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Manitou Crossing Journal Visit our new Blog: http://mck-blog.blogspot.com/ March 28, 2008 Hello All! Thank you very much for your support, sympathy, and generosity. We are amazed by the number of letters and emails we have received and certainly felt your thoughts and prayers while we were on the trail. We are very grateful that we have had several generous donations which has helped us cover the charges from Aries' emergency care and medical expenses. We were horrified to hear of Lances encounter with a snowmobiler and can only hope that some changes may come from these tragic accidents. Aries is doing very well and adjusting to life with three functional legs. He picked up a ball the other day and went for a 2-mile jog with me yesterday. Even with just three legs, he is still faster than I am. He has gone on free-run hikes frequently as a pup and occasionally since them and loves heading down the trail off leash, comes when called, and looks for his treats. Of course, we live in the middle of nowhere with no distractions, so this isn't something I would do in a more populated area. Aries has been examined by at least 28 veterinarians and specialists since the accident, and many more have been consulted. All have agreed that he is not likely to regain function in the limb, even with the best medical treatment available. He still has no sensation, no deep pain response, or movement in his front left leg at all. At this point would be miraculous if any healing occurred that resulted in sensation returning to the limb. Regardless, he is getting daily massage, range of motion (ROM) exercises, and physical therapy to maintain the limb as well as possible and in hopes of helping him regain function. Although Aries life as a racing sled dog is over, he has a bright future as my sister "webmaster" Cindy's new companion. We will give him plenty of time and therapy in hopes of saving his limb, but most likely it will be amputated. Thankfully, he is a sweet and happy dog and will certainly adjust to his new life quickly. My sister and husband are just graduating from medical school and will soon be moving to a beautiful hobby farm in Michigan as they begin their residencies. He will be in good hands and be a great jogging buddy for Cindy! We are working on putting our stories and photos together from the trail to share with everyone. More soon! Jen and Blake
We're Home! We got home yesterday afternoon! It is sure nice to be back. The dogs are also very happy to be back in their own houses and with all their friends. Aries is also quite happy, the first thing he decided to do once back in the kennel was to chase girls and pee on everything in sight. Phil and Steve built Aries a special house that he can access easier, he certainly loves his "pack" environment but he is the type of dog that will also love to be a house pet. A big thanks to Karl, Phil and Arja for staying behind and taking care of the rest of the kennel and the homestead while we were gone. We would not have been able to run the race together if it were not for these three. The number of letters we received while being away is amazing, thanks to everyone who sent cards and letters expressing congratulations and concern for our losses. We did grant one interview about the accident with the Galena radio station.
There was, and still is, a lot of mis-information we wanted to clear up for the
locals of the area. much more to come!
March 19, 2008 Aries Update We made it back to Willow today.... The dogs look great, and Jason and Erin have done a great job caring for the teams since they came home from Nome. Aries is adapting to life with a paralyzed leg. He has a brachial plexus injury, thus the nerves to his left front leg are no longer functioning. He may regain some or all of his movement in his leg, but it is not very likely at all. He has no deep pain or sensation in the leg at all. All we can do is give him time and care and hope for a miracle. More later,
March 17, 2008 Thank You! We're amazed and humbled by the emails of support from friends, family, and mushing fans from around the globe... Thank You so very much. We were not able to get a flight out of Nome until Wednesday AM, so we had the opportunity to watch our friend, Liz Parish, roll into Nome with her 14 dog team this AM. They looked great! We will join the "back of the packers" at their banquet this evening, which I understand is and even better party than the first! We greeted Wayne Curtis and his crew of 13 Siberians at the finish line just before the Banquet yesterday...they looked happy and healthy and enjoyed cuddles from everyone at the finish line. We had a good time at the Awards Ceremony yesterday...I can't believe I ate two huge platefulls of food, plus a second piece of cake and could have eaten more! If I lost weight during the race, my appetite is going to make sure I gain it back quickly. I ate waffles with ice cream and strawberries at Fat Freddy's for Breakfast!! I greatly appreciated being recognized by our fellow mushers by their vote for the most inspirational musher award. There are so many incredible mushers with great stories and achievements, it is humbling to be chosen for such an award. The words of Jeff King from our Rookie Meeting last December have echoed in my mind many times this season. "What can go wrong, will go wrong. Don't ask me how I know." I have learned how true that statement is, and have realized that while we do not have complete