Here are some quick pics from the start line! First out of the chute was Spencer and his Red & Black Team.
Aliy followed with her Red Team
In a late change, Allen had Kodiak and Scout lead his Black team out.
They are now on the trail to Chistochina checkpoint and so are we so we’ll get you more as soon as possible!
You will notice a decidedly youthful appearance in the teams this year! A number of our experienced dogs are no longer racing for SP which makes the talent pool somewhat younger.
Allen’s Black Team is being led out by Quito and Scout with Izzy and Chica in swing, followed by Kodiak and Olivia, Schmoe and Scooter, Willie and Nelson with Sissy and Felix in wheel.
Copper Basin veterans Quito and Scout lead the Black Team
Aliy has Junior and Scruggs leading out her Red Team with Waylon and Boondocks in swing, Clyde and Chemo, the two big lads Mismo and Mac, Outlaw and Dutch with Biscuit and his son Pepe in wheel.
Copper Basin Rookie Junior and her Uncle Scruggs lead the Red Team
Spencer has a very young team. It was very consciously decided he would have a large number of yearlings in the team and race with a very conservative race plan. He has Lester and Viper in lead, Beemer and Commando in swing, Chena and Torch, Tinder and Puppet, Driver and Nomex, and Violet and Sandy in wheel.
Trusty Lester and Viper lead the youngsters in the Red & Black Team
There are some great dogs still at home; many of whom could have very easily made the teams. Some of the decisions were difficult to make, especially for the Red and Black Team.
Some are simply sitting this race out or if someone wasn’t 100% fit they weren’t picked, keeping in mind we are still early in the season. In some cases the decision was made simply by who looked better in the last week leading up to the race. Had the race been a week earlier or later the teams would likely have looked a little different. We understand the sponsors and fans of the dogs who didn’t make the teams will be disappointed but, of course, there are still some races to come this season and, as far as the two year olds and yearlings go, they have a long career ahead of them with plenty more opportunities!
Meghan will care for everyone at home and will be running the trails while the race is on. Thanks Meghan!
Check out the Race Roster page for more information about each dog.
Our latest winner of the Dog Fan Club draw is Val from Washington State.
Val is a fan of CLYDE who is down with us in Glennallen and will run on Aliy’s Red Team in the Copper Basin starting tomorrow.
Clyde is a superstar; he finished the Iditarod as a 17 month old in 2013 and won the Yukon Quest and was second in the Iditarod in 2014! He is also the proud Papa of the latest litter of SP puppies.
Val wins a 2014 Copper Basin race poster signed by Aliy and Allen along with a few other goodies.
Thanks to all our Dog Fan Club members! The next Dog Fan Club winner will be announced on January 23th and everyone who hasn’t already won and all new members will be in the draw to win.
Click the button below for instructions on how to join:
Click this button below to take you directly to the Dog Fan Page.
The team is now in Glennallen after the hike down the Richardson Highway. First stop was to hand over all our drop bags to the volunteers who will take them to the checkpoints and have them ready and waiting when the mushers arrive.
Sourdough drop bags ready to go
The dogs then had their veterinarian checks to ensure they are fit and healthy enough to run the race. This is an important part of the race and the volunteer vet squad do a great job both at the pre-race check and throughout the race.
Clyde has his vet check while Tinder has a few suggestions for the vet
The mushers then checked in in at Race Headquarters where they register their attendance and also get the dogs’ rabies and other vaccination paperwork signed-off. They also autographed some posters for race sponsors – it is a particularly fine poster this year!
This year’s race poster – Aliy’s Red Team from 2014 (unconventional harness system and all!)
This evening we will attend the mushers/handlers meeting and in between all this we “drop” the dogs from the truck (of course we don’t actually “drop” them, they are very carefully lifted in and out of the trucks) to feed them, let them relieve themselves and also to salve their feet and rub them down. They’ll get a good night’s rest.
Tomorrow morning will start early with a feed for the dogs and humans then the race kicks off at 10am. Spencer is the first of our mushers to leave at approximately 10.52 with Aliy at approx 11.04 with Allen just four minutes behind her (timing to be confirmed once the final entrant list is complete, there have been some late withdrawals which may affect the start times at little).
The handler crew is Ray, Moira, Mark and Joanna and we will do a little mixing and matching with two trucks following three teams.
We’ll post the final team rosters in the morning.
Remember to check back frequently with the CB300 website and Facebook page for updates throughout the race.
The Copper Basin 300 Sled Dog race starts on Saturday January 10th in Glennallen, Alaska.
SP Kennel considers CB300 a “true test” of our season of training, the dogs’ fitness and a musher’s savvy. We’ve had some excellent results in this race in the past, but also some not-so-excellent ones. The race field is a strong one so it should be a heck of a race.
The CB300 is known for it’s mountainous terrain, rugged trail conditions and, often times, large amounts of snowfall and bitter cold. The forecast for this weekend is fairly mild but but you just never know and you need to be prepared for changing conditions! From year to year, the race route and the conditions vary – which makes the CB300 unpredictable. This year we go through a new checkpoint – Mendeltna Creek Lodge – so that will be a fresh challenge.
We are very excited to have three teams in the event: Allen, Aliy and Spencer with their respective 12 dog teams. The exact team rosters will be posted on Friday evening or Saturday morning. There will be some difficult decisions to make between now and then, we’re always sorry to leave behind any dog!
The CB300 website will have a leader board and keep an eye on their Facebook page also. Updates will be challenging due to limited cell phone service and/or internet coverage at some checkpoints.
Lastly, SP Kennel will do our best to update the doglog. Moira is back and will be handling and updating when she can. Macgellan will post some data analysis and run versus rest time statistics as he has done for the last few years. We all find this analysis interesting and useful!
LET’S GO!
Every season we make an order for a new batch of booties from Kipmik Products and this week they arrived!
You’ve all heard us talk many times about the importance of booties and that we can go through thousands each season. Well, now the booties arrived we start the task of sorting them into sets of four ready for packing into drop bags for the Copper Basin 300, The Yukon Quest and the Iditarod.
A pile of new booties; sorted into sets of four
ChaCha models the new booties
VIP Kennel sponsor Paula Medlin sponsored our Iditarod booties this season, thanks Paula!
Spencer finished the Soltice 100 early this morning with Red & Black team of youngsters.
Here is a comment by Race Manger, Abbie West:
“Spence Egbert came in early this morning at 3:34 to a lonely checkpoint of one, me! Then he turned around and mushed back to SP kennel! This was his plan, the whole time. Musher and dogs were very happy as they mushed off into the Northern Lights on the horizon. Awesome ending, for an awesome race!”
We are very pleased with the team’s completion of this race. They had to pass directly by the kennel (about 100 yards from their dog houses or warm cozy cabin) at Mile 6 and Mile 90. The race was not easy considering the circuitous neighborhood route and the cooler temperatures. The half way 4 hour camp spot was zero degrees Fahrenheit. But, the farther west the teams raced during the second half, the colder it got. The temperature on the Chena River Slough was 22 below zero late last night.
The young team getting ready to race; A view from the driver’s seat.
This race was a significant milestone for the Yearlings: Champ, Tinder, Nomex, Chena, Daisy, Violet, Commando and Torch. Also congrats to Driver and Sandy. Lester, Viper and Spencer managed to keep the team in line.
CONGRATS!!
