Races

Countdown to Copper Basin 300

January 7, 2020 by

The second Saturday in January is coming up fast! The Copper Basin 300 kicks off on Saturday, 11th January at 10am local time. It is one of the kennel’s favourite races and we have had great success in this race with Allen being an six-time champion and Aliy having several top five and ten finishes. It has also been a tremendous proving ground for some of our youngsters over the years, canine and human!

This year will be a little different in that only Aliy and her 12 team mates will be racing.

We often talk about how this race is touted as the toughest 300 miles in Alaska. In fact, we reckon it should be a compulsory race for any aspiring Yukon Quest or Iditarod mushers as it traverses some of the most challenging but also the most beautiful parts of the state and is an excellent test of musher and dogs. It is very dark in Alaska in January and very often, extremely cold so it really is a tough 300 miles for mushers, dogs, handlers and volunteers.

The handler crew will be helmed by Karolyn, ably supported by Ryan who, among many other things will be keeping the truck running. Lisa will supply some updates and photos to Moira who will be following along from NZ and updating here and our Facebook page.

Preparations

Aliy has been preparing herself and the team for the last month or two with training trips to the White Mountain to climb some big hills, and work on speed and endurance around the local Two Rivers trails. She still has a big squad to choose from and as the week progresses she will finalise the team line-up and taper their training so they are fit and ready to go at the start line on Saturday. We will let you know the final team decision on Saturday morning.

Final preparations this week will revolve around packing supplies including dog equipment (booties, harnesses, jackets), food (meal sized portions of kibble, meat snacks and human food) and other equipment (spare socks, gloves etc) into the drop bags that will be sent ahead of the teams to the checkpoints. Mushers also send ahead fuel for their cookers so they can make hot meals for the dogs and themselves. Aliy will pack her sled with essentials and mandatory gear (sleeping bag, hand ax, snowshoes, cooker and fuel, food for dogs and musher plus spare booties) and gather her personal clothing and equipment.

Race Route

To mix things up a bit, this year the CB300 is racing clockwise around the route. A reversal from the last few years. The teams will start at two minute intervals on Saturday morning in Glennallen and head 75 miles towards Lake Louise (The Point Lodge), then travel 55 miles to the checkpoint at Sourdough (Sourdough Creek BLM Campsite). Team travel another 40 miles to Meiers Lake (Meiers Lake Roadhouse) and 68 miles to Chistochina (Red Eagle Lodge) with the final leg of 50 miles back to Glennallen (Old Paths Baptist Church).

Total race trail distance from start to finish is approximately 288 miles. All teams must take at least 18 hours of layovers (plus start differential). They have one mandatory layover of six hours plus start differential at any checkpoint. The additional accumulation of 12 hours can be taken at any of the checkpoints in 30 minute increments.

Find out more about the route by visiting the CB300 website. They have a great interactive route map you can zoom in and out on to give you more idea of the terrain and give detailed race route details.

Coverage

We will be covering the race through – as always – an SPK-centric lens and will bring you updates from the trail. Check back with us here often and also on our Facebook page.

For the best overall race updates keep an eye on the CB300 website, especially their current standings page and their Facebook page. Every musher will be tracked by GPS so ensure you have that link bookmarked! It will become live closer to the time.

For the last few years the local Glennallen radio station KCAM has live streamed the start and finish of the race plus giving updates through the weekend and you can tune in on-line. They have really knowledgeable commentators and are great supporters of the race. You can also keep an eye on the weather in the area with this link.

You might also like to support the race directly through their “sponsor a mile” program. It is a well-run and managed race with many great people involved. Thanks to several of you who already have! There is also some supporters gear available to purchase on-line.

We will post again, closer to kick-off with a race roster and updates.

Dogs | Training

When is it too Cold?

January 5, 2020 by

The thermometer read -43ºF on the porch this morning. That usually means that it is even colder in the yard below the house. Ryne Olson – whose kennel is 4 miles to the east – texted me that it was -48ºF at her place. (Glad I don’t live in her neighborhood. Ha!)

