They’re off! Allen and Aliy both had nice clean starts at the Sheep Mountain 150 Sled Dog Race! We arrived at Sheep Mountain Lodge this morning with plenty of time to do careful preparation for the race, but with two 12-dog teams going out only two minutes apart we were … Read More
This is Kennel Mom, Aliy’s mother, adding to the blog from a slightly different perspective. Aliy’s dad, Doug, and I will be watching the Sheep Mountain Sled Dog Race this weekend on our computer in Florida. It is always a bit challenging to get the whole picture from afar, so … Read More
“Big Red” — as Aliy and Allen affectionately call the big Kennel truck — is all loaded up with sleds, lines, harnesses, food and an amazing assortment of other gear. It’s got everything they will need for The Sheep Mountain 150 Sled Dog Race this weekend. Everything, that is, except … Read More
(Note: This post is by Aliy… As she was rushing out the door to go on her daily 50 mile training run, she handed me the text and asked me to post it for her. — Macgellan) As always, “We’ve got a lot to do!” — this is our mantra … Read More
Change of Plans Allen was released from the hospital and arrived back home at about 4am this morning. He was diagnosed with a severe case of bronchitis and will be on medications and bed rest for several days. As we said earlier, and is now Aliy’s mantra, “This race really … Read More
“A Race that Wasn’t Meant to Be” – Aliy Zirkle About 50 miles into the YQ 300, Allen became quite sick and was driven to the hospital emergency room in Fairbanks. Fortunately, Allen and Aliy had been running together at the time. When they stopped to rest at Valley Center, … Read More
Through North Pole Dog Drop Both Aliy and Allen have passed through the North Pole Dog Drop, 33 miles down the trail from Fairbanks. I didn’t get an exact time that they went through, however it was right around 8:40pm. All of the teams passed through the checkpoint within a … Read More
THEY’RE OFF! The Yukon Quest 300 started on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks one hour ago. Aliy departed in the first position at 5 PM AST. Allen followed, in 7th position, 12 minutes later. A total of 9 teams started the race under crystal clear skies with temperatures hovering … Read More
PRE RACE UPDATE The Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race began this morning, leaving Fairbanks at a pleasant -25 degrees below zero, on a 1000 mile trek through the mail trails of Gold Rush Alaska and Yukon Territory to finish in Whitehorse, Canada. Twenty four teams will be competing in … Read More
With the Yukon Quest and the Yukon Quest 300 in the immediate future, Two Rivers and Interior Alaska plunges into a week of 40 to 50 below temperatures. Reports from near Circle and Central, Alaska (checkpoints on both races) are -65 below zero on the river. Randy Chappel arrived in … Read More