control over what happens in our lives, we do have control over how we react to what happens. We could not allow the tragic accident to completely overshadow the wonderful journey we were on. Though I shed tears on every run for the remainder of the race thinking of the incident, we also took the time to cherish the dogs who were still with us. We also shed tears of both joy and sadness as the teams approached Nome... It was an amazing journey that took us from some of the best moments of our life to the lowest. We have found ourselves forgiving the snowmobiler. It was a genuine accident, though there is no excuse, I am sure he too will never forget that horrible incident. We can only hope that the accident will alert others to be more careful than they think is necessary, and Slow Down. We took over 500 photos during the trip with our digital camera which we look forward to sharing, along with our stories from the trail. You can experience the Iditarod with us without the frostbite and wind burn, although, if you take the time to look at them all, you may experience some of the sleep deprivation we did on the trail. Thanks again,
FROM NOME: Hello All! Just wanted to thank you for all the well wishes while we were on the trail. This race certainly had all the highlights and the lowest points of my mushing career. The loss of Lorne was shocking and traumatic. In hindsight, I'm glad we decided to push on, which allowed both Jen and I to reflect the whole incident from the runners. We were turning out some faster times on the coast and were never really thinking about the Siberian record or the "race inside the race" until we got to Elim and a race Judge told me that I still had a shot at the Siberian record if I pushed on. I welcomed a new distraction from thinking about the accident so off we went with the goal of getting to Nome in under 12 days. I'm proud of Jen and how she handled herself during the entire race. She recieved the most inspirational musher award tonight at the banquet, well deserved in my opinion. We are already making plans for next year and if we can financialy pull it together we will have another team in Nome at this time next year! More to come soon! Blake
NEWS FROM NULATO: At 10 PM Sunday night, March 9th, Jen's team was struck by a snowmachine on the Yukon River between Galena and Nulato. 3 year old Lorne was killed and Aries was injured. They emailed the message below from Nulato at 2 pm March 10th. -Cindy After a good rest and reflection, we decided as long as the rest of the dogs were healthy and ready to go, we would continue to Nome. Aries spent the night here at the school getting IV fluids and pain meds. He was flown out this morning for further care. He has been a really good boy through all this. He has a lot of soft tissue damage beneath his left shoulder, but he has been stable and calm the whole time. Hopefully, he will be able to recover fully. Lorn had been an incredible member of the team the whole race. She had eaten well and performed 100% the whole way... I was so very proud of her. The accident was the worst nightmare imaginable. We are so lucky neither Blake or I was struck and more dogs were not injured. I thought we had just witnessed half my team killed at the time. After 3 hours of sleep, we went out to feed and the dogs were all quite perky and ate great. At the time of the accident, we were both sure our race was over. However, on the long run to the checkpoint we realized we would be working through this tragedy whether we were on the trail or scratching. If we were not traveling together as we are, it would be harder to go on. But we have eachother for support and company. We just want to travel the rest of the trail with no thoughts of competition at all. Thank you for all your support. Jen and Blake
Jen Emailed a Note from the Takotna Checkpoint during their 24 hour mandatory rest: Hello there!! We are doing very well and having a great time out here! It is very very warm (like 40F?!?) and the run from Nikolai was the slowest traveling by dog team I've ever done, but we made it and the dogs are very happy. They are eating well and feeling good. You probably hear Frog and Mongo went home with sore shoulders. Peso, Ziggy, and Taku went home from Blake's team. Pepper may be going home soon, but she looks good here. Roland and Wat have tight quads, but are otherwise happy, eating great, and eager to go. I am hoping to get them to relax those muscles with message and rest. The trail has been amazing.... a lot more snow that I expected. The run across the Burn was our best so far. We have had plenty of challenges along the way, but traveling together is awesome. It is so fun to enjoy with experience with your best friend!! Even in the toughest parts, like last night when the run took hours more than we hoped it is so slow, you can't help but look around and remember where we are and what we are doing and just smile! The steps were not too bad... quite a rush shooting down them. The Gorge was crazy! White knuckling it through there most of the time... wow! It is amazing to watch the dogs and see them able to go through these trails. We have many stories to share sometime! I better get off the computer so someone else can use it. We just got done enjoying a steak, fries, melon, and pie here in tokotna. The hospitaly here is amazing. I don't know if/when we will get to write again! Happy Trails,
Jen and Blake are in Willow, AK, getting organized and running the teams the past couple of days.
