03/06/2025
Here is our recap for the North Pole Championship from this past weekend. I have struggled making this post because I have felt like a failure to my dogs. I know I am not and that I am still learning with sprint mushing but after how our first day went I was having a hard time dealing with everything. Our first day started out good, I woke up early to wax runners, watered dogs and then we headed to the track. We got there a little later then I'd originally wanted to but I figured we still had plenty of time. Well I was wrong and before I knew it we were struggling to get my 6 dog team prepared and hooked up to go. I drew position 2 to go out and the first musher was already up there while we were still putting dogs on the line. Going out in 2 minute intervals goes very fast if you aren't paying attention and when I finally started up to the start line the announcer said to just go and not to stop. Both myself and my handler who was up with my leaders were very confused because in the rules you are not supposed to do what is called a flying start. All teams are supposed to stop at the start line and then go when the timer says to. I didn't question it though since I was told to just go so we took off. I was not ready myself though as I had my mittens in my mouth when we took off. So as we are going 22mph down the track I am using one hand to hold on and my other to get my mittens on. I also had to take my googles off to adjust my neck warmer to cover my ear and then put them back on while still driving my team. Then after I had all of that sorted we came up on the switch back corners. I took my first corner poorly and slide out on my team. So for the next corner I tried to carve it better but I either caught an edge or I misjudged my weight and ended up tipping my sled and getting drug about 20ft. My dogs are all trained to stop if I yell woah so that helped tremendously for me to jump up and have them take off again. GOSH did that rattle me! I was a lot more careful on my corners the rest of the run. For my 10 dog team I had only 9 dogs but knew these guys and gals would be very strong together. We had more time to prep everyone so we took off smoother then the last class. The first half of the 12 mile run went beautifully and everyone looked amazing. It had gotten very warm out with the sun beating down and I started seeing one of my leaders (Bolin) struggling to keep pace. He kept backing off and then trying again so I wasn't sure what was going on. He was running normal and I didn't see anything wrong. I know he struggles running when it's 20F or warmer but I didn't expect to see him struggling this bad. I debated bagging him but then saw how close we were to the finish so I decided to just encourage him and I rode my drag to keep everyone behind them from pushing to go faster. Once we finished and got to the truck Bolin did not want his after run treat and was acting very tired. I realized then that I should have not pushed him to keep going and felt horrible for him. I had a fellow musher who is also a Vet check him and he told me that Bolin had overtaxed his body. He recommended not running him on day two. Bolin has never been dropped from a race and has raced every single one that we entered from the first season I started sprint mushing. Him and his brother Mako are my two rock solid leaders so having to drop him felt so wrong. I knew it was the best for him but it still felt very weird going without him. Day two went much better for racing and we got to the track earlier so that we could prepare sooner too. I also ended up dropping another dog (Oogie) from the 10 dog team since he did not want to eat or drink when we got home the day before. So I had 7 dogs to run with in the 10 dog class. Even though we had fewer dogs we still got the 3rd fastest day time! Our team may have been small but man they are mighty! In 6 dog we placed 6th overall and in 10 dog we placed 5th.
I want to thank my amazing pit crew: Elizabeth Watson, Zach Fellman, Brandy Sturdivant and her daughter Evelyn, Dara Pflaum, and Allyanne Lipkvich! Y'all are total rockstars when it comes to helping prep dogs. 😁
A special thanks to Victoria Carver with Fire and Ice Racing for loaning me miss Licorice for my 6 dog team. 💜
Also a huge THANK YOU to our 2025 season sponsors: 49th State Kennels, Atlas Alaska LLC, TCI Construction Company, Lotto Alaska, Tanana Herb Company, Plumbers & Pipefitters Union Local 375 Training Center, Worry Free Alaska, Arctic Home Living, Houser Plumbing & Heating, J&J Mechanical Inc., MAC Federal Credit Union, The Liquor Well Inc., Midnight Sun Heating, and the Lee Family!
Thank you for watching, please follow us to keep up on our pups adventures! 🩷🐾💚
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