Racing Season 2011-2012
March 23,24 2012 TOK RACE OF CHAMPIONS
The caravan of vehicles left on Friday morning for the last race of the season at TOK. I woke up to the alarm clock at 5:30 AM then watered the dogs, loaded my truck, had my cup of coffee and read the newspaper. I loaded all the race dogs, leaving Kimmick and Holly at home because they were lame and I left town at 7:00 AM. I met up with everyone at the Carrs store in Palmer, Kris and her friend Tammy in Kris’ motorhome, Amy in her van hauling a trailer, Kim and Kathy F. riding in Kim’s truck with a trailer…. we all headed EAST. We fueled up in Glenallen, fed the dogs at the Tok cutoff and arrived at our motel in Tok at 3:30 PM. After settling in, we all went over to the clubhouse for the big community pot luck and race draw.
There were 32 people signed up for the 6 dog class and when I went up to draw my starting number out of the container, the ball read “number 30”. I looked at Mike McGown, the race marshal and said “this can’t be right”, he laughed and announced “Bev Stevens is number 30”, I’m at the last of the pack with 6 slow mushers in front of me. Then they announced that it was going to be 2 minute intervals which was so good because I wouldn’t have to pass a lot of teams. Kim, Amy, Kathy F. and Kris with her left over dogs were all in the 6 dog class with me. There were 20 teams in the 8 dog class and 18 in the OPEN, a very big field of racers.
SATURDAY morning, I was up at 5:30 AM to have my coffee, watered the dogs at 6:30 and was at the race track by 7:45. The race started at 9:00 AM, and I needed to get my sled together and organize my equipment before the race. After the race started, it was a LONG wait for me because I was number 30, meaning that I didn’t go out until 10:00. I got to see most of the racers return before I even left the starting chute, their average times being in the 20 minute range. We noticed that Kim Wells was late returning when we saw a loose dog running into the finish line by itself, I recognized it as Kim’s lead dog. It seems that Kim had a bad pass out on the trail and while they were trying to untangle the mess of dogs, Kim’s leader got loose and ran off down the trail. Mike McGown caught the dog and hooked it back up into Kim’s team before the finish line so she could race the next day, The rule is that you must finish with the same dogs that you started the race with. Kim ended up in 30th position with Kris only 1 second behind her.
It seemed like everyone was using borrowed dogs, Amy had one, Kathy F. had 3 dogs from Arleigh and my team consisted of Roxie, Bandit, Dianna, Sparrow and Woody, borrowed from Arleigh and Brownie, a dog from Dori. After taking off from the starting line, I had a good run except for Sparrow and Brownie’s dipping, which disrupted the team’s momentum. Then Bandit had to poop and he held back so that Dianna got tangled in the loose line, so I had to make a quick stop until Dianna got her foot out of the lines. The team seemed to run “flat” without any “piazza”, we crossed the finish line with a time of 17:23 and I ended up in 6th place for the day. There were 6 mushers very close behind me in a 10 second span. I would have to be very careful racing on Sunday and not to make any mistakes or I could easily drop down into 13th position.
That evening we went over to the Tok Lodge where other mushers stay and joined their annual bar-be-que, only bigger this year. They had 6 charcoal grills cooking chicken and steaks and even a fire pit to roast marshmallows. They told the kids to go find firewood to burn and we found out later that they stole the split wood from a house nearby. The chairs were removed from the hotel rooms and many people brought camping chairs, the dressers were brought outside and substituted for tables and the drawers became the shelves. There so so much food available and all kinds of beer and wine to drink. I was awful tired, so I ate and then went back to the motel for some quiet time and a hot shower.
SUNDAY was cooler with a breeze and 1/2 inch of new gritty feeling snow. My sled felt slow, so I changed runners 3 different times and ended up using the same pair from Saturday that hadn’t been re-waxed. All the time wasted changing runners, made me late for getting everything ready to race and before I knew it, it was time to hook up the dogs and go to the starting line. During the race, I was very careful with my sled handling and I bent over behind the sled bag to avoid air resistance as much as I could. I knew that I had to shave 25 or more seconds off my time in order to move up to 5th place and I didn’t want any of the close mushers behind to catch me. The team ran much better today and only had a few times when the borrowed dogs tried to dip snow. I completely the 6 miles in a time of 17:21 which was the 3rd fastest day time. My combined time was 34:42 and only 2 seconds from moving up into 5th place, so I stayed in 6th.
The climax to the fun weekend was Kim and Kris who wore big, plastic “buttocks” during the race. They were only 1 second apart in the 6 dog race and Kris who was going first, wrote on her plastic “behind”, “catch me Kim”. Kim wrote on hers “if you can read this, you are too close”. Everyone was laughing and taking pictures at the starting line as the girls raced in their false butts. Kim knew that she had the faster team and when she came around this corner…. here was Kris, off her sled and sitting in a snow bank giving the dogs a break and waiting for Kim to pass her. It was a great comical ending to the Tok Race of Champions.
It seemed like everyone went home with new dogs from Arleigh, Susan Anderson brought Woody ($1,000) who I had been using all winter, Amy brought Tozier, Kathy F brought 2 young dogs and even Kim came home with a new dog (all were $750 each).