February 2008 Iditarod Bound!! We're are on the road on the way to Alaska. Jason the handler traveling to Alaska, while Phil and Arja hold down the kennel in MN.
We have 3 sleds, 32 dog crates (for transporting dogs via plane from Nome back to Anchorage), all the gear and 38 dogs in the trailer. We have been
generously loaned a 100 gallon gas tank for the back of their truck so we have enough fuel to cross the Canadian wilderness! The dogs going to Alaska are:
Altoid Apollo Aries Baldy Bodo Capri Chester Coho Domita Dori Frog Gonzo Kimber Jodi Kyat Kenzi Lena Mac Lira Muski Lorne Nemo Mongo Oscar Punto Pepper Remi Peso Roland Steer Takihini Tagish Telly Taku Watt Trekkie Trouble Ziggy 32 of these will start the Iditarod. We need a few extras in case of an injury or illness comes up which prevents a dog from starting the race. Of course, once on the race trail, no dogs can be swapped. Dogs can be "dropped" if needed, in which case they are flown back to the handlers in Anchorage. We started the season training 55 dogs, but this included 12 pups that just turned 2 years old this winter. We decided not to run these younger dogs with the Iditarod crew this season. They did an excellent job in the Beargrease 150 and will be racing in Ely next month. The other dogs we will be leaving home to help Phil and Arja train the yearlings and two year olds including the older dogs like Naoki. He will be 10 years old this year and has covered 1300 miles in training this winter!! 
January 2008 Race Preparations! All race preparations are in full swing now! The dogs are peaking in their training with many long runs into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness and “checkpoint” camping trips. We are also preparing our drop bags of supplies for the Iditarod as these need to be ready to ship before the Beargrease, plus we are busy getting ready for the Beargrease races which are just two weeks away! With forty dogs competing in the Beargrease from our kennel, that is no small task either. Blake is currently building our sleds which we will be testing in the Beargrease before heading to Alaska. Drop bags full of supplies for the teams must be flown out to each of the Iditarod checkpoints. The race trail is not accessible by road beyond the starting line, thus all supplies must be flown in by bush planes. Once on the trail, the mushers don't have any outside assistance and resupply their food and other necessities from the bags of supplies they sent out many weeks in advance. These drop bags include plenty of dog food, including high fat and protein kibble, beef, beaver, chicken, and fat, booties for the dogs' feet, food for the mushers, and other items such as a spare socks, gloves, and neck gators. Bonnie Lundberg, Liz Busa, and Dianne Freking are busy making, freezing, and vacuum sealing tasty and nutritious meals for us. Plus, my sister, Cindy, just sent some awesome brownies and other goodies which Arja and I tested for quality, approved greatly, and vacuum sealed for enjoying on the trail! The drop bags must be in Anchorage to be flown out to the checkpoints two weeks before the race. Since we are traveling from MN during that time, these supply bags will need to be packed, organized, frozen, shipped to Seattle just before the Beargrease, and then hauled to Anchorage on a barge in early February. Stay tuned for the Beargrease updates and results! The race starts on January 27th and will be a really exciting event to watch. There are many great teams competing, including many purebred teams! Just a couple weeks after all the Beargease excitement, Blake, I and two handlers, Shilo and Jason, will be loading about 38 dogs and literally tons of gear in our truck and trailer and making the 3500 mile journey up the Alaska highway to Willow, Alaska. We’ll do our best to keep as many updates and photos on the website as possible during these next few months of great adventures!
