Race Update: Aliy and Ryne through Hal Morgan's Cabin Checkpoint

Aliy was the first musher to pass through Hal Morgan's Cabin, a stop/go checkpoint along the trail, at 10:38pm. Ryne wasn't far behind at 10:48pm. We assume they stopped for a short rest somewhere along the trail between Nowhere Checkpoint and Morgan's cabin. Both seem to be doing fine, and are the first mushers to push up the trail to Kershner's cabin. We expect them to arrive at Kershner's around 12:30-1:00 AM, to begin their mandatory 6 hour rest.
We'll update you when they check out of Kershner's and hit the trail again.

Race Update: SP Kennel Teams 1st and 2nd after 1st stage

Aliy and Ryne raced through the Nowhere checkpoint on their first leg of the race. Aliy and Dallas Seavey were the first to show up at the checkpoint, however looking at the standings board, Aliy and Ryne posted the fastest times on that stage of the race--2:48 and 2:57 respectively! Our SP Kennel teams are 1st and 2nd in this race after the first stage!
We are awaiting the next race report from the HAM radio operators. The mushers should reach "Hal Morgan's Cabin" checkpoint around 7:15 local time--about 15 minutes from now. We'll post the run times for our teams as soon as we know them.

Wes is driving the dog truck to the Kershner’s Cabin Checkpoint, where the mushers have a six hour layover.

And They're Off!

Aliy with the Red Team and Ryne with the R&B team have departed Willow Lake, the starting point of the 2012 Don Bowers Memorial 300. It was a crisp -30 degrees during hook up but the sun is persistantly warming things up.

Aliy left with a team of 15 dogs with Beemer and Pud in Lead, Tony and Honda in Swing, and Viper and Bonita in Wheel.
Due to the ongoing debate in another post about the starting line up of Ryne's R&B team, here is the full lineout.
Ranger-Stormy;
Kipper -Lester;
Butterscotch - Spicy;
Skittles - Rose;
Moonpie - Tug;
Mac - Chemo
Boris - Cutter
For the first time this season we won't be the first to provide you with race updates. A couple of the checkpoints have no communication other than ham radio operators and they are going to be keeping everyone updated. We will relay information to you as soon as we get it.

We are going to see a slightly different tactic among mushers this race. There are reports of a very large number of moose in the area. Last night a cow and calf wandered right through the dog trucks in the parking area and made themselves at home infront of the Eagle Quest kitchen. Some mushers are informally agreeing to team up and travel in convoy in order to address any encounters as a group. We could see people checking in and out of checkpoints in groups.

Don Bowers starting bibs!

Aliy goes out # 7!

Ryne goes out # 8!

Sounds like a good trail, good people and great dogs.

SP Kennel Teams arrive for the Don Bowers 300 Race

Here are a few pictures of Aliy and Ryne on their way to the Race today. Check out the deep snow in Trapper Creek!

Don Bowers 300 Red & Black Team Roster

Don Bowers 300 Red Team Roster

Don Bowers Memorial Sled Dog Race

The Don Bowers 200/300 Sled Dog Race is new to the SP Kennel racing schedule. We are excited to race on some different trails and meet some new sled dog enthusiasts.

The race has a well thought out, simple format:

• It starts noon on Friday, January 27 th at the Willow Community Center
• There is a 102 mile leg to a private cabin (the Kershner's cabin) where there is 6 hour layover
• Then the same reverse 102 mile leg brings the route back into Willow and another 6 hour layover at Eagle Quest Lodge
• The final 100 mile leg travel along the old Iditarod Trail, along several local rivers and back to the finish at Eagle Quest Lodge

There are currently 11 mushers signed up for the event - two of which are Aliy and Ryne. It might not be the most popular race in Alaska, but it's going to be FUN!

Allen, Wendy and the 14 Yukon Quest Dogs will stay in Two Rivers to train and keep the kennel operation running. Aliy, Ryne, Wes and the rest of the SP Kennel racing dogs will head to Willow on Thursday.