For me, I bred Dianna to Dori Hollingsworth’s leader Eniar and hope to have some fast pups at the end of May. Eniar is from Egil Ellis and a few of his litter-mates have made outstanding leaders. Breeding Dianna was a long and difficult decision for me to make because Arleigh had offered to lend me dogs any time I wanted, but after borrowing dogs all season, I just want my own dogs again. Last year when I “retired” haha, I gave away Rose and Sable which a really regretted all winter. This mistake made me short of dogs, I tried racing in the 4 Dog Class but I couldn’t get over the feeling that someone kicked me back into the beginners class, I am just a 6 dogger at heart. I borrowed dogs from Arleigh this winter and will have to again for next season until the puppies are old enough to race.
It was truly amazing that Dianna at 9 years old still had that top end speed to race in the team all season, she was “all heart” and never once held the team back. Dianna is old to have pups, this will be her 3rd litter and her last chance to product more fast dogs for the famous “Ozzie” line. It will be a long 2 year wait for me until the unborn pups to be old enough to race. I am 68 years old and like Dianna also in the “twilight” time in my mushing career. I feel that this breeding is my last chance to shine before getting too old, I would never know how high in the winners circle I could get in my lifetime if I didn’t try ONE MORE TIME!
March 9,10,11 2012 LIMITED NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Amy and I left Arleigh’s house on Wednesday and drove to Fairbanks in time for the potluck and race draw that night. I drew a good starting position of #5 behind my friend Kim Wells who has a fast team.
The weather was COLD at night, down to 15 degrees below zero but it warmed up during the day on Friday and Saturday when the sun came out, except for Sunday when the day temperature was -5. After the foot of new snow Fairbanks received the trail was soft and slow on Friday but got a little faster for the rest of the race days.
My race team was a true mixture of borrowed dogs, Amy let me use Sable and she took Dianna in exchange. I had Woody who I had been using from Arleigh most of the season and he also lent me a big male named Jack for the weekend. The rest of the team were my own dogs, Bandit, Roxie and Holly, Kimmick was left home with a back injury.
Martin and Kati Dagenais from Quebec Canada, flew to Alaska for the first time with 6 dogs for just this one race. They are multi-millionaires who win almost all of their races outside of Alaska and are very well known. They were at Arleigh’s and when I was introduced to them, Martin said “Oh, I recognize you from all the articles in the magazines!” I was so flattered, and then he asked “are you still running dogs from that Norwegian German Shorthair Pointer?”, I was shocked that he knew the breeding of my dogs and especially that he even knew about Ozzie, the dog I bred with Tanis in 2002 who had nine pups, including Dianna, Gypsy, Shilo, Strider and Attla. Martin Dagenais is definately someone who does his homework on the competition.
FRIDAY DAY 1….The dog Jack has been running in Jeff Conn’s team all winter and he told me to be sure and “match” him before the race. Jack is so strong that even in wheel position he could stop the entire team if he went to poop, he doesn’t do it on the “fly”. I reminded myself by repeating “match big black Jack” and it rhymed, sounding like it should be written in a children’s book. I had Kris take my team to the starting line each day because I didn’t want to tip over and get dragged through the starting line again like I had done in Tanacross and last year in this very same race.
At the starting line, I switched positions with Kris on the sled and I took off down the big hill. I stood on my mat to slow the team, I didn’t want them to run too fast downhill and injure themselves. With the slow trail it was easy to steer and we had a good run, the 2 strong males, Jack and Woody really helped the team up the long hill to the finish line. Jack had quite a lot of loose tug line in the beginning but I think the speed was just too fast for him since he had been running much longer distances all winter. I finished with a time of 19:01.7 which put me in 3rd place, only 1.7 seconds behind Amy Gjetson who was 2nd with a time of 19:00.0. Kati Dagenais won with a time of 18:12.6, showing up all of us Alaskans.
SATURDAY DAY 2…. I was excited about running today and trying to make up the 1.7 seconds to move up into second place. The wind was blowing and it was bitter cold out. Kris took the team up to the starting line again for me and at the word “GO”, off we went down the long hill. Jack had loose tug line again and I almost had to slow down so he wouldn’t get his back foot tangled in the line. The team was running great and I bent over and behind the sled bag as much as I could, trying to avoid any wind resistance. My knees, back and neck ached so much by being in such a unconformable position but I wanted to save every second that I could. We were doing so fantastic and I was positive that we were making up time. I saw the sign on a tree that said “1 mile to finish” and then catastrophe hit!
Sable was on the left in lead with Bandit and suddenly a squirrel ran across the trail about 20 feet in front of them. I saw Sable start to go to the left side of the trail when I yelled “NO!” Sable ignored me, ran to the side of the trail, leaped into the snow taking Bandit with her who now was also after the squirrel. Both dogs landed in about 3 feet of soft snow, rolled over like big snowballs and when they got back on their feet, they were both behind the 2 swings dogs. I stopped the sled and set one ice hook, removed my over-mitten with my teeth and ran to untangle the mess of dogs. I swore, knowing that I had just lost the complete race. I grabbed Sable by the neckline and pulled her back into lead position but she kept trying to go back into the woods after the squirrel. I swatted her, swore again and she finally stayed in place. I tried my best to fix all the tangled lines and harnesses that were twisted and backwards on some of the dogs. I ran back to the sled, pulled the ice hook and yelled “GET UP!” and we took off. I noticed that the harness was still twisted around Holly and she was running awkwardly. I considered running her that way but decided that I had already lost the race and I didn’t want to injure Holly. I stepped on the bake and set the ice hook again and went to untwist the harness, I was glad that I had stopped because the neckline was tight under her armpit. While I was doing this Kim Wells passed me which meant that I had already lost 2 minutes.
