Congratulations Manny!!!!

First off, I'm sorry that it has taken so long to do an update. Between work, kids, dogs and dealing with this illness that has really taken me down these past few weeks, I haven't been online much. So, many apologies!!!

A HUGE Congratulations goes out to my wonderful husband, Manny. He took 2nd place in the Chatanika Challenge 100; his first mid-distance race. Way to Go, HONEY!!! He said that the dogs were just running so nicely and he had a great time. When he got into the finish, he said that he wished he had signed up for the 200. Looks like we'll be flipping a coin to see which one of us gets the race dogs next season! Ha ha ha! Lucky for us that we have enough nice dogs to field 2 teams. :o)

The Chatanika is a GREAT race. The first leg, which runs through a lot of hills, starts at Chatanika Lodge, runs for 43 miles (though Ilana and I think it's a bit more than that...more like 47-48 miles) to the 18 mile road crossing over Chena Hot Springs road. The wind was just howling up there, literally blowing dogs and sleds around like they were nothing. The dogs had to break a lot of trail, as the wind kept drifting the trails over. Manny said that after he crossed through Fort Knox Gold mine, that the winds weren't as bad; but, then that meant that the sun was beating down on the teams, making it hot and the trails punchy. Manny ended up doing that first leg slower than he had planned, but so did a few other teams. The winds and breaking trails took a lot out of some of the teams. Our guys have dealt with this stuff all season. It was the heat/punchy trails that slowed the team down a bit. But, once they dropped down Iowa dome (which Manny said kept him awake...there were lots of moguls from snow machines, throwing the sleds around), the dogs started picking back up.

After the road crossing, the dogs were back on the winter trail, which they just LOVE. Manny said they started to really haul at that point. He had been prepared to camp, but the plan was to do a straight 100. The dogs were running nicely, so with stops for snack breaks and to check/replace booties, that's what they did. Manny passed a few mushers on the way to Pleasant Valley Store, giving him a 2nd place finish with an overall time of 12 hours, 11 minutes. He said that he would have been in even quicker, but had some troubles with Dusk in lead. China, one of our swing dogs, came into full-blown heat, which distracted Dusk. This was odd, because I had no problems with Dusk on the Quest 300, even though Feather had been in heat. Regardless, Manny eventually took Dusk out of lead, putting Torus up front with Zen. This slowed the team, because while Torus is a great dog, he is 8 years old and s-l-o-w up front. Therefore, Manny figures that he would have been well under 12 hours, had he not had to deal with Dusk stopping, taking wrong turns and just plain turning around to say Hi to China...then losing speed with the Old Man up front. Aw well...we're still very thrilled with Manny's finish. Not bad for his first race! The dogs all ate/drank very well at the truck after the race, and were even wagging their tails at the finish line. What a great team!! We did have a couple of Jodi's dogs, as we weren't sure of a couple of our guys making a straight 100 miler after the Quest 300. So, it was great to see all of these guys work so well together. Thanks again, Jodi!

At this point, we have one more fun race that we'll do, which is the Valley Funale. It is a fun time, held the last Saturday of March at Pleasant Valley store. Sign ups start at 10am. There are 2 classes for adults, the 10 dog, 20 mile class; and the 6 dog, 10 mile class. There is also a junior class of 6 dog, 10 miles, as well. As usual, there are plenty of other great activities designed for the whole family, with an Easter Egg hunt for the kids, a Hungry Dog contest, plus 1 and 2 dog classes for the children, and a yummy potluck/barbeque. So, plan to come on out, bring your favorite dish to share, bring a few dogs, or just bring yourselves. It is always a fun time for the whole family.

Manny plans to run the 10 dog class, while I'll do the 6 dog class. Devlyn will run in the 2 dog, while Conor may be making his 1 dog debut. We have to try him out on the little sled with a slow, older dog first. I can't help it...I'm always a bit nervous when my guys do their first races. But, Conor has been begging us all season, telling us that it's "His turn to run doggies" or that he's wants to "Run doggies, too." So, we'll see if he's big enough to hold on first here at the house, then if he is, we'll let him do the 1 dog class.

Now that spring is almost here, and the season is coming to a close for us, we'll concentrate on those younger dogs, new dogs and the pups that we were given earlier this year. Spring is my favorite time, as I'm the one who gets to work with the puppies their first time in teams and such. I usually take Devlyn with me, as I run small, 6 dog teams to break the pups in gently. It's a great learning experience for the puppies and for Devlyn, as he loves to go with me, riding the runners just in front of me. I let him work the brake and basically run the team, while I'm there to help stop them, etc. We have lots of fun. :o)

Well, since I'm battling a bad bout of pneumonia, I think I'll sign off. I want to again take this opportunity to thank everyone who assisted us this season, from folks who sponsored my Quest 300 race, to the friendly people in the Yukon (thanks again for the support, Stacie!!), and those along the race trails...all those volunteers without whom, we could not run races. You folks make it possible for us to do what we do. Thank you!!!!

Have a great Spring Break, Everyone!

-Tammi