Thank you, my Handlers!

Photo by Scott Chesney

Carmacks. The checker was checking for the mandatory equipment: Vet book, axe, snowshoes and sleeping bag. They checked for booties when we'd sign out of the checkpoint. That's Alyssa Quaile, Tammi's handler and fellow musher, standing on the sled. Alyssa raced in the 06 Quest 300 and spent 2 nights on the top of Rosebud Summit, as she was just above me when we all got pinned down by a blizzard that dumped over 2 feet of snow with 90 mph winds, which obliterated the trail and wiped out trail markers. Alyssa, her friend Laura, and a German visitor, Inge were my "entourage" while on the 07 Quest 300. They truly gave me and the dogs the "royal treatment" and spoiled us all rotten. A HUGE thank you goes out to them. I couldn't have done it without them. Handlers are truly the most overlooked, but most important part of running any race. They are the ones supporting the musher, who is generally the one in the limelight. The handlers take care of the dogs, scoop the poop, pick up the straw, sort the left over drop bags, etc. They are the unsung heroes of the Quest.

THANK YOU, Our wonderful, loyal Handlers!!!!

Quest 300

The race started out well. I drew position #3, which put me out at 5:09pm. I made the run to the Takhini River Bridge in just 1 hour, even though I was on the drag the whole way and had Torus, our 8 yr old leader in lead with Dusk, to try and keep the speed down. The trails were hard and FAST. We quickly caught and passed Sean, team #1 and had Paul Geoffrion in our sights for quite a ways. We almost caught him, but then Torus had to stop and poop. We held on to the 2nd position in the race for a good 2-3 hours, then when I stopped the dogs to snack, Thomas Tetz caught me followed closely by Roland and Micheal. We kept up with them all the way to the overland trail, but that's when Torus really slowed (he hates hills). I was passed by 3 more teams before I pulled Torus out of lead and put Just up front. Then we started moving. I began looking for a camping spot at the 5 hour mark, but the spots were all taken. I finally found a spot up on a ridge, which was PERFECT! There was straw already there from a Quest team, no wind and it was warm. The dogs rested nicely for about 3 hours, but then teams started to pass by and the dogs were barking. So, I pulled out after 4 hours. The run into Braeburn was uneventful, until I made the drop down to Braeburn lake on my face (no fun) and dumped the sled in the twisty, narrow trees just before the checkpoint.

We rested 8 hours, instead of 6 1/2, because I didn't get a wake up and then I ended up needing to drop Just and Anya due to sore wrists. I was really scared of the next section...as I knew that the Braeburn to Carmacks run is one of the roughest on the race. But, I was down to 10 dogs, which I had been training with all season and we took off. The Lakes were rather boring, but the overland sections sure were hairy. The downhills were steep, twisty and the trail was filled with rocks, dirt and roots. It was all we could do just to keep the sleds off the wheel dogs. At one point, a tree caught my shoulder on a tight turn and the sled ripped out of my hands...but the dogs responded to my "Whoa!" and stopped. I jumped up and grabbed the sled. By this time, I was running with Martin Jahr, as I was nervous about my sled handling skills. We stopped to camp with Leonard and Simi, who had just set up camp about 10 minutes or so before Martin and I arrived. By this time, my bibs had ripped out from knee to knee, the temp was -40C, my gloves were soaked and though I had dry gloves, I somehow forgot the liners. Martin tossed me a pair, then started a fire, as I was having trouble keeping warm (a first for me!). I was really down at this point, but Martin and Leonard talked to me and got my spirits back up.

The run after that was GREAT! Pinball Alley (the part I was afraid of) was my favorite part of the entire trail. It was so beautiful and then I got to see the sun come as we crested a ridge over the Yukon River. Amazing country! About 10 miles from Carmacks, the trail got real rough again, with climbs and drops, twists and turns, logs sticking out in the trail, jumble ice on the river, cracks in the ice, etc. Booger dropped on me out of the blue and scared the bejesus out of me (turns out he was just tired). I loaded him in the sled and we finished the run into Carmacks.

Carmacks was great, but I was worried about my team. Dusk hadn't wanted to eat at the camp, but then he ate snacks before we left. Then, Feather didn't want snacks on the run in, and she was acting off. I dropped Booger, then had to drop Hopper who had a sore shoulder. The vet was worried about Feather and China (she had a bit of blood in her stool...but it turned out to be fine)...but they both ate very well and Feather's temp went down so the vet ok'd both of them. I left Carmacks in very high spirits, with sewed up bibs, another sweatshirt, dried gloves, a full belly and a decent team of 8 good dogs (though 4 had slight wrist injuries). I kept the team slow, but after a while, Ahab started to limp. I stopped and massaged him, but it kept up. After a while, he stopped limping so I thought it was just a sore muscle. The run to McCabe is mostly on nice trails, though there was one heck of a climb up to this ridge...it was sidehilling in a few places, pretty dangerous since the downhill went straight down the mountain. Afterwards, we ran through some CRAZY jumble ice on the Yukon...it looked like we were on the moon! We ran up what looked like a waterfall of ice, bouncing and bumping....in a huge pinball machine. At one point, we came around a sharp turn, the sled tipped and Inu stepped in a crack. He started to fall forward and I thought his leg would snap, but he pulled it free at the last second. I righted the sled and we ran in to McCabe. The whole time, I had been following behind Martin, purposely staying there to keep the team slow.