I pulled the ice hook again and the dogs soon saw Kim way up ahead, we slowly but steadily gained on Kim. When we got close behind Kim and I yelled “TRAIL” and she pulled over and we passed her team. The dogs were good climbing up the hill and we finished with a time of 21:02.3 which dropped us into 5th Place. I was so disappointed, but I tried to be a good sport and kept thinking about the phase “anything can happen in a dog race.” Kati Degenais set a track record with a time of 17:55.0 and Kim Wells moved up into 3rd place.
SUNDAY DAY 3….I woke up this morning to big black Jack coughing in the dog box and I couldn’t believe my poor luck. I knew that I needed to drop him from the race and I decided to just run 5 dogs and do the best we could. Arleigh called just as I was leaving the hotel and I told him about Jack. He said that sometimes they stop coughing after they are watered, which he did, but I heard more coughing later. Arleigh arrived at the track, examined Jack and told me that he was OK to run. I was very happy and relieved to be able to run a full team of dogs. It knew that it was impossible to regain the 2 minutes that I had lost on Saturday but hoped for a good run, I really wanted to move back up into 3rd place where I was earlier.
It was another COLD day of racing, minus 5 degrees and I wore all my heaviest clothes. After leaving the starting line, Jack had loose line for a longer period of time than the other two days and I wondered if he was sick. The dogs ran great all the way around the 8 miles, the trail had set up and was faster. About a mile from the finish I saw Andrea Swingley ahead of us and the dogs went into “chase mode”. We followed her up the mile long hill to the finish line and her team gave us a wonderful chase. I caught Andrea just before the finish line and both teams crossed the line neck-to-neck, a exciting finish for the crowds. Arleigh came over and said “you had the 2nd fastest day of 24:22.1,” this really made me feel good knowing that we ran the closer to Kati’s time than anyone else. Kati’s finished in 23:07.6 and broke another track record for the 8 mile. I had to wait a long time before they read the finally results and when they did, I had moved up to 4th place, not the 3rd place finish that I had hoped for. Kim Wells beat me overall and kept the 3rd place position.
After the race Arleigh picked up Jack and gave a a female called Sparrow to take home, train and use at the TOK race. Everyoneheaded for Anchorage instead of spending the traditional night at Paddy’s. Paddy was in Anchorage staying at our house and she was scheduled for a mastectomy the following. Tara’s boyfriend, Steve, drove to town from Valdez over the weekend and broke up with her unexpectedly, Tara was devastated, I felt a real need to just be home.
I discovered on the way home that my new dog Sparrow was in heat and very shy. Milt and I have been spending a lot of time getting her to come to us and not to be so afraid. Sparrow has a reputation for being a excellent dog and I hope that she runs good for me. On Sunday night after getting home, I noticed that Dianna was ALSO in heat and the male dog WOODY was going “nuts.” I took Woody over to Susan Anderson’s house until TOK because I didn’t want any accidental breedings taking place.
March 3 and 4th, 2012 TANACROSS DOG RACE
Amy Maclean and I left on Friday morning for the long 7 1/2 drive to TOK where we will stay while we race during the weekend at Tanacross, it is 12 miles north of Tok. It is a quaint little town and they had a SUPER huge potluck at the Tanacross Community Center before the drawing for the race. I drew the starting position of 7th behind Jennifer Probert which was good because she has a fast team and I shouldn't have to pass anyone.
Tanacross is a small native village and this race is a traditional event, one which I have wanted to go to for years and now I can cross it off my “bucket list.” The race starts on the main street of the village, twists through the woods and along the paved highway where cars park to watch the race. Then it runs along a secondary road leading back into Tanacross and ends on the opposite end of the town from where you started. A OLD fire truck is parked near the starting line and they use the loudspeaker from the truck to give the musher’s information and count down to start the race.
All the dog trucks park on the street near the Starting Line, you attach your sled to your own truck and then have someone lead your team to the starting chute. The trick is after you cross the finish line, you need to get your dog team back to your truck which means you must travel completely through town which is probably the length of 2 city blocks.
Saturday’s race started off with a very embarrassing situation for me. I had all my dogs hooked up, Daryl, Dori and Amy were leading the dogs to the starting line which was only about 40 feet away because I parked my truck so close. The street was icy from the hard packed snow, when I pulled the “quick release” and stood on the brake I lost my balance, the sled tipped over and I was dragged through the starting gate. Luckily a few people in the chute noticed that the sled and I were sideways on the ground and they grabbed the sled to stop it. Daryl who was holding the leaders was surged forward so fast that he was thrown in the snow bank, my friends just thought I was coming up to the line too fast. When I got the sled and myself upright, I was about 4 feet beyond the starting line. I asked about pulling my sled and dogs backwards to the beginning of the line when one of the men said “ this is a Village race and I am the race marshal and you are fine, just start from where you are at!”