Happy trails,
Merry Christmas All!! A beautiful new blanket of snow fell over the weekend, and Phil, Blake, and I just returned from a wonderful 24-mile Christmas Eve moonlit cruise with three teams. We were just loosening up the dogs after they had a few days of vacation this weekend. Blake and I were able to leave for a couple days and visit our family near Heron Lake, MN. We brought a small team down with us and gave about a dozen little nieces and nephews sled rides. They all seemed to have a great time despite the relentless winds in the flat, treeless farmland! I am sure they have the perfect conditions for training for the Bering Sea Coast down there I had a great time at Jamie Nelson's 200-mile Moccasin Run Iditarod qualifier. I brought a nice group of young dogs with very little experience, and they did an excellent job! I was very happy with their performance and loved watching them learn. Jodi was the only leader I brought, thus he led with a young leader each leg of the event. Jodi, Muski, Coho, Oscar, Domita, Lorne, Taku, Frog, Mongo, Roland, Tagish and Steer completed the event. With the rookie meeting over and my second Iditarod qualifier complete, we now look ahead to a very busy first month of 2008! We will be covering many, many miles of trails with the teams, getting drop bags organized, and racing four teams in the Beagrease the last weekend of the month. It can be overwhelming to look at the big picture of all that needs to be done! We wish everyone a Peaceful and Snowy Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Jen
December 2007 Happy Holidays! It is hard to believe how quickly time is flying by these days! Thankfully, a good amount of snow has arrived and the trails are beginning to set up. We have been able to stretch out the mileage of our runs and the dogs are running really nicely. p> There is a lot of logging traffic in our area this year, so we are working hard to avoid problems with the many trucks. Clearly, we will need to load the dogs up and truck the teams out of the yard and down to where our trail system isn't plowed most of the season. On the bright side the dogs are going to well-adjusted to our trailer by the time we are heading to Alaska in February. The whole handler crew has now arrived to Manitou Crossing Kennels. Shilo Brazzi has been the most recent to arrive just a few days ago from California. With no previous experience with sled dogs and joining us in December, she is getting a crash course of how to harness and bootie dogs and stay warm for many hours in the sled. She is learning very quickly! Phil Morrison arrived from Northern Ireland just over a week ago and has logged in many sled miles already. Arja's first time on the sled runners in Minnesota was behind 14 dogs last week! (With Jen in the sled) Jen flew to Alaska to the Iditarod Rookie Meeting last week. There the 41 rookies attended a weekend packed with informative meetings focusing on dog care and the logistics of running the Iditarod and a field trip to Martin Buser's Happy Trails Kennels for more great information on training and race preparations. She also had the pleasure to visit Natalie Norris and JP and Kari Norris in Willow, Alaska on Sunday evening. JP Norris is training a great looking group of Siberians for the Open Sprint races! It had been nearly 8 years since Jen had been to Alaska, so it was amazing to see all the changes and development that had occurred since then. Training is keeping us on the trail more and more these days as we begin logging in some serious miles and camping trips.
