SPK Dog Log

This evening was the Meet the Musher event at the Alpine Lodge in Fairbanks.

A steady flow of fans, family and supporters got the mushers to autograph posters, T-shirts and postcards and got photos a-plenty.

It’s a great event for the public to meet some of their favorites – and it’s the first time some of the mushers get to talk to each other since the start nearly two weeks ago.

Ed Hopkins (3rd), Brent Sass (1st) and Allen (2nd) were sitting next to each other so I asked for a photo. This is what I got!

I got a serious one also…

Congratulations to Marilyn Cozzens from New Mexico and COAL for winning this week’s Dog Fan Club draw. Marilyn is a fan of many of our dogs, as well as dog sponsor for Tinder.

Marilyn wins a Yukon Quest poster and patch and some other goodies.

Coal, one of the fire litter, is quite the ‘big dog’ now. He lives next to his brothers Tinder and Hotshot and they are in the rowdy end of the dog yard!

Coal ran the Two Rivers 50 at the start of the season with Aliy and many of his siblings. We’re looking forward to watching him develop into a big, strong, SP Kennel team dog!

Thanks to all our Dog Fan Club members! The next Dog Fan Club winner will be announced on March 5th and everyone who hasn’t already won and all new members will be in the draw to win. Note: those of you who have already won but are fan club members of multiple dogs are still in the draw for the dogs you have not won with.

Click the button below for instructions on how to join:

Click this button below to take you directly to the Dog Fan Page.

Follow Aliy and the SP Kennel Red Team on their YQ300 journey.

The team crossed the line at six minutes past midnight on Tuesday, February 17 with a total time of 9 days, 14 hours, 6 minutes.

I’ll make a compilation video soon, keep an eye out for that.

All is quiet here at the kennel this morning. It’s a warm 30F and the dogs are stretched out on their houses or on the cool snow enjoying the warmth of the sun. The humans are relaxing also. I’m not sure we’ll hear too much from Allen today.

Last night was exciting huh?

After watching Brent and his fantastic team cross the line, the crew had just over an hour to wait before we got to see our team coming down the river. We heard them coming before we saw them as there were so many people lining the river and the supporters around the bend started cheering when they saw them. It was a thrilling moment to watch the headlamp come closer then to see the dogs loping and trotting with wagging tails and animated expressions. What a nice sight! And so nice to be able to get our hands on the dogs! Since Dawson the handler crew has had to be “hands off” at checkpoints and that’s difficult when dogs you see every day wonder why you aren’t petting them, so we enjoyed giving our friends some love.

As soon as they crossed the line the dogs wolfed down their steaks and Allen spent time thanking each dog before talking to the crowd and media. The Quest Facebook page has a good video of the team crossing the line and Allen’s interview with Marty Steury, the YQ Executive Director – Alaska. One of the questions Allen was asked was “What happened between Two Rivers and Fairbanks?” Turns out, with so many trails in our neighborhood that lead to our kennel, the dogs got a bit confused about where they were going so Allen needed to coach them a bit through it. Once they got past, it was all good again and they were on their way but not before Brent had gotten past them.

A nice touch was as both teams cross the finish line the church bells rang out, I believe in tribute for George Attla who recently passed away.

Allen was amazed at the number of people out on the trails cheering the teams on, from the Two Rivers checkpoint, along Chena Hot Springs Road and at the Pleasant Valley Store then along the Chena River near the end and at the finish line. He said that is so good for the race and hopes it keeps getting bigger and bigger every year!

We’ll have more soon.

What a day! We are so happy to have the team home, safe and sound, and so proud of Allen, Quito, Scout, Izzy, Chica, Sissy, Schmoe, Mac, Waylon, Chemo, Outlaw, Scooter, Nacho, Willie and Clyde. They really made a race of it at the end and gave us all an exciting finish.

Congratulations to Brent Sass and team Wild and Free! It was an extraordinary race!

Remember this picture from the start, way back almost ten days ago? What a lot has happened since then.

We’ll update you with pictures and stories tomorrow and for the days to come but right now we are sending everyone to bed. In the meantime, check out the Yukon Quest Website, the Fairbanks Daily Newsminer and the Whitehorse Daily Star, who have been following the race plus other media outlets such as Emily Schwing’s reports for KUAC and others.

Thank you so much for your support! We appreciate you and we’re happy you came on this journey with us.

Part of the leaving routine for a longer stop is to walk the dogs around and stretch them out. This also serves to activate bladders and bowels so they don’t have to stop as much while leaving. Allen took each dog for a quiet walk around while we all looked on.

Then, after booting and dressing the dogs and making some line-up changes there were a few moments when it was just Allen and Brent and their teams. They exchanged handshakes and some quiet words. These two guys know each other well and respect each other a lot. In fact both crews, SPK and Wild and Free, have great respect for each other so there was certainly no adversarial atmosphere as the teams were preparing to leave.

I captured the team leaving the checkpoint. (It was a real luxury to have some action during daylight! Most of what I have has been in the dark.) You will see just how close the two teams were – as the Black Team pulled out, the Wild and Free team was ready to rock and roll.

While watching the video, check out how light Allen’s sled is!

As always, there are some great pictures of the team leaving the checkpoint on the Yukon Quest Facebook Page. They really are a talented bunch!

Say it with me: “GO TEAM!!!”

Allen and the SP Kennel Black Team, and Brent and the Wild and Free Team left Two Rivers checkpoint right on time, within two minutes of each other. The final leg is 73 miles to downtown Fairbanks. Two tough mushers, two extraordinary teams, two measly minutes. How exciting is that? This is really going to be a sprint to the finish with neither musher nor team giving an inch.

Allen left with 11 team mates on the line and Quito in single lead. He left Chemo and Outlaw with us. Chemo was nursing a tender triceps muscle and he is better to rest than push. Outlaw had been perfect but coming into the checkpoint, perhaps even going down the very last hill, he hurt his bicep/shoulder and is now back at the kennel with us. Both dogs made a huge contribution to the team effort and Allen was sorry to not have them for the final leg.

Chemo and Outlaw finish their race in Two Rivers

Both teams looked fired up as they left the checkpoint. Allen has run his team on this trail a few times leading up to the race, in anticipation of this very scenario. The dogs know that raw steaks and the cozy dog truck are waiting for them. Will that give them an advantage? I guess we’ll know soon enough.

Whatever the outcome later this evening we are so proud of the team and thank you for your support during the race. We will leave the kennel a couple of hours before they are due to finish to set up ready to greet them. Keep an eye on the Yukon Quest Facebook page and website for up to the minute news.

How’s that ‘refresh finger’ doing?

GO TEAM!!!

Pics and video to follow shortly.