McCabe Creek Dog Drop is AWESOME! I parked the dogs in Frank Turner's spot, just in front of the shop so the dogs had nice straw. I got HOT water for the dogs, had them fed, watered, massaged and wrapped all within 30 minutes. It was really nice to get back in the rhythm that I'm used to at rest stops. I almost froze my nose though! I had been so warm on the sled, that when I arrived at McCabe, I took off my parka and pulled my neckwarmer down off of my face. I soon realized how cold it was!! Yikes!

After a nice 3 hour (WOW!) nap for me, I got up and went out to get the dogs ready to go. I watered, but only 4 dogs showed interest. So, I tried some snacks...but, 2 dogs wanted nothing (Ahab and Inu). I got the vet to look at them, and the prognosis wasn't good. She found 5 dogs with tight shoulders, almost all had wrist injuries and she said that I'd have to drop Ahab, Inu and Rocket. That left me with only 5 dogs....not enough to continue. I could have gone on, as she said I might be able to baby Rocket through. I asked the vet to be straight with me...she said if I had 6 healthy dogs, then by all means...go for it. But, I didn't. I had no choice but to scratch from the race, just 90 miles from the finish. It was heartbreaking. I had a real hard time, facing the fact that I'd made it so far, through some of the worst parts of the trail (it was a breeze from there to the finish!), had an intact sled...mostly intact musher...yet, somehow, I had not managed the team well enough to avoid injuries. It was a very hard pill to swallow. But, something we all have to remember is that these dogs are living, breathing, feeling beings...they are NOT machines. If I had pushed the team further, I would have lost their trust and I might have possibly crippled a dog. NOTHING is worth that...absolutely nothing. There will be more races next year...that's all there is to it.

I don't feel like a failure or a quitter....I managed to handle some things that I never thought I could do...90 degree turns, trees tight on most corners, severe twisting downhills, etc. I trained the dogs for the Quest trail...overflow, water, ice, soft trails, breaking trail, etc. Who would have thought that it would have been a hard-packed highway!?! Live and learn, eh?

Looks like Frank Turner has now scratched...same reason as me. Too many injuries. Seems to be the theme for this year's race...injuries and dogs not eating. Yuka Honda has also scratched..I'm sorry to see that after all she went through. Greg Parvin was overdue, but then found safe and sound, though it looks like he'll be pulled from the race. Lance Mackey is burning up the trail, but Hans is close on his heels and has cut the lead down to just 4 hours...and they haven't gotten into Circle yet. Manny and I will be volunteering at the Hot Springs...looks like it'll be rough getting the teams in and out across the icy bridge that leads into the Hot springs, but we'll see.

Well, now we're focusing on getting the dogs healthy and happy again. So far, they are all looking SO much better now. Manny is planning out his race, as he's running the Chatanika Challenge 200 in March. What's nice about this race is that it's all home trails, with good hills at the beginning and hills at the end. As a matter of fact, the hills at the end are the Fireline trail....the trail that our dogs have been running on all season. How cool is that?!? I'm looking forward to seeing how the dogs do with Manny at the helm.

Stayed tuned as we make preparations for Manny's race. :o) And please keep the Quest Mushers who are still out on the trail in your thoughts and hearts as they begin some very rough trail. The overflow is really bad, so hopefully all of the mushers and dogs will make it through safe and sound.

-Tammi

Just 90 miles from the finish line...

Wow. Just that one word holds so much in describing the Quest 300 this year.

I finally made it home very late last night (ok, this morning) and who was waiting up for me but my loving, wonderful, handsome husband, Manny. Man, it sure was good to see him after being gone for a week! He helped unload the truck, we got the dogs bedded down and headed inside. Phew, it is good to be home! But, it also feels weird. After spending 3-4 days (I lost count) out on the trail with the dogs, it feels weird to be sitting here at home. I keep feeling like I need to get back on the trail. I took a sick day, as I'm still exhausted (and a bit sore, to say the least!) and figured I need a day to recoup. Seems I may have bruised a rib in a collision with a tree (more later, when I give my race report), so it hurts a bit to breath but the vets (yeah, no human doctors for us mushers!) assured me it would be good with some rest (maybe a good Algyval rub?). Manny just fed and watered the dogs (it was hard for me not to be out there!) and the dogs ate and drank, except Feather. But, she is in full blown heat, which the vets feel really contributed to her not wanting to eat/drink well on the trail.