Yes… that’s cold, but I know what you’re thinking: “It’s not -50ºF.” Right? Okay… only some of you crazies are thinking that! The question in everyone’s head is: “When is it too cold to go mushing?”

Honestly, I think it would be okay to mush a team right now. If I had to. I would dress them up in warm, puffy jackets, dress them all in booties and carefully place pee pee protectors on all the boys. Most of the SP Kennel dogs have nice husky coats and no one is skinny. So… it can be done. You will see us mushing teams on races at -50ºF. Those of you that followed the 2018 Yukon Quest watched Allen and the dogs win a fantastic race in temperatures averaging -40ºF! My favorite quote from Allen when he was asked ‘How did you stay warm?’ he said: “I endured. I never said that I was warm.”

One thing I worry about is our dogs losing weight while training in cold temperatures. These dogs are athletes. They do not carry much extra fat – they are lean and strong and mostly muscle. They will use extra calories just being outdoors at -40ºF+, so increasing their metabolism and effort by also going on a training run will draw even more calories.

During a race, the dogs (and mushers) are in a unique “running/eating mode”. Their appetites become enormous somewhere about mile 200 or 300 (depending on dog and musher.) At this point it is easy to fill their tanks with calories – over and over. (I saw Allen eat a dozen eggs at the Mile 101 Checkpoint and look for more.) The dogs are in the same mode. Eat. Eat. Eat. Right now, neither dog nor musher are in this mode… yet. They eat what they need right now but not a lot of extra. So we are careful to note how much everyone is eating in relation to how many calories they are burning. And at -40ºF+ – Watch Out – your dogs might just lose weight simply through metabolism.

Also look at the wind chill effect on the temperature. So you said it was only -43ºF this morning? Well what happens when you are trotting your team down the trail at 10mph? Look to the graph on the right. (You now have permission to shiver!)

The other thing I think about is the dogs’ muscles – warming and cooling. Dogs stay warm while running, especially if they have on warm dog coats and other gear. Their normal body temperature is 101ºF and their working muscles and core will become even warmer. But what happens when they get home? They get undressed, stop running and take a nap. Those large shoulder, back and hind end muscles that were just 103ºF (or more) during the training run are now cooling off – rapidly. Unless dogs are dressed in full body jackets, wrapped up in a big pile of cozy straw, sleeping under a fleece toss or snuggled up in a dog barn post run — then they are bound to get some chill in their muscles. Once again, think about this in terms of an athlete. You need to keep those big muscles warm and healthy. We are very conscientious of those during races – especially the Yukon Quest which is often raced in quite cold conditions. The Dawson dog Camp is set up with a #1 Priority: Keep the Dogs Warm and Happy (Sorry Allen you’re #2 😕.)

Every time a dog team stops to rest on a race – whether it be the Copper Basin 300, Yukon Quest or Iditarod – the priority is the dogs’ health and comfort.

This morning, at SP Kennel, we are not harnessing up for a training run. Despite the fact that we really want to be out on the sled runners (especially stretching out the Copper Basin 300 team.) We are not. The benefits do not outweigh the negative possibilities.

Instead we had every one romp around this morning at the kennel. A little fun, socializing and some muscle movement. An easy day, for sure, but at this point we will err on the side of caution. We captured a few of the dogs running around on video until the phone froze… ENJOY!

Dogs | Training

More About Dog Booties

January 2, 2020 by
Champ and Driver are bored waiting while the team gets bootied.

Dog booties are used in order to protect dogs’ paws. They are precautionary. Humans wear hiking boots to hike just like sleds dogs wear booties to run. But dogs don’t wear booties all the time just like human don’t wear hiking boots to walk around the shopping mall. Dogs wear booties when trail conditions warrant their use. They will almost always wear booties on a race because there is less ‘down time’ to stop and check paws (racing is Go Go Go!)