It was cold with the wind blowing and the trail was hard packed, fast and with a very sharp curve at the beginning. Then the trail winds and twists through the trees, the dogs were fantastic and didn't hesitate with all the cars and trucks on the highway as we ran on the trail which parallels it. We had the perfect run and crossed the finish line on the main street but at the opposite end of town from where we started. Amy met the team and had to lead them all the way back to my truck. I had no idea how we placed and when they finally came around with the final times, we had run the 6 miles in 20:07 minutes and we were in FIRST PLACE by 38 seconds. HURRAY!
We drove back to TOK and stayed at “Fast Eddies” for the night and Sunday, Day Two was SUPER COLD with wind and blizzard conditions. I parked my truck in the same spot and I asked a local, Tom Denny who weighs 220 lbs if he would drive my sled to the starting line for me. I noticed on Saturday that when he stood on the back of other sleds, he was so strong that the dogs walked to the starting line and that was what I needed so I wouldn’t get dragged and embarrass myself again. I had a good start and the dogs ran with the blowing snow at their backs for the first part of the race and then it blew in our faces for the last half, misery for both musher and dogs. I was so proud of my dogs, they ran so true and watching Dianna at 9 years old run with the speed of the others on this hard and fast trail was a delight, she is a wonder. My time was 20:26, a few seconds slower and we won overall by over a minute. I was very happy winning this race on a new trail that I had never been on before.
The award’s ceremony was a special time, I received a check for $460 and then the families of elders who has past away during the year were honored. The families made or purchased gifts for the mushers in remembrance to them, I received a big wicker basket with a queen size blanket, a pair of handmade moose hide slippers with fur edges and with beautiful beaded designs on them. A wonderful native necklace made from leather, bone and trade beads and finally a birch bark canoe, about 2 feet long made by a very old native woman. She was there and her daughter spoke about her life and her gift to the racers, it was very touching and it brought tears to my eyes as I gave her a big hug and thanked her. Her daughter told me to value it because it probably was the last birch canoe that she would ever make in her life time.
This Tanacross race was a fantastic experience and I definitely want to return next year. On Monday, Amy and I left for Salcha where we spent two days with Arleige and Donna Reynolds in their beautiful log house. The big snow followed us and Salcha received about a foot of snow while we are there. Arleigh let us train on his trail and he lead the way with the snow machine while I ran my six dogs in a snow storm. It was a ecstatic run almost like a race with the snow machoine in sight ahead of us and the dogs chasing Arleigh down the trail. The next day we watched Arleigh and his staff work on a research project by drawing blood from 30 dogs before they ran 8 miles and then redrawing blood after the run. I didn’t watch because I am so afraid of needles but Amy, being a nurse, was very fascinated and helped.
EXXONMOBIL RACE February 11-12, 2012
This EXXONMOBIL race is the “grand Finale” to the racing season in Anchorage with a total purse of $30,000 to be divided among all the classes. The LIMITED races started at 10:00 AM, at noon on Saturday they had a charity race called “Top Brass.” The mushers for this race featured top commanders from six US Military Forces with the $20,000 purse going to the Wounded Warrior Project. The OPEN Race started at 1:00 PM with 16 dogs being the average number of dogs in each team.
On Sunday at noon, EXXON MOBIL had their annual employees race which is very competitive and the winner gets to choose which charity will receive the $5,000 purse. On Top of all this exciting racing, EXXONMOBIL had two huge heated circus type tents set up with free posters, hotdogs, soup, cookies, all kinds of drinks and even fancy tables set up with real flowers.
Saturday..........Kimmick was still lame so I decided to run in the 4 dog class instead of having to borrow another dog for the 6 dog race. Amy let me use Sable for the weekend and I gave her Dianna to run in exchange. I lent Holly to Kathy F. who went out in #5 position, Jennifer Probert was #6, Dori war #7 and I left in #8 position. There was only 1 minute intervals in between the teams and I felt that I had a excellent “draw”, meaning that I had fast people in front of me, I wouldn’t have to pass anyone and I would have a clean race...........WRONG!
About a mile into the race, I approached a trail guard waving wildly for me to STOP, so I slowed the team way down. Up ahead was Kathy F., her team stopped, another trail guard helping her wrestle dogs and her sled sideways blocking the trail, no way to get by her. I stopped for about a minute watching and getting very frustrated! They were definitely having problems trying to get Kathy’s dogs straight and I finally yelled “get the sled off the trail so I can get by.” Kathy struggled to hang onto the dogs and she pushed the sled off the trail. I slowly ran my dogs by and Kathy yelled “there’s a loose dog up ahead.”
What had happened was that Strider, one of the dogs Kathy borrowed from Kris decided that he wanted to go back to the truck,. Strider was in lead and was able to turn the entire team around. In the process of switching him out of lead into the wheel position, the dog Max, borrowed from Kim, got loose and ran down the trail.