We made it all the way to McCabe Creek, which (depending on who you talked to) was only approx. 90 miles from the finish. Just 3 runs, and we would have been there. Unfortunately, every one of my dogs sustained either wrist or shoulder injuries from the hard packed (concrete!) trails, cracks in the river ice, downhills which were fast, twisty and steep and just plain missteps along the way. Leaving Carmacks, I was down to 8 dogs, and 4 had slight wrist injuries that I was managing with massages, wristwraps and Algyval. When I went out to prepare to leave from McCabe, most of the dogs just didn't look happy. When the vet started going through the team, that's when we started discovering more injuries. She recommended that I drop 3 dogs (Ahab, Inu and Rocket), which left me with only 5, all of which had some type of injury, though managable. I asked her to be straight with me, because I refused to cripple my dogs or ask them to do more than they could or should. She suggested that I not continue on, and I agreed with her. It was hard for me, as I was so close to finishing and really felt that I would. It never crossed my mind that I wouldn't finish once I got into Carmacks. But, stuff happens and you just have to roll with it.

Looking back and speaking with the vets, I did everything right. I slowed the team way down (took us 7 hours to make the run to McCabe!), kept the dogs slow on downhills, massaged and algyvaled, etc. The only thing that I could have done more of was massage/algyval ALL the dogs at every camp spot, even before any injuries popped up. I started doing that at Carmacks, but should have been doing it the whole time. Our biggest problem is that most of the training the dogs have done weren't on hard, fast trails...but softer, slower trails. Additionally, I practiced overflow, breaking trail, etc. While there was a bit of overflow, there really wasn't a whole lot and no breaking trails at all. Well, you live and learn. The next race, I will massage every dog, at every stop; get the dogs out on hard, fast trails more; take a more varied selection of meats/snacks for the dogs. As for sled handling, my confidence has soared in that area, as while I did have some falls, had one run in with a tree (me, not the sled) and went down to Breaburn Lake on my face; I did ok! I didn't crash/bust the sled up and have become pretty good at sharp 90 degree turns and steep, twisty downhills. :o)

Well, I will write out a race summary later, to lay out how each run went. Overall, the trail was GREAT! However, one must remember that it IS the Quest trail...not meant to be easy. To me, there were some great, fun sections in between some rough, crazy sections. All in all, I did enjoy myself, once I got over my fear of crashing the sled.

A HUGE thank you goes out to all race officials, volunteers and fellow racers, particularly Martin Jahr (he was a great help to me..Thanks for the fire!!), Leonard McGlynn (who decided that I'd had enough sleep at Carmacks) and Simi Morrison for having such a great outlook. Also, Jeremy Keller was truly an inspiration...this guy was trailing all of us, taking it super easy with his team, and he always came in smiling and just full of energy. His dogs also came in looking happy and healthy. He said that this is his Iditarod qualifier, and that he just wanted to ensure that his dogs had a happy, healthy experience. :o) That is really cool! Here I was, whining/complaining about crashing, etc. and Jeremy comes in all smiles and grins. Gave me a new perspective, that's for sure.

More to come later....
-Tammi

News from Whitehorse!

Alyssa, Laura, Inge and I, along with 12 of my wonderful dogs, made it into Whitehorse very early this morning (5am!). It took us 14 hours to drive from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, because once we crossed the Canadian Border, the roads deteriorated drastically and we found that in many places we were only able to drive 30-40mph! Plus, we did have to stop to drop/feed the dogs as we traveled. However, we all survived, though very tired...and made it to a hotel to sleep (not the original one that we had reservations for, that's another story of its own). Just a few hours later, we found ourselves at the Westmark Hotel in our Quest 300 driver/handler meeting. We got a nice trail report (not that I'll remember most of it...something about a Haw, Gee, DUCK under the McCabe bridge, then Haw again), went over rules, answered questions then did our bib draw. Laura said, "Wouldn't it be funny if you drew number 3, Tammi? This is your third try at this race, 3's a charm, and 3 is your lucky number." Guess what I drew?? Yep! Number 3. :o) Everything else has been uneventful, though Alyssa, Laura and Inge are truly wonderful handlers and are spoiling me rotten! Plus, they are having tons of fun with the video camera. (Yikes!)

The dogs are all looking frisky tonight, they were out playing and barking like puppies! We are looking forward to a full night of sleep (awww...Heaven!), then we're going to take care of the dogs again, go get breakfast and watch the start of the YQ1000 mile race at 11am Whitehorse time. After that, we are to be at our parking spot by 3pm, for the race start at 5pm. I leave at 5:06pm, as the 3rd musher out of a field of 17 in the YQ300.

