SPK Dog Log

Congrats to the yearlings on a successful first race!

Howdy, folks, Meghan here. As the excitement from the Copper Basin begins to settle, I thought I’d take a moment to recap what a fantastic job the yearlings did on their first race, the Solstice 50, last week. After training alongside the adult dogs all season, the seven yearlings – Clyde, Nelson, Felix, Pepe, Izzy, Outlaw and Mismo – had the opportunity to show off their hard work. The youngsters were led by a stellar quartet of adults – Scout, Kipper, Waylon and Spicy. One additional adult, Tug, ran in wheel to “keep the peace,” and round out the team. Tug ran alongside Mismo (who is, incidentally, approximately twice her size). Thanks, Tug!

Getting the team hooked up at the starting line was, as expected, a bit hectic. The yearlings were beside themselves with excitement. Other teams taking off, folks walking around taking photos… what’s a young sled dog to do?! In their enthusiasm, Nelson broke his harness (not chewed, but actually broke, from pulling), Clyde broke the metal snap holding him at the truck, and the five yearlings on the other side of the truck actually bent the metal bar that held their picket line! These guys were amped, to say the least. I love their energy, and I love it even more when their energies are all pointed in the same direction.

Once we took off from the starting line, we had a pretty smooth run. The team was presented with obstacles that the yearlings haven’t had much experience with yet – going through river overflow, passing snow machines, and passing lots of teams (as well as occasionally being passed). They all did outstandingly well. I was particularly impressed with Pepe and Nelson, who were so focused and kept a smooth lope the entire run. Izzy, who is traditionally one of the more playful yearlings, really stepped up as well. On training runs, she likes to pick up anything she can find on the trail – sticks, ice chunks, lost booties… But she was all business on race day. Way to go, Izzy!

Photo by Julien Schroder

We completed the race in 5 hours, 22 minutes. This included two snack/love breaks, and several “mini-stops” to sort out minor tangles, remove frozen booties, etc. Everyone finished the race happy and healthy. What an honor it was to accompany such a fine group of youngsters on their first race. Undoubtedly, they all have long, distinguished race careers ahead of them! Go pups!

John Thain, a reporter from KTVA Alaska, was following the Copper Basin 300 this year – check out this great story he posted!

He was able to get out to places on the trail most of us couldn’t so you can see some great shots of the teams and the conditions they were facing. Isn’t it awesome to get coverage like this for our sport!

Click on the image to link to the story.

Our champion team arrived home to the kennel safely in the wee small hours of Wednesday morning. They’ve rested well overnight and will go on a short “stretch out” run with Allen later today.

Here you can see I.V., Scruggs, Willie and Allen relaxing in their respective houses…

We’re working on a wrap-up video of the race, we’ll get that to you as soon as possible so watch for that, but now the focus shifts to the Yukon Quest with food drops due this weekend the training schedule stepping up another notch. Not long to go now – it’s getting exciting!

We can not safely get to Anchorage today for our flight out to Bethel. Aliy, Meghan and the 14 Kusko 300 dogs are stuck in Two Rivers due to unsafe driving conditions. The cargo has been deemed “too precious” to risk.

We are VERY bummed.

Meghan put an awful lot of extra work into preparing dog airline kennels, Bethel dog camp gear and overall truck and travel equipment. Wendy has been loads of help with last minute items. I’d like to thank them for going out of their way to make the Kusko even possible. Our hectic race schedule has had us all working non stop.

I made this decision late yesterday (1/15). I am not happy about it, but I think it is the correct one considering the freezing rain did not stop until well after midnight. Currently it is 10 degrees and sheets of ice.

I’m sorry to disappoint our race fans, but most of all, our dogs.

Kusko 300 Team Line Up:

1. Beemer
2. Dingle
3. Scout
4. Waylon
5. Viper
6. Ranger
7. Pud
8. Lester
9. Kipper
10. Mac
11. Spoog
12. Moxie
13. Fang
14. Bonita

Here is just a portion of this morning’s Alaska DOT Official Parks Highway Road Conditions:

There is more to come, but here is what you all have been waiting for!

Superstar leaders Olivia and Quito lead the team across the finish line at the 2013 Copper Basin 300.

Coverage of Sourdough, Lake Louise and Tolsona checkpoints will be posted asap.

WOOOHOOOOO!

Videos and more pics as soon as we can.

Allen and the Black Team pulled into the finish line at about 11:22AM this morning. SP Kennel crew are excited with the great finish! We think this race time might set the record for the race, but must wait for the official times to be posted. It was sure lucky bib #5 for both Aliy and Allen this weekend in both their race wins. It’s wonderful to see our race newbies Chemo and IV coming across the line in their first mid distance race! There are some great photos of Allen and his leaders, Quito and Olivia, on the Copper Basin 300 website http://www.cb300.com We’ll have more photos and video from the finish line as soon as the dogs and Allen are made comfortable after their big finish. CONGRATULATIONS BLACK TEAM!

Whether you are at the Copper Basin 300 finish line, in Two Rivers, Afghanistan, or all over the globe … we are waiting for the Black Team to finish!

Fingers and paws crossed!