Jen Probert must have gotten by Kathy’s team before all this trouble but I soon caught up to Dori who was playing “leap frog” with the loose dog Max. Max would run down the trail, stop until the dog team got close, then he would pounce at it wanting to play. This stop-start running went on for about a mile, until Dori stopped her team and yelled to me “go ahead and pass, you can chase Max for a while”, which I did. Now I had the loose dog in front of me and I kept yelling as loud as I could ,“GET UP!”, which seems to make Max run faster down the trail. When he stopped, I had to slam on my brake and twice he ended up in the middle of my team, tangled with my dogs. I knew that there were trail guards up ahead at the foot bridge and I hoped that they could catch the loose dog who was definitely ruining my race.
I yelled at the trail guards “catch the loose dog!” and they just stood and watched as Max and then my team ran over the bridge, I yelled a swear word at them which I regret. Then I saw 2 more trail guards up ahead and I yelled again to catch the loose dog. They made a leaping effort to catch Max but he was a slippery canine and they missed. I completely stopped my dogs hoping that would help, when I noticed that Max was standing off to my left and a little behind me. I yelled “Get Up” to my team thinking that if my dogs were fast enough we could stay ahead of Max and at least I could run my race. I looked back and saw Dori had stopped her team where I had just left and was waiting until the guards could catch Max. Dori saved my race for me and when Kathy F. finally arrived, they hooked up Max back into her team and she continued on racing.
I was so upset thinking that this big EXXONMOBIL race was over for me because I had lost so much time due to a completely unexpected event which took up about 3 miles of the race. I kept thinking about the old saying “anything can happen in a dog race.” My team ran good the rest of the way and we finished strong as they crossed the finish line.
When they finally started announcing the final race positions, I guessed that I would place in the middle of the field of 13 racers. They started with the bottom and I expected them to call my name at about 8th place, but they didn’t.... then I though “Oh good, I’ll be 6th”......but someone else was called in 6th place and with each name being called which WASN’T me, I got more excited feeling that I did really good considering all the time that I had lost. When they announced Jen Probert in 3rd position and I truly thought that they had forgotten to call my name.......next they said Kourosh was in 2nd place and Milt looked at me and said “You won It”, but I couldn’t believe that was true. Then they announced over the loud speaker.......and In FIRST PLACE with a time of 19:22, is our “retired musher” Bev Stevens. I looked at Milt and said “That is a true miracle!” and I meant it.
Sunday.......I went out with #1 on my bib and had a perfect race, my dogs ran beautiful and true and we crossed the finish line with a day time of 18:39, almost 2 minutes faster than the 2nd place finisher. The times proves that I had lost almost 2 minutes on Saturday with all of the problems with Max. At the banquet that night, I received a wonderful FAT check for $690. I won the 4 dog class this year and the 6 dog class last year so I guess that I will have to get a bunch of new dogs for next year and try to win the 8 dog class.........keep dreaming Beverly, remember you are suppose to be retired!
Norma Rasmussan Memorial Race January 29, 2012
I thought that I had the perfect draw for the race start, two fast racers in front of me which meant that I wouldn’t have to pass anyone and if I saw them I would be having a fast time.
There is only 1 minute intervals between racers when they start, Koroush was out 1st, Jennifer Sterling was 2nd, I was 3rd and Deb Summers was behind me in 4th place. We took off from the starting line and the team was running strong when I saw Jen in the distance at the airstrip. I was surprised that we were close to her and I figured that she had to stop for some reason but now that she was going again, I wouldn’t get any closer to her. WRONG! Jen looked back and I knew that she saw me at that point but I was a ways behind her.
We passed the Science Center, I was getting close to Jennifer and I yelled to her twice to "pick her spot" to pass because we were in some sharp turns and there weren’t very many places to pass another team. I kept following her and I yelled again where the Woodward Loop comes in. When she turned around and saw me on her heels, she moved over to the side of the trail and slammed on her break.
I slowed way down to pass, my leaders were going by Jen's team when the huge rooster tail from her break (over Jen's head) sprayed up into my leader's face. Roxie, in lead, spooked and swerved into the soft snow and rolled over, next both swing dogs did the same thing. They all went out of sight in the soft, deep snow bank. When the dogs came out of it and got back on the trail, they were in a HUGE tangle.
I set the ice hook to stop and swearing to myself I started to untangle the dogs. The neck line had broken between the leaders, which shows how hard the snow stopped the dog’s movement. My leader Roxie was now standing behind the wheel dogs with her harness mostly off over her head.
I am not very good or fast at untangling lines or fixing twisted harnesses when I am stressed. My eyeglasses and goggles fogged up, I couldn’t see anything and my over mittens didn’t allow me to do much with my fingers. I took the mitts off and dropped them in the trail and started to untangle the mess. Then in the mist of all this, team #4 passed both of us while we were stopped.
I had to completely take the harness off Roxie to straighten it out, she jumped and because she had the broken neck line and not attached to the gang line, I almost lost her. I finally got the harness back on, the lines on the dogs straight and then remembered that I didn't replace the broken neck line on the leaders. I couldn't remember what the ASDRA rule was about that. So, I ran back to the sled, got another neck line, attached it to the leaders and finally yelled "Get UP!"