We put booties on dogs for a variety of reasons during training: the cold temperatures, icy trail, moist snow that will ball up in their paws or simply if the training run is long. On short training runs or warm, smooth snow conditions the dogs might not need booties.

Karolyn and Aliy headed out on a long training run last week, so both teams needed boots. In this video, they are nearly completed the bootying process. You’ll notice that not every dog is a cooperative team member. Some of the dogs like to take booties off as quickly as a musher can put them on.

 

Dog Booties are a necessary evil. Perhaps not … evil, but surely a pain in the tush! They cost a lot, they take ‘cold finger effort’ to put on correctly, when they aren’t put on correctly they fall off ASAP (there goes $$$$ scattered down the trail) and they need to be constantly sorted and packed.

We have had a few Booty Elves over the years come to SP Kennel. These good hearted elves show up with booties in tow and they actually sort and pack them. Sometimes the really, really sweet elves go thru the enormous piles of used booties that are drying by the heater in the garage (love that smell!) and re sort them into sets of 4 for future use.

This is the most fun we have ever had when Booty elves came to visit several years ago:

Dogs

Start of the Year Dog Fan Club Draw

December 31, 2019 by

To celebrate the start of the new year we have done a Dog Fan Club Draw!

Congratulations to Susan Stevens-Briody who is a fan of Junior. She wins a packet of SP Kennel M&M’s plus a glam shot of Junior and some other kennel goodies.

Olivia “Junior” is known just as Junior around the kennel. While a girl dog named Junior strikes some folks as odd, she doesn’t seem to mind the title. She is a good-looking, leggy, blue-eyed darling of the kennel. While she runs fast and wins races, she is also one of of SPK’s primary Ambassadors. Junior visits fans, friends and entertains kids and adults alike. She also became a Mother in 2018. Look for Junior to lead our fastest teams this season.

To find out more about our athletes look at the “Dogs” page. To join the Dog Fan Club you can hit the “Become a Dog Fan” tab at the top of the page or click here. We will have a Fan Club Draw twice a month or more during race time and special events. It’s fun. Support your dog or dogs!

Dogs

End of the year Dog Fan Club Draw

December 29, 2019 by

To celebrate the end of the year we have done a Dog Fan Club Draw!

Congratulations to Kim Roberts who is a fan of Chevie. Kim wins a packet of SP Kennel M&M’s plus a glam shot of Chevie and some other kennel goodies.

Chevie is a sassy, strong-willed young lady. She has been running in lead this season with confidence. We are always excited to look down a team of the dogs in front of us and see Chevie’s tall ears, twitching this way and that way, as she navigates the trail.

The trails are in great shape as the year comes to a close. Our cold snap has broken and there is fresh snow. This makes the cushioning better for dog paws and sled runners. During the next 2 weeks there will be some serious training miles in order to choose the Copper Basin 300 team. Good luck to Chevie and all the other racers.

To find out more about our athletes look at the “Dogs” page. To join the Dog Fan Club you can hit the “Become a Dog Fan” tab at the top of the page or click here. We will have a Fan Club Draw twice a month or more during race time and special events. It’s fun. Support your dog or dogs!

Dogs | Sponsors

Passing out Xmas Treats

December 27, 2019 by

SP Kennel dogs have many fans across the globe. Fortunately that these fans are full of Christmas spirit.

We have been passing out special treats for the entire week.

 

Here is a glimpse of Christmas afternoon at SP Kennel.

 

Tig, Ziptie and Scout were not in the yard at the time we took the video but they were NOT neglected!

Dogs

Christmas Elf Winner

December 25, 2019 by

First of all, our Dog Elves would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

… and the winner is…

Nomex is the Best Dressed!

Thank you for joining the fun. We are off to have a fabulous Christmas day at SP Kennel. A special biscuit laced breakfast and then afternoon treats and gifts. We promise to share photos of today’s holidays spirit.

The Dog Elf contest was great fun from the beginning concept to the actual voting.

