tails as she walked away with the Crew.

Chipper – has a great and appropriate name. We named her after a golf club but she’s such a spirited, little dog and she was always “chipper” throughout the race. She left the last checkpoint while jumping, bounding, and twirling. That dog has literally endless energy. I am very happy with her finish. She needs more experience and education in lead and could be a main leader.

Mismo – there were two dogs that I thought were superstars in this team and Mismo was one of them. He was in lead 90% of the race and I can see him doing very well on the Quest team. No matter where you put him in the team, he does well: lead, team or wheel. He just doesn’t really care where I put him, he wants to run. I’m very impressed with Mismo.

Tinder – a young dog. I very seldom bring two year olds to try to win the Copper Basin. But, Tinder was doing so well that we decided to give him a chance. He did well for 3/4 of the race. He may have stepped in hole or on some slick ice near the finish, because he slightly stretched his right leg. He never complained about his leg and was in the team until the finish line. We only noticed his leg the morning after the race. Tinder’s going to be a superstar.

Nelson – another one of the Biscuit pups with a whole lot of extra energy. It seems endless sometimes. He’s been on many of the main teams last year but he seems prone to get a sore wrist when the trails are hard packed. So his wrist started haunting us mid-way and we decided to drop him at the last checkpoint as a precaution. Without Nelson, we slowed down.

Kodiak – was a main leader in the race. But, whenever you have a leader who has never raced on a competitive team as the “main man”, then you need to have patience. He is one of the best dogs at the kennel and is one of the main reasons we finished as high as we did. Kodiak has never any quit in him and is always perky. More than likely, he will be one of the main leaders on the Quest team. That probably says it all.

Mismo, Kodiak and Allen take a nap in the straw.

Schmoe – one of the more mature dogs in the team. He has run all the big races in the past. He’s steady, he eats well, he knows what to do and always does it. You don’t have to worry about all the little things with Schmoe. He’s always working hard in the team. When it gets really, really tough and we’re going up steep hills, he’s always barking and he is able to pep up the team. He’s a great cheerleader to have.

Scooter – is similar to Schmoe and has been on the last three Copper Basin winning teams. She’s another happy, cheerleader. Whenever I stop, everyone close to us will hear that Scooter is ready and wants to GO! You can’t have too many cheerleaders on your team. Scooter’s a great dog that has finished in all the wins that I’ve had.

Outlaw – good, steady dog. He’s not as fast as the race pace was – the racecourse this year was faster than ever. He’s not used to traveling quite that fast. Outlaw is a fantastic 1000 mile dog and not a 300 mile sprint dog – which is what this CB win demanded. So, he got a little tired towards the end, especially when we were going down some hills pretty fast. I carried him in my sled the last 11 miles.

Commando – is definitely an up and coming superstar. He finished Iditarod with me at 17 months old and now at the age of 2 he finished the CB competitively. He never wanted to do anything but race. He always had drive and being this young in a race of this speed means a lot. I’m very proud of Commando. Good boy!

Clyde – Outlaw’s brother and they are similar. He has a little bit more drive and eats a little better. He has raced a lot of 1000 mile races, so he’s a very mature dog for his years and it showed in this race. He’s a little bit slower than the speeds we went. But, like his brother, he always had good drive and helped tremendously to come in 3rd place.

Felix – I thought he was the other superstar standout in this team. If I could have had a team of Mismos and Felixes… it would be a hard team to beat! Felix likes to go fast and lopes most of the time. He did an excellent job. Any musher would love to have Felix on their team.

WOOHOO! How good was that?!

We’re so proud of Allen and his Black Team of Junior, Chipper, Mismo, Tinder, Nelson, Kodiak, Schmoe, Scooter, Outlaw, Commando, Clyde and Felix finishing in 3rd position. And of Aliy and her Red Team of Waylon, Dutch, Scout, Lydia, Willie, Boonie, Chemo, Spark, Scruggs, Nomex, Driver and Sandy finishing closely behind in 4th place.

With the “changing of the guard” that has happened this season, this is a FANTASTIC result for the kennel and we are delighted with how well the younger and more inexperienced team members fared this weekend. They had a steep learning curve and did so well! It bodes very well for the future (and, indeed, the present) of SP Kennel.

We are also over the moon that our “more mature” athletes Scout, Scruggs, Willie, Waylon and Boonie showed they still have it, and can still keep pace with the youngsters!

Congrats also to Matt Hall and Ryne Olson on very well executed races. Two Rivers was certainly well represented in the results. It truly is home to the best mushing in the world – well, we think so anyway.

Thanks to you all for following along with us – what a ride huh? It really makes it special when we know so many of you are right there with us even though we are scattered all around the globe! We appreciate your support.

More details and a wrap-ups to follow but now everyone – dogs, mushers and handlers will be getting some hard earned rest.

Nelson was left with the handler team in Mendentna as he had developed a sore shoulder in the run from Sourdough.

As Allen will be hoping for a very fast final leg he didn’t want to risk turning Nelson’s shoulder into a major injury so he reluctantly left him with Wes, Mark and Chris. Nelson is a hard charging and pulling dog and Allen will notice his absence.