I saw Deb Summers in the distance and we slowly caught up to her, I yelled “Trail” and she moved over and we had a good pass. My team looked good coming down to the finish line but I knew that I had lost over a good 2 minutes with my stop. With a time of 19:27, I ended up next to last in the race, I hope this is the end of my bad luck for the year..
RACE REPORT Su Valley Championship January 22, 2012
Saturday morning, I got up at 4:30 AM, watered the dogs, read the paper, had my coffee, loaded up the truck and left town at 6:20 AM for the long drive up to Montana Creek. During the drive, I experienced the strangest temperature variation that I have ever seen. It was -10 when I left Anchorage and no wind, when I reached Wasilla the wind was howling, blowing snow across the highway so you could barely see and the temperature climbed up to +17 (above freezing). Then 15 miles down the road, the wind quit and the temperature dropped to -27 to -29, EXTREME COLD. When I reached Montana Creek the temperature climbed again up to +9 with some wind.
Ryan, the chief trail groomer finished grooming the race trail at 2:30 AM that morning and said that it was in great shape. When he returned at 7:30 AM, the strong winds that had come up between those hours had completely blew in the trail in large sections. Ryan tried to clear the trails with the big equipment but determined that it couldn’t be done before the race time and that the huge snowdrifts were unsafe for the dogs. Day 1 of the Su Valley Championship was CANCELLED.
After a general meeting, it was decided to try and have just a 1 day race on Sunday if they could get the trails in shape and if the wind didn’t come up again. They said that they would make their decision at 6:00 AM Sunday morning. If the race was cancelled again, it would give all the mushers enough time to travel back to Anchorage to race in their Points Race on Sunday.
Dori and Daryl, Kim, Amy, Kathy F and I all went to Helen and Egil’s place for the day and we did various activities, I took a long drive to take scenery and sunset photos.
Meanwhile, the trail crew worked all day in shifts to get the trail in race condition and two people even slept at the club house over night so we all could get a accurate trail report at 6:00 AM Sunday morning. Sunday announcement....No wind.... the race is ON!
At the race meeting on Sunday morning they announced that their were 9 moose on the trails during the night, including a very aggressive one which charged the snow machine. We looked out the window when a cow and calf came out of the woods and stood on the trail just past the starting line. The moose are getting really stressed this time of the winter, with such deep snows they are having a hard time finding food and prefer to walk on the hard packed mushing trails.
This race had a maze of dogs swapping between my friends and I, it was comical switching dogs around so everyone had a good team. It started when Amy offered to let me use my Sable for the races and she picked Dianna as the replacement. Then Amy’s Lacey came up lame so in the 4 DOG RACE, she also used Rose (from Kris) who was in heat.... Kathy F used her own dog, Kim’s Cody plus 2 borrowed dogs.... Kim used my Holly in her 4 dog team plus 3 dogs from Kris.
In the 6 DOG RACE, Kim and Kris used their own dogs. I used Sable (borrowed) in lead with Bandit. My Roxie and Woody (from Arleigh) and two dogs borrowed from Dori. Kimmick came up lame during training so that is how I ended up with so many borrowed dogs.
The race course was soft and punchy in spots and I knew from the beginning that it would be a long 8 miles. My team did great for the conditions that they were running in. Roxie broke through the snow in one spot and went down and I was lucky that I didn’t have a big tangle with all the loose line that it caused. One of the dogs from Dori didn’t run well for the first 2 miles. The team ran their best and even passed a team without any problems, I concentrated on the corners and steering the sled. After crossing the finish line and when the race times were read, Kim won the race with a time of 23:28, she has really has been doing well this year. Amy Gjestson who had won it the past 2 years was second and I finished in 3rd place with a time of 24:33, still a minute slower than Kim’s winning time.
January 15, 2012 CHUGIAK 6-DOG 8 MILE RACE
REPORT Chugiak Classic-dog 8 mile Race January 15, 2012
Now that I have Woody, the new dog in my team from Arleige I needed to train the dogs up to 8 miles which is what the Su Valley races will be next weekend. I did not consider doing this race because I didn’t want to injure any dogs on the big down hills at Chugiak and because they weren't ready to race that distance.
Our training during the week when I got dragged down the trail was the dogs first 8 mile run and the trail had been soft and slow. I decided at the last minute to enter the Chugiak race and use it as another training run of 8 miles.
On race day, I didn’t expect the trails to be a fast as they were or I wouldn’t have entered the race. I decided to be real conservative running the dogs and to use the mat on all the downhills, I did not want any lame dogs. It was another cold race day about -20 early in the morning and it was still at -15 when I left Chugiak in the afternoon.
We had a good race, mostly uneventful except for Dianna pooping numerous times as she ran. I was disappointed that Woody and the rest of my team weren’t stronger going up “heartbreak hill”, they barely made it without going into a trot.
I knew that we weren’t at our best but I was disappointed to end up in 5th position. I am not used to being in the middle of the pack but I have to realize……..I do NOT have the dog team that I had last year, the team has way less miles on them this year due to my surgery, PLUS, I am suppose to be retired. All I can do is to keep training them the best that I can and hope for the better results in future races.