Wes has an important handler role during the race. He will be able to meet the teams at the 100 and 200 mile mark. At these layovers, we will be dropping dogs from each team. We have several dogs who, due to previous injuries, are behind in training miles. But, this is a perfect method to add them back into the "racing pool" for Iditarod. These dogs are Rose (sore foot from toenail), Rambler (frost nip), Roy (illness), Moonpie (sore bicep) and JJ (sore tricep). The plan is to certainly race this event, but bring all dogs along while doing it. The fact that there is a maximum dog limit of 16 per team will enable us to race almost the entire kennel in either the Don Bowers or the Yukon Quest.

Information about the Don Bowers Race can be found on:

www.SPKDogLog.com

www.DonBowersMemorialRace.org

or

Facebook

We will post the Don Bowers 300 dog team rosters on Thursday.

Wes and Wendy's Weather 7

It's a nice and balmy 4 below as I am sitting here writing this. Temperatures dropped to 50 below here while we were away at the Copper Basin 300 and we all came back to frozen pipes. Now, it has warmed up enough that we can take dogs out for training runs in the afternoons. But, at night time, it gets cold all over again. Temperatures are expected to be between 10 - 30 below for the next week or so. Brrrrrr.

Wendy and I had a great time at the Copper Basin 300. I was shadowing Ray Crowe, Allen's handler, trying to watch and learn from him what it takes to be a good handler. Wendy kept the SPK Dog Log and "Facebook" posts as up to date as she could. We certainly hope you guys appreciated it and felt informed throughout the race.

Here are some things I learnt from Ray during this race:

• Get to the next checkpoint early and choose a truck parking spot that is
  easy to get out of. If someone parks in front of you and you can't get out
  you can be late to the next checkpoint and mess up your musher.
• First thing is walk the incoming and outgoing trails at the checkpoint.
  Identify where the food drops, straw, hot water (if any) are so you can
  relay this to your musher.
• If you are able to choose a dog parking space and spaces are not pre-assigned, identify which places are away from other dog teams, close to time checkers, close to food drops or water, close to the exit trail. When the musher comes in you can quickly determine their parking preference and lead them to the right spot.
• If melting snow for cooking is required, find the best snow
• Record the official arrival time and help the musher keep track of mandatory
  rest periods. If there is no checker stationed at the checkpoint exit, make
  sure you know where they are plenty of time before the musher wishes to
  checkout. Musher's usually must check out in person but they don't need to
  waste time hunting someone down.
• Note changes in trail routes and conditions and make sure the musher is
  aware of anything important.
• Track run times, rest times, and dog count of key competitors and brief
  musher.
• Don't forget why you are there and don't let yourself get distracted.

The most technically challenging checkpoint on Copper Basin 300 that we encountered was the Sourdough checkpoint. The food drops were easy to identify however there were no trail markers and we could not identify where the outgoing trail was. The timekeepers checkpoint was far up a hill and nowhere near the food drops and just as far from the musher's sleeping cabin. All these factors were key in determining the best parking spaces for our mushers. Parking the dogs near the food drops would be easy for the mushers since they wouldn't have to carry straw and heavy food bags up the hill. However parking the dogs near the checkers would enable the mushers to make a time efficient exit. In the end, it was not an issue since the trailbreakers and dog teams could not make it through from Meier's Lake.

My big bungle of the race was back at Paxson lodge the previous evening. Knowing that Allen and Aliy would soon be checking out, I went to find the timekeepers so that they would be aware that someone was shortly coming to check out. The checkers had moved down to the other end of the runway since Allen and Aliy first came in and that is where I found the checkpoint officials. I let the checkers know that mushers were soon coming to checkout. I then went and informed Allen and Aliy where to officially "sign out". BUT ... apparently once Allen got there, he was sent somewhere else to checkout. Aliy did the exact same thing 30 minutes later! In a race where mandatory rest is recorded in 30 minute increments, there is no rest credit for wandering around for 10 minutes trying to find a checker. Considering that the 2011 Sheep Mountain 150 was won by only 20 seconds, you can see how important it is not to send your musher to the wrong place to check out. Opps!

All in all, it was a great educational experience and I feel pretty well prepared for our next race this weekend.

Kusko 300

Congrats Rohn Buser on your win!

When you are named after an Iditarod Checkpoint, perhaps sled dog racing is in your blood??