Day 2

Today was exciting! Lots of drama and lots of tangles. It was cold and clear today. -15F when I started, -20F when I finished. I saw lots of friendly faces at the start line today... it was especially nice to see Mrs. C, Martin Buser's wife and my kindergarten teacher. After having so many nice passes yesterday, I was relaxed and looking forward to going out again today. Greg Sellentin stopped by to have a look at the dogs and Dad's new Sled Dog Systems sled. He helped me with the drag mat and did a little pre-race interview. By the emphasis he placed on the dog's fur and the low temps, you would think I was running woolly mammoths. I really don't think our dogs are any furrier than some of the dogs on the trucks next to us, but yes, maybe they are prettier ;)

The dogs moved even better today than they did yesterday, but we had to stop SO MANY TIMES, that I ended up adding ten minutes to my time from the day before. I had to stop for other team's tangles, my own team's tangles, to let people by, and wait for them to untangle their dogs. The trail was swarming with snowmachiners. I had a major clusterf*ck in a narrow spot of woods when I met three machines on a tight corner. A few of my dogs balked and got themselves tangled. We met a cute little kid with a six dog team and his dad on a snowmachine. I didn't have any trouble passing, but the team ahead of me caught them on a corner and I had to wait for them to untangle themselves. Some people apparently thought there was a loose team out there; the kid was so small you could barely see him over the handlebars!

As they got tired, my team revealed themselves to be fairly undisciplined, something we are going to have to work on in the coming weeks before Knik 200. We had some difficulty passing teams from behind, especially while they were snacking! I made a bad call and brought Ruby along today. I ended up loading her 17 miles in; she was too tired to go on. But I found the sled tracked much nicer with her in the bag, so it was easier to kick and pole. This was the longest training weekend the dogs have had yet! 80 miles in 2 days. The run today wasn't clean, but it was strong. It was just the type of training we were looking for. The dogs did great for their very first race! I'll take out them all out again tomorrow to stretch their legs and have a look at them.

Today's Lineup was:
Kozy
Major Tuffy
Frigg
Ruby Robber
Goofy Doc
Sleepy Wes

Here are the Day 2 and Final Results:

OVERALL PLACEMENT 
1 Ryan Redington 5:49:32 $3,000.00
2 James Wheeler 5:52:13 $2,000.00
3 Ariane Jasmin 6:03:33 $1,500.00
4 Cim Smyth 6:04:35 $1,000.00
5 Wade Marrs 6:07:02 $500.00
6 Robert Redington 6:11:42 5 bags of Red Paw from Kasilof Enterprises
7 Travis Beals 6:31:22 Beaver Mitts from Ryan and Erin Redington
8 Jeff King 6:39:54
9 Ken Anderson 6:41:26
10 Corinne Zurflueh 6:47:45
11 Ellen Donoghue 7:02:50
12 Matt Hudson 7:31:14
13 Dream a Dream 7:48:43
14 Kristin Bacon 7:49:06
15 Luan Marques 8:00:22
16 Jane Adkins 8:00:43
17 Jason Shelley 8:00:49
18 Christine Roalofs 8:24:17
19 Anja Radano 8:28:27
20 Kailyn 8:29:07
21 Lisbet Norris 8:33:42
22 Susan Whiton 8:47:24
23 Gwen Bogart 9:17:44
24 Vern Halter 9:19:30
25 Joe Meyer 9:54:21
26 Marilyn Storey 10:02:53

Day 2 Time
1 James Wheeler 2:56:24
2 Ryan Redington 3:00:03
3 Cim Smyth 3:02:05
4 Wade Marrs 3:02:52
5 Ariane Jasmin 3:06:55
6 Robert Redington 3:06:59
7 Travis Beals 3:08:04
8 Ellen Donoghue 3:17:14
9 Ken Anderson 3:18:25
10 Jeff King 3:19:22
11 Corinne Zurflueh 3:22:13
12 Jason Shelley 3:35:27
13 Matt Hudson 3:40:55
14 Erin McLarnon 3:48:44
15 Kristin Bacon 3:51:12
16 Gwen Bogart 3:52:58
17 Luan Marques 4:00:00
18 Jane Adkins 4:02:55
19 Christine Roalofs 4:12:33
20 Vern Halter 4:15:03
21 Susan Whiton 4:15:32
22 Lisbet Norris 4:22:31
23 Anja Radano 4:26:49
24 Kailyn 4:30:54
25 Joe Meyer 4:31:56
26 Marilyn Storey 4:56:33
Skeeter Stitt scratch

A big thanks to Erin & Ryan Redington for organizing the race, and to Martin and Mrs. C for hosting!