During the OPEN RACE, there was an unusual horrifying accident. Michael Tetzner, a musher from Germany, had to stop during the race to untangle a dog and he set 2 ice hooks. From what I understand, Michael pulled one hook, the dogs took off and the 2nd ice hook pulled loose and snagged itself into the back of Michael’s leg. Daryl Hollingsworth came up behind Michael and stopped to help, but Daryl’s team also kept pulling the hooks. Finally stopped, Daryl unsnapped all the tug lines from Michael’s team so the dogs wouldn't have much pulling power.
Daryl pulled the ice hook from Michael’s leg, thinking that it was only caught in his snow pants, which was actually in his leg muscle. Daryl said that he had to physically lift Michael up and stand him on the runners because he was so exhausted from being drug. Michael drove the team down the trail until he reached the culvert. From there, Kris took him to the clubhouse by snow machine and Ed Wood drove Michael’s team back to the holding area.
Luckily, Michael wasn't bleeding but had a huge hole in his leg, they called 911 and the ambulance took Michael to the hospital. He got stitched up, a drain tube put in his leg and he will eventually be OK.
TRAINING DAY Wednesday January 11, 2012
I did have a exciting training run on Wednesday before the race. It was a slow trail so I decided to wean myself from the mat and only use my feet for slowing down my speed and help turn on the sharp corners. I was doing great until we came to the Shields trail which had two challenging hills on it.
I looked down and noticed that I had never put my hand into the safety strap which is suppose to keep me attached to the sled if I tip over, so I attempted to get my hand with the big mitten in the strap. I lost my balance and crashed, hitting the deep snowbank on the left side of the trail, I sank down at least 3 feet and the team stopped. I couldn’t see anything because both my goggles and eye glasses were full of snow, the loss ice hook was buried deep in the snow and I couldn't find it. I was afraid to move for fear of losing the dog team which kept trying to pull. I laid there and tried to figure out how to get myself upright, I knew that as soon as the dogs felt any release in pressure that they would take off.
I decided to try to get one knee on the sled runner and then stand up. It didn’t work and as soon as I moved, the dogs took off. Then I was being dragged down the trail on both knees with my hands on the handle bar. A younger person could have just stood up but I cant get up easily anymore. I kept yelling “Whoa” which didn't slow the team and I was dragged down the big long hill with both my knees leaving deep impressions in the snow down the middle of the trail. I was losing my snow pants as I was being drug, the snaps had come undone and it felt like my pants were around my knees instead of my waist! I had visions of being in a comedy movie.
I purposely tipped the sled over on its side to stop the team because I was getting so tired that I didn’t know how much longer I could hang on. I landed in the deep snow again. I took off both my over mittens, my goggles and eye glasses and put them in a pocket on the sled bag. When I tried to get up, somehow the team took off again, this time I had both hands on the matt and I was being dragged on my belly. I saw the ice hook dangling in the snow on my left and I knew that the only way to stop the team was to let go of the mat with one hand and grab for the hook. It was scary because I didn’t know if I could hang on with only one hand or not. I let go of the mat and managed to grab the ice hook with my left hand and push it down into the snow. FINALLY we are stopped and the team was secured. I stood up, exhausted and feeling very foolish for such a stupid mistake of tipping over and thankful that I didn’t loss the team.
After dragging so long on both knees I have to say that my new mechanically knee is just as good as my other one. We finished the 8 mile run without any more problems.
RACE REPORT MONTANA CREEK CHAMIONSHIP January 7 & 8, 2012
I only have 5 dogs this year and this was my FIRST race since total knee replacement surgery in October. In the beginning I made my goal of being back on the sled and racing by January 1st, 3 months after my surgery....and I MADE IT!
I brought a used sled, a Danler Hornet, for $2,000 from my old friend Brenda Burge plus I had to order 2 pairs of P-Tex runners for $300, so I didn't end up with a cheap sled. I should have spent another few hundred dollars and brought a brand new one. I do love the sled, it is 14 pounds lighter than my Outlaw sled, smaller and steers just as good. Now I have to sell the Outlaw so I can get money back into my dog account which is now nearly empty.
I let Kathy Faryniarz use Holly for the 4-dog race and my team was Dianna who is 9 years old this year, Kimmick, Bandit and Roxie. I had a good draw for the Orville Lake Memorial race which meant that I shouldn’t need to pass anyone and that I would finish the race before other racers left the chute. My lead dog Roxie, had been bad during training about holding back and wanting to stop when she sees a outgoing team on the other side of the fence in the starting chute. Amy Maclean had won all the 4-dog races at Montana Creek this year with her team which included my dog Sable (Roxie and Bandit littermate). Amy drew to go out in front of me and I was very anxious to find out how we would place against Amy.
I had a good start on the excellent trail but it was cold at zero degrees. The usual 4 mile course which is known for it’s hummocks and twisty trail, was smooth due to all the snow that we had and was actually fun to run on. After the Elmore Bridge, I could see Amy way up ahead of me and I figured that there was about a minute difference between us which would mean that we were running about the same speed. I was striving to make up some seconds on her. My team crossed the finish line strong and I hoped that we placed near the top. They wouldn’t give out any race times until all the racers finished, so I had to wait.