For those wishing to follow along, please visit Stacie's blog at www.chaoskennel13.blogspot.com or www.yukonquest300.com for updates on the YQ300. They are having trouble with the Quest 300 site, so Stacie will place updates on both her blog and the YQ300 website (when it's working) as she gets them.

Wish us luck! The trail is fast and hard; so, I'm looking forward to a very fun race. Take care and I'll see you all on the other side!!! :)

-Tammi & (the Quest 300 team): Feather, China, Just, Dusk, Hopper, Anya, Ahab, Torus, Jake, Booger, Inu & Rocket.

And we're Off!!

Well, this will be the last blog that you get from me until I return to Fairbanks next week. Thanks to the great support of the staff here at Hutchison, I will be hitting the road with my "crew" (Alyssa, Laura, Inge and the dogs) at 1pm today, from the Hutchison High School Parking Lot. We hope to be in Whitehorse by late tonight, so that we can get some sleep before the Musher/Handler meeting at 10am on Friday. My vet check is scheduled for 4:15pm, after the Musher meeting.

Right now, I'm very anxious to get on the road. I'm trying to envision peaceful things...but my stomach is just doing flip-flops. It's the drive down. Tok is like the Bermuda Triangle for me and the last time I had signed up for the Quest 300 in Whitehorse, I didn't make it to the starting line (see my journal on my webpage www.geocities.com/runningswiftkennel/). So, if we can make it to Whitehorse safely and in good time, I will feel SO much better.

After that, it'll all be focusing on the trail. Not the whole trail...but each section/leg at a time. I plan to do a run/rest schedule that will allow my dogs to run at their peak speeds, then rest before they would start getting overtired. This is a conservative strategy, but one that will help keep the dogs healthy and happy. I will gauge off of the dogs, reading them to see how they are performing and make decisions based on those observations. Yes, I'd like to be competitive...but the main goal is to finish, period.

I'll be back with updates and stories...stay tuned! In the meantime, you can follow the race at www.yukonquest300.com for updates along the trail.

Thank you to EVERYONE who helped us get to this point. Without you, we wouldn't be able to do this race. Cheers!

-Tammi and the pooches

Way to go, Devlyn!

Devlyn raced at the Junior races on Saturday in the 2 dog class. The day was bright, sunny and WARM! Seems to be a theme for the past few weeks. He took off from the starting line with Herod and Munchkin, an SCL adopted pooch and they practically FLEW down the hill! Devlyn was really going fast. We were worried that Munchkin would tried to poop on the run, like she did last weekend; but she didn't. Devlyn said that the turn was very slick and he slid around the corner, almost tipping; but, managed to keep the sled upright throughout. The dogs were loping hard all the way to the finish line. Devlyn came in smiling and waving. He had a good, clean run finishing with a time of 3:45....giving him a 3rd place finish!! That was out of 10 racers. Way to go, Devlyn!!! :o) We don't know if he'll be able to get a faster time, as Herod is an 8 year old dog. However, it's been so warm, that with cooler temps, their time may improve even more. Regardless, Devlyn is having a great time and is doing very well running his 2 dogs.

Manny took the main race team out yesterday, as I had quite a few papers to grade and lots to do. He did a 3 1/2 hour run up and down the Firebreak. I guess the dogs ran so well, that he ended up getting all the way to the switchbacks on the Firebreak, just before it connects into the Winter trail on the way to Angel Creek!! He said the hills were major and the snow had thawed, then froze again into an icy glaze on the trail. Still, he managed to keep their speed down coming back down the steep hills. Also, he said someone decided to plow the logging road, creating big holes in the trail. Some people have no idea that stuff like that can cripple dogs!! Sheesh!!

We're finishing up last minute preparations for my race this weekend. We'll be heading for Whitehorse at 1pm on Thursday. Only 5 more days until race start! :o)

Cool runnings? I wish!

Conor is "helping" his Dad make some adjustments to the sled.

This next week will be a very busy, hectic time for us. I leave on Thursday for Whitehorse, as the YQ300 mushers have a mandatory driver/handler meeting, followed by our vet check. It's a long drive, so Alyssa, Laura, Inge and I will be pretty tired as we make it to the capital of the Yukon Territory. But, with the meetings set for the afternoon, we should be able to get a few hours of shut eye. Manny is running the team right now, as I type. He just called me from the top of the fireline. He says the dogs are running good, even though it's hot with punchy trails. He's stopping every so often to let the dogs munch snow and roll around in the cool stuff to keep them from overheating. Who would have thought that overheating the dogs would be a worry the 1st day of February in Two Rivers, Alaska?!?! CRAZY, Baaaby!

Until next time.....