Nelson had been doing such a great job up until that point but he will be back with his team mates in a few short hours. He will get some rest and extra attention for the next little while to recuperate.

Our teams are on the final sprint for the finish! Let’s go!

Matt Hall (2) was first out of the checkpoint at 2.53am followed by Allen (25) 29 minutes later at 3.22am, Ryne (40) six minutes behind him with Aliy (9) three minutes later. You call follow on the GPS tracker here!

The leaderboard is showing Allen left with 10 dogs; at this point we are not sure who he left with the handler team and will let you know as soon as we find out. Aliy left with all 12 of her Red Team team mates.

Right now the handler team will be cleaning up the straw and equipment from the parking spots then will head down the road back to Glennallen where they will set up the trucks to welcome the teams home with a warm meal, some thawed fish and meat snacks (for the dogs!) as well as food and water for the mushers. The finish line is at the Old Path’s Church and I have very fond memories of the slow-cookers full of great chilli as well as cookies and brownie…

Chris, Wes and Mark have done an amazing job to keep up with both teams. Having them running so close together can make for some logistical issues when greeting the teams at checkpoints and getting them out again safely. Well done lads!! They will be looking forward to some rest themselves as I doubt any of them have had much sleep over the last three days.

Now is when we need to unleash the full force of our “distance support team”! Yell as loud and long as you can – if we are loud enough they might just hear us! Let us know in the comments where you are yelling from! Can you hear me from New Zealand?

GO! GO! GO!

With the top teams all in the last checkpoint at Mendeltna, we finally know exactly where they stand:

Matt will leave the checkpoint in just a few minutes, then Allen and Aliy will follow him 29 and 38 minutes later. Their dogs have had an extra hour of rest at the checkpoint, and that may help their improve their speed over the final 50+ miles to the finish line. It’s been a very close race all along, and it should be a nail-biter to the last minute!

Our good friend Ryne will leave the checkpoint in between Allen and Aliy, with an hour’s more rest on her dogs in the checkpoint. She is in excellent position to sprint to victory as well. Nic has saved the most rest time in the final checkpoint (6 hours) and we will have to see how that strategy works out for him. His run time into Mendeltna was about 30-minutes slower than the other four teams, so his dogs will really have to rebound after their longer rest to make up the difference.

Let’s get ready to rumble!

Both teams have just pulled into the last checkpoint at Mendeltna Creek Lodge for their final rest before heading for the finish line in Glennallen. We are excited! But first they must rest…

Here, all teams must see out their remaining rest to finish with a total of 18 hours + time differential.

We’ve seen a number of different rest strategies throughout the race, and as a result leading pack have varying remaining rest requirements from three hours to six hours so it is still anyone’s race.

Allen and the Black Team pulled in at 11.22pm and have a runtime over the 74-ish miles of 7 hours, 54 minutes. The Red Team with Aliy pulled in behind them at 11.31pm with THE EXACT SAME RUN TIME of 7 hours, 54 minutes. We are excited and delighted at how well both teams are tracking at this point especially considering some the relative inexperience on both teams.

During their rest breaks both Allen and Aliy will be ensuring the teams get as much rest as possible and get well hydrated and fed ready for the sprint home. They’ll be massaging muscles and giving their canine team mates lots of loving! Both mushers will be shedding any extra gear in their sleds to travel as lightly as possible. They will carry only the mandatory gear, some canine and human snacks and contingency gear in case of breakdown or other issues.

NOTE: Mandatory items for this race include a cold weather sleeping bag, a 22 inch hand axe, a pair of snowshoes, a three gallon cooker and cooking gear, adequate food for dogs and mushers and at least eight booties for each dog. Mandatory items are checked when teams arrive at a checkpoint and also when they cross the finish line.

Once teams leave this checkpoint it is the only time in the race when the GPS tells the actual story of who is leading. At that point we’ll be calling on you to holler as hard as you can so get ready!

We just heard from the handler team that they have JUNIOR with them in the truck.

Allen decided to leave her behind at Sourdough as she had a sore tricep, and as the leg to Mendenltna is a long one he didn’t want to aggravate it further. With some rest and massage she should be just fine.

Up until that point she had been doing a stellar job and Allen was disappointed she couldn’t continue.

Getting exciting now huh?

Both teams are now on the trail heading towards Mendeltna Creek Lodge checkpoint after six hours rest. This is the longest leg of the race and, as Macgellan said, this is where the fitness and motivation of the dogs and mushers becomes the critical factor.

We understand Allen has dropped one dog but this stage we don’t know who that is. As soon as we find out we’ll let you know. Thanks for your patience as we try to get this information.

This leg skips across a number of lakes including Middle Lake, Fish Lake, Crosswind and Lake Louise before it starts to climb up again, following Lake Louise Road for a time. After that it is down hill to the final checkpoint at the Lodge.

We will hopefully hear from the handler team soon as they drive back through Glennallen to get to the checkpoint. We got a quick text from them saying that the pace of the race is such that they are not getting much rest themselves!

Keep hitting refresh, keep sending good vibes and maybe we could all start yelling now!