Allen is really proud of his team; they gave it their all and he could not ask for anything more. He said he always hopes to give it his all and when that all happens, no matter what place you come in, that all he could ever want. This year in this race it all came together!
QUITO – “There’s no quit in Quito”. She is as good as ever and for the last few seasons has been SP Kennel’s number one dog. She is a true professional and showed it once again in this race. She’s tough, smart and an extraordinarily talented sled dog. She ate snack after and snack after snack which helps her physically.
SCOUT – Allen needed another good leader to put up with Quito and chose Scout and he came through with flying colors. He was always steady, never complaining and got on with his work.
CHICA – at the last checkpoint when the team was getting to ready she was jerking in her harness to go. Allen said he’ll take a dog like that every day! She is very efficient with her sleep; she’s quick to lie down and late up. At one checkpoint she was still lying down at 4 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds and when Allen said “Ready?” she leapt up and took off!
BOONDOCKS – she is a little fireball that does not know she’s little at 36 pounds. As a swing dog her size helped with the water crossing as, if the team doesn’t want to go through it and the musher must pull and encourage the team to cross, it is easier to get a 36lb dog to follow you than a 70lb dog.
Boondocks and Chica
I.V. – she is enthusiastic and the team picks up on that, as the race progressed she even had more enthusiasm! Allen is proud of her loping the last third of the race which helped up keep their speed up.
OLIVIA – is and has been our regular leader but due to her being a little behind in miles Allen kept her closer to the sled so he could monitor her. As the race progressed with her he almost put her in lead but Scout was doing such a great job. She is back to herself and the 300 miles didn’t take any weight off her – she eats well!
NACHO – Allen said he sang the “Nacho, Nacho Man” song. He’s a brother to a Quito and Chica – that whole litter is awesome!
SCHMOE Dog – he was the vocal dog of the group, he got the other dogs energized. He was the cheerleader of the bunch from start to finish – when Allen asked “Are you ready?” he let him know he was ready!
Nacho and Schmoe
WILLIE – Willie normally is always loping and always strong. He suffered a minor injury where he pulled his right tricep a few miles from Lake Louise (Allen thinks he stepped in a hole) but the trooper that he is, he still was pulling up every hill. He gave it his all and Allen was sorry to leave him in Lake Louise.
PUPPET-Dawg – she is as steady as they come and loped the entire 300 miles. She never faltered. Allen and Puppet have a special bond.
BISCUIT – he is one of the oldest racing dogs at SP Kennel and has been on every “A” team for the last seven years. Allen said if we could have 16 dogs like him we would probably would never lose. It was fun to see him running with his son, FELIX, from behind you can’t tell them apart. It is good to see Biscuit, as he is coming out of his prime pass the torch to Felix as he is coming into his. We are happy that we’re going to have a younger Biscuit ~ in Felix ~ to continue the legacy for many more years.
Biscuit and Felix
Allen wants to thank to Zack Steer and his entire team, and especially the trail crew lead by Jamey Kemp for all their hard work. There was monumental amount of work done to the trail with snow conditions the way they were. It had snowed every other day leading up to and during the race and to maintain a 300 mile course took a lot of dedicated people. All the mushers see it and appreciate it.