When they started reading the times over the loud speaker, I was surprised that Amy was in 4th place. I immediately thought......... “shit!”, I’m going to be 3rd”, but Jennifer Sterling was in 3rd place,......”WOW!, I’m going to be 2nd” and they said that Kourosh was 2nd and then I thought ...........”It can’t be possible, did they made a mistake?” and then they announced..........“ and in First place with a time of 10:56 is our retired musher Bev Stevens!
I couldn’t believe that I had won and beat Amy who I thought had the faster dog team. Now, I know that my friend Kathy had been too conservative riding the sled when she raced the same 4 dogs of mine early in the season.
Day 2, I went out in the first position, the trail had set up over night and it was faster. We had another good run without any mistakes, we finished with a time of 10:37 and I won the 2 day race. I received a trophy and a check for $52. A GREAT start to this racing season!
RACE REPORT ORVILLE & DORIS LAKE MEMORIAL December 31, January 1, 2012
I only have 5 dogs this year and this was my FIRST race since total knee replacement surgery in October. In the beginning I made my goal of being back on the sled and racing by January 1st, 3 months after my surgery....and I MADE IT!
I brought a used sled, a Danler Hornet, for $2,000 from my old friend Brenda Burge plus I had to order 2 pairs of P-Tex runners for $300, so I didn't end up with a cheap sled. I should have spent another few hundred dollars and brought a brand new one. I do love the sled, it is 14 pounds lighter than my Outlaw sled, smaller and steers just as good. Now I have to sell the Outlaw so I can get money back into my dog account which is now nearly empty.
I let Kathy Faryniarz use Holly for the 4-dog race and my team was Dianna who is 9 years old this year, Kimmick, Bandit and Roxie. I had a good draw for the Orville Lake Memorial race which meant that I shouldn’t need to pass anyone and that I would finish the race before other racers left the chute. My lead dog Roxie, had been bad during training about holding back and wanting to stop when she sees a outgoing team on the other side of the fence in the starting chute. Amy Maclean had won all the 4-dog races at Montana Creek this year with her team which included my dog Sable (Roxie and Bandit littermate). Amy drew to go out in front of me and I was very anxious to find out how we would place against Amy.
I had a good start on the excellent trail but it was cold at zero degrees. The usual 4 mile course which is known for it’s hummocks and twisty trail, was smooth due to all the snow that we had and was actually fun to run on. After the Elmore Bridge, I could see Amy way up ahead of me and I figured that there was about a minute difference between us which would mean that we were running about the same speed. I was striving to make up some seconds on her. My team crossed the finish line strong and I hoped that we placed near the top. They wouldn’t give out any race times until all the racers finished, so I had to wait.
When they started reading the times over the loud speaker, I was surprised that Amy was in 4th place. I immediately thought......... “shit!”, I’m going to be 3rd”, but Jennifer Sterling was in 3rd place,......”WOW!, I’m going to be 2nd” and they said that Kourosh was 2nd and then I thought ...........”It can’t be possible, did they made a mistake?” and then they announced..........“ and in First place with a time of 10:56 is our retired musher Bev Stevens!
I couldn’t believe that I had won and beat Amy who I thought had the faster dog team. Now, I know that my friend Kathy had been too conservative riding the sled when she raced the same 4 dogs of mine early in the season.
Day 2, I went out in the first position, the trail had set up over night and it was faster. We had another good run without any mistakes, we finished with a time of 10:37 and I won the 2 day race. I received a trophy and a check for $52. A GREAT start to this racing season!
January 1, 2012
I am starting a new year with this “race Report” to share but I need to catch up on what had been happening earlier before. At the end of last season I retired and said my good-byes to mushing after 15 years of racing. I “very sadly” gave two of my best dogs to friends of mine. I gave Amy Maclean my precious Sable and Kris Rasey got Rose, this left us 5 dogs, Dianna, Holly, Kimmick, Bandit and Roxie. Actually we were planning on getting down to 3 dogs so we could travel and not be tied down. But each one of these five dogs was someone’s favorite and absolutely couldn’t be given away.
At the end of last year’s mushing season, I was informed that I was the Bronze Medalist for ISDRA, which is the International Mushing Association. This happened by earning points through out the season according to where you placed in certain races. I had accumulated enough points to be 3rd Internationally, a very big deal. Then I had a big article all about me and a interview written in their International magazine, “Dog & Driver.”
I had total knee surgery on October 5, 2011 and my goal from the beginning was to race my small kennel in the 4 dog class on January 1st, 3 months after surgery.........and I made it........plus I won the 2 day race. The first 2 months of recovery was very hard and painful, I was impatient in how slow the progress was. I went to physical therapy for almost 3 months, they had a difficult time getting my leg to get completely straight at zero degrees. My flex was at 127 degrees and would improve more with time.
From Last September until the middle of December my friends exercised my dogs with the ATV and when we got enough snow to be on the sled, Kathy Faryniarz raced my dogs in the 4 dog class. I thought that I had a fast 4 dog team, but Kathy generally placed near the end or in last place. She always said that the dogs ran well but she is new to Sprint racing and I think that she was just being too conservative on running the sled. I was very curious to see how the team would place in a race when I was standing on the runners.
Xmas Dec 25th, 2011
Tara gave me this WEB SITE, now I have to learn how to use it!