Here are some outtakes:

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Alaska | Training

Best laid plans…

December 21, 2019 by

Well… you know how it goes. Things work out eventually if you keep plugging away.

We plan optimal training runs for the dogs. Getting them in shape for certain races at the correct time, as well as  keeping them happy and healthy are our highest priorities. Throughout the season, we reach for certain mileage goals at certain dates by gradually stepping up their work load. We also introduce hill conditioning or speed training depending on which races we enter (Copper Basin: very hilly versus Kusko: flat.) We also don’t want to go too fast. We’ve learned that the faster you train, the more injures you sustain. And for us, in distance racing, a moderate steady pace wins. We then will add a couple of ‘camp out’ work outs in order to further the dogs conditioning. This also refines our skills as long distance mushers. This is our general plan for a successful racing season.

But things don’t always go according to the plan. Do they?

This past week we scheduled a trip south to Paxson. We wanted to train for a couple days with Jason Compaeu (fellow YQ and Iditarod musher) just prior to the holidays. It would be lots of hill training in the Alaska Range Mountains and several camp outs. We sorted through race sleds, packed the truck and were ready to roll Wednesday night. We woke early Thursday morning to check the weather before heading south. It didn’t look good. CHANGE OF PLANS!

Cold weather was coming in but we still needed to fit in a long training run. There is always the option of running teams on our local trails. But with the truck packed and a promise to the dogs that we were “heading for some fun in the hills” we decided to head to the White Mountains.

White Mountains means several things in the dog mushing world. White Mountain is the last village on the Iditarod Trail. There is mushing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. But the White Mountains for us is BLM’s National Recreation Area. It is located about 50 miles northwest of SP Kennel.

There are 100 miles of trail that loop through the mountains. It is a common recreation area for Alaskan outdoor enthusiasts. We have trained in the Whites several times already this season and seen many of our neighbors up there as well. The weather forecast was for chilly temperatures but we hoped that there would be a temperature inversion – warmer in the hills, cooler in the valleys. And we hoped to stay in the hills much of the time. There was no forecast for wind.

So after changing plans and sorting through gear, two mushers – Aliy and Allen – and 28 dogs in two trucks headed to the Whites Thursday afternoon.

The route to the White Mountains from SP Kennel is the route used to get to Alaska’s North Slope oilfields – the Elliott Highway to the 400 mile Dalton Highway. Many winter ‘ice roads’ are now open up north so the truck traffic is heavy. The two SP Kennel 4 wheeled rigs were out of place. The biggest plus to this road route is the obligatory food stop at Hilltop restaurant.

We arrived at the parking lot for the Whites Rec Area and the usual popular spot was vacant. The temperature was a balmy -12ºF. It was a gorgeous sunset.

After dressing the dogs in harnesses, jackets and booties, the teams took off. The sky cleared and the temperature dropped a little more and was -20ºF at departure.

The training run went GREAT!

All 28 dogs and two mushers scooted down the trail all night Thursday and into Friday. The inReach tracker map (above) shows the teams’ progression into the mountains, down into Beaver Creek valley and across the creek then back up a southern slope of Cache Mountain.

The temperature along Beaver Creek was very cold (guesstimate by Allen was “COLD!“) The ice fog coming off the heat generated by the dogs made seeing the front of the dog team nearly impossible for a mile.

The turn around point was slightly higher in elevation so the ice fog cleared before we reached Cache Mountain cabin. The cabin’s thermometer showed the temperature at -33ºF. Practically balmy!

The mushers took a 15 minute break to have a hot beverage and grab an unfrozen protein bar out from under several layers of clothing. At this temperatures it is important to not expose too much skin for long.

After a short break and a small meal, the teams were rocking to run again.

Despite the temperature we were able to get a video of the dogs during the break. They are nibbling on dog food in the snow. It’s sometimes better to feed them in the snow at these temperatures than in a metal dish (ouch frozen nose) or a plastic bowl (immediately shattered.) Some things just don’t work correctly in arctic temperatures.

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