October 2007 Rain and Mud! Ironically, after beginning training over two months ago in the driest, dustiest conditions we have ever seen, we now find ourselves soaked to the bone with water overflowing our trails! Our lakes are overflowing, water is over our roads, and many roads have literally been washed out. I guess our rain dances worked! Let’s hope the snow dances are effective as well. The dogs are running beautifully and our training is further along than any other season. All the dogs are working hard and eager to train every day. In addition to our 20 seasoned lead dogs, we have at least 14 new leaders in training. These young dogs are co-leading with an experienced leader on some runs and running in point or swing on other days to gain knowledge and experience running in front of the team. Right now, our experienced leaders are doing the majority of the training for us. Later, we will fine tune their skills and test them on their own to make sure they are making the connection between our commands and the direction, speed, etc of the team rather than just following the body language of the experienced dog next to them. Currently, these up and coming leaders include Apollo, Aries, Domita, Coho, Muski, Nemo, Oscar, Lira, Kyat, Peso, Roland, Wat, Karhu, and Scotty. Naturally, the three year olds in this group are spending more time in lead than the just coming 2-years-olds, but all of these youngsters are showing excellent drive and focus in front of a 22-dog-team. Our handler crew is beginning arriving in just 10 days! It has been a good season so far, but we are really looking forward to getting the crew together for the winter. Arja, who will be racing one of our teams in the Beargrease 150, will be arriving from Finland the end of October. Then Shilo, a wildland firefighter from California who worked with Blake this summer, is coming in mid-November. Last, but not least, our good friend Phil Morrison will be arriving from Northern Ireland a month from now. Although we have a lot of projects to wrap up before freeze-up, we are hoping to have at least a few inches of snow by mid-November to cover our mostly gravel trails by the time we are looking to do longer runs. It sure feels like a great season ahead!
September 2007
Fall is here! Happy Trails!
August 2007
Hello everyone, This is the time of the year that we don’t sleep very much. It should be great training for the Iditarod! On the weekends, we spend entire day in the kennel, working with the dogs and the many projects we have going on. On the weekdays, Blake and I have about 2 hours in the morning to get out and train the dogs, water, and clean the yards before we head to work around 7am. We both ride the ATV while training since it is much safer with two people. (Most of you probably don’t know of the time I dislocated my shoulder, broke my tibia, and rupture my anterior cruciate ligament in my right knee training dogs in 2001!) However, you can see that that we have a lot to get done in a short amount of time. Our daily schedules are very unpredictable, as Blake may be out fighting fires on any given day, and I may be dealing with veterinary emergencies. Whatever time we get home, the huskies ready and waiting for love and attention. Let’s just say it is very easy to fall asleep at night! Here is an introduction to the dogs in training for our teams.
We have 22 older, very experienced race dogs training for our races this winter. This includes dogs 3.5 years of age up to 9 years of age. We expect some of these guys won't make it to Anchorage since they are nearing retirement to puppy training, but don’t be surprised if some of them are their leading the teams! They include:
Our younger dogs with one season of serious training and experience at a couple small races are ready to fine tune their skills. They include:
The youngest dogs we are training for the Iditarod will be 2 years old by December. They will be trained mostly together usually with some of our good leaders who are nearing retirement, and if they show is they are ready, you will see some of them in Alaska as well. They will certainly be on some of our Beargease teams.
Of course, we must not forget the few Alaskan Huskies that also call Manitou Crossing Kennels home. All the non-pure breeds are descendants of a little female leader named Spring who Blake bought from Martin Buser in 2001. Spring led and finished the Iditarod for Buser several times including his 1997 victory. Blake purchased Spring because we wanted to work with a dog who was proven to be competitive in the Iditarod in order to give us an idea of whether our Siberians are capable of performing at that level as well. Our experience indicates that our Siberians are equally as talented is harness as their Alaskan counterparts, and we hope to continue to demonstrate that with our race results. These dogs will be split into three 18 dog teams for the fall. This may seem like a lot of dogs, and it is going to be an amazing project to train this many. However there are not a lot of “spares” since about 40 dogs will be heading to Alaska with us. When you consider that we rather not push the 9 youngest dogs, and there are likely 6 dogs on the upper age range that may not be up to heading for Nome. Let’s just hope we train smartly and don’t have many injuries.
The yearlings that won’t be joining the main race team until the following season are the late summer 2006 litters:
We have a full time handler position available which includes traveling to Alaska with us for the Iditarod! Happy Trails
Manitou Crossing Kennels has entered two teams in the 2008 Iditarod!
We are looking forward to a great training season and some awesome racing. It was certainly a stretch considering that the Iditarod entry was raised to $3000 per team, but the teams are at the right age, and we will probably never again be able to run the race with nearly equal teams. We’ll just call it an expensive date… At this point in our planning I (Blake) will be running the all Siberian team and Jen will be running a team of mostly Siberians and a few Alaskans. I will be gunning for 12d 00h 08m 04s which is the purebred record set by Shawn Sidelinger in 1998. I hope Shawn doesn’t mind me setting my sights on his record, but I feel the breed deserves a faster record and it gives me a goal to work toward. I worked with Shawn at Howling Dog Farm when he was training for the 1999 race. I learned a lot from Shawn, Earl and Natalie back when I was quite green to the sport. In fact Shawn helped me hook up my first actual sled team; a momentous occasion indeed, I never would have guessed where it would have taken me... We have had a great spring at MCK and summer is already here. I am back at work with the Forest Service. We were off to a crazy wildfire season this spring but we have received some moisture since then slowing things a bit. Jen has had a busy spring at work, often working at all hours of the day with farm calls and emergencies. We have had one litter this year also from Noor and Deuce. Noor had two pups that are 4 weeks old and just getting scrappy. We were hoping to have more litters, but it looks like it will just be the two little ones this year! We don’t have summer kennel help, but Karl has been coming up on the weekends helping me with our puppy/retirement pen improvements and other projects. We’ll have photos of the pups and kennel improvements soon. Jen and I began training for triathlon earlier this spring although we have not entered anything yet. We really just want to learn how the body feels throughout the training process and get in shape for the winter racing season. We are running several miles a day, plus biking or swimming. Although we aren’t running the dogs right now, one or two huskies join us everyday on our runs and bike trips. We have been delighted to find that our dogs are happy to stick with us on these excursions and it gives us a chance to work with the dogs one-on-one outside of the kennel. In addition, the dogs get to fee run in within the kennel daily giving them a lot of time to play and run with each other. At least 50% of our dogs enjoy playing fetch! They are an awesome group of dogs. Bonnie Lundberg has helped up put together a yahoo group email list. Be sure to join up for discussions on dog care, training, Iditarod and Beargrease prep and anything else that may come up. You can join at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MCK_News/join Happy Trails HAPPY SPRING! At least, it is supposed to be spring! We were just dumped on with 18" of fresh snow! Where was all this snow in January? It was a great training year for us, but not the race season we were looking forward to. With the Beargrease being canceled and not getting into the Can-AM 250 race despite having sent in our enties Aug 10, 2006, it left us with only the UP 200 to race in. We were very pleased with our team's performance in the UP 200! The team had not run in deep snow for nearly a year before running the race. Our training conditions had been extremely hard, fast, icey trails all season, so the dogs were suddenly using muscles that hadn't been worked for a long time. They ran very steady and strong throughout the race and were always screaming to go. The race to the finish line in the 2007 UP 200 was amazingly close with many teams within minutes and seconds of each other! Blake finished 10th, just about 2 hours after the winner, Tim Calhoun and under a minute behind 9th place musher, Micheal Bestgen. We considered traveling further away to other events, however our hearts are set on racing two Iditarod teams in 2008, and decided we would rather save money and focus on training for the Iditarod. We are Iditarod Bound in 2008!! Our plan is to run two teams to Nome in 2008 focused on letting the dogs learn the trail and have a great time, then return with our best team in 2009. With all the promising young dogs coming up, we are very excited! Happy Trails!
Hello! Blake is off and running in the 2007 UP 200! It has been a crazy week for us, but at long last, we are at a race! There is a great field of mushers racing in the UP 200, with many teams who were focused on competing in the Beargrease having quickly changed plans and headed to the UP 200 after the 25th running of the Beargrease Marathon was postponed until 2008. It is going to be really interesting to see how the field of mushers spread out on the trail. Blake's team consists of our veteran race dogs: Duece, Trouble, Trekkie, Gonzo, Kimber, Telly, Mac, Altoid, Remi, Chester, Bodo, and Punto. I am going to be doing my best at handling for Blake. It is really strange to send the team off, then head back to our host family's to shower and go to bed! The first checkpoint is unassisted, so I won't see Blake and the team until around noon tomorrow at the Grand Marais checkpoint. We were planning on running two teams, but with the last minute changes of plans, we knew it would be better to just focus on one team and keep it simple. My team would have had many of the dogs who are under two years old, and they may be more surprised by the deep snow conditions over here than the experienced dogs. Our trails at home have been hard packed, fast, and icey all season, so suddenly they are going to be "swimming" in deep snow. The weather looks like quite a bit more snow is on its way during the race as well! After leaving the start in with bib # 30, Blake arrived at the first checkpoint 13th with the 10th fastest time at about 2:27 am. That's a lot of passing! I probably won't have a chance to write any more until after the race, so watch up200.org for updates! Happy Trails!
Happy New Year!
Despite having driven through heavy snow and white out conditions to get to
the race, there wasn't too much snow on the race trail, but that was probaby
good since our dogs haven't seen deep snow all season. The trails were
beautiful winding, wooded trails with nice rolling hills. Beargrease was post-poned to Feb. 25th due to lack of snow. It's still not
looking too good! Everybody better get out and do a Snow Dance!! Check out our new "Downloads" page where you can download free desktop wallpapers and a
Windows Theme featuring the MCK Racing Siberians! Now you can enjoy the huskies on your desktop. :) -Jen
Happy Holidays from the crew at Manitou Crossing Kennels! Mother Nature hasn't been smiling upon us too much this winter. Snow conditions have been very sparse and we are in need of a good heavy snowstorm that covers our trails. 
Training has been progressing well in spite of unseasonably warm temperatures and lack of snow. The dogs are quite fat and sassy. They enjoyed several DNR donated road-kill moose this fall. These magnificent animals' misfortune was a windfall for the huskies. Fifty dogs are training for our upcoming 2007 races. We will have two teams in the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, driven by Jen and Blake. In the Beargrease mid-distance 150, Phil Morrison of Northern Ireland, will be our musher. Our handler crew has been a tremendous help throughout the fall training season. Our sincere thanks to Lori and her son, Trent, who are handling at Manitou Crossing Kennel for their second season. Also, we appreciate the steadfast efforts of Corey, Karl, Phil, Tim, and Don. Without the help of these friends, keeping up with the training, maintenance, and chores at the kennel would be difficult. We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!
November 2006 We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of enough snow to sled with, as last year we took the sleds out for the first time on November 16th. The dogs are running very well and are up to 18 to 20 miles in front of the rigs. We rarely run this far on gravel due to the wear and tear it has on the pads of their feet. At times it is difficult to know weather the frozen mud and ice on the trails through the woods is better or worse than the frozen gravel roads! We bootie any dogs that have pad cracks, which so far is only the youngsters who are running these distances the first time. Presumably, the older dogs have tougher pads from seasons of running. 
Our young dogs are learning a lot and performing well. We have many 1.5 year olds training for the races this year. Often, if we only have a few young dogs we will keep them in their own team to be sure we don't push them beyond their comfort zone and ability level. So far this year, we have been running the "old pros" together with the young dogs. There is a lot our experienced race dogs can teach the pups. I won't be surprised if we start to separate the teams more as we get onto sleds. The 24 new doggy faces that you will see on our race teams come from 6 different litters. The oldest is the "fish" litter born in the summer of 2004. These two year olds are Dori, Nemo, Coho, Chum, Oscar, and Muski. They are very small, fast dogs with a couple of the males wearing our smallest harnesses! We expect to see these guys moving toward the front of the team pretty quickly. The next oldest is the "money" litter, Peso, Kyat, and Lira who are turning 2 this month. They are very fast trotters and smooth movers. Next are the pups who were conceived just four weeks before their mothers finished the Yukon Quest in 2005. The Inga/Jodi (Apollo, Aries, Athena, & Domita), Noor/Duece (Taku, Takhini, Lorne, Steer, & Tagish), and Fiona/Gonzo (Frog & Mongo) yearlings are running very well and show a lot of great ability. You certainly wouldn't pick them out as the youngsters of the crew. Last, but not least and four brothers from Walt Brockman (Ward, Wat, Roland, and William) who will be two years old in May. We have many fall projects we are trying to get wrapped up before winter such as getting our wind power up and running, building our new dog trailer, and finishing up work on the trails. Happy Trails! Jen
October 28, 2006 Greetings! Winter seems to be just around the corner as we have had snow falling nearly every day for several weeks.
We have had several inches on the ground, but right now there is about an inch. Just enough to make it look like a promising
start to the season!
August 31, 2006 Hello all! I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer! It seems to have flown by us and fall is upon us. Trees are turning red and orange all around us. We have not gotten as many of the projects around the house and kennel completed as we had hoped, but there is still a little time before the snow flies. Our summers are spent working to make money so we can race dogs in the winter, taking care of dogs, and raising puppies. We have three beautiful litters of pups running around at the moment. They belong to Trouble & Teddy, Fiona & Trekkie, and Dewy & Jericho. It seems to be the summer for males. Out of 15 pups, we had 11 wild little boys. We are seeing an outstanding difference in these litters. Dewy’s litter is mild, sweet, and easy to train, while Trouble’s pups are a group of absolute savages. These feisty little guys are ready to take on the world! Temperatures here have been in the 40’s nearly every morning so we are off to a great start to our fall training. We will have a total of 52 dogs in our training group. From this group will emerge four Beargrease teams, at least one UP 200 team, and two Cam-Am teams. We are planning to field two Beargrease marathon and two 150-mile teams, so we will have 40 dogs competing in the Beargrease. Our good friend, Phil Morrison from Northern Ireland, will be racing in the Beargrease 150 with our yearlings. It is going to be a very exciting season, despite the fact that we have decided to postpone our Iditarod entry until 2008. Over half of our race dogs for the season are 1-2 years old have never raced and have not run over 8 miles. Clearly, we have our work cut out for ourselves, and this group of dogs will be more prepared for an Iditarod 1.5 years from now rather than 6 months from now. In 2008, we plan to enter two teams in the Iditarod.
Happy Trails!
March 2006 Things have begun to slow down a little since our race season has ended. The Can-Am wrapped up a wild and successful season. We learned a lot this winter, and we continue to see that we have much more to learn about helping our dogs perform to their potential. As I reflect back on my 7 years of racing Siberian Huskies, it amazes me how far we have come. Prior to 1999, I had never been on a dogsled. I owned a few Siberian Huskies that I would take out on skis when we had enough snow in southern MN. In 1999, I ran a small race with Norris' yearlings. In 2000, I completed my Iditarod qualifiers and finished the Iditarod. It was a phenomenal experience, but it amazes me how naïve I was then. Sled dogs are phenomenal animals, and the bond between musher and dogs is amazing. It takes a great amount of time, dedication, patience, and understanding to develop and maintain this precious relationship. I think the strong, positive relationship we have with our dogs is very important, and we have noticed similar relationships between other successful mushers and their teams. The Can-Am was a great race! The community involvement is remarkable, and it really seems like this race has a lot of support. Our host family, Pete and Ann Robichaud, along with their black lab Brady, gave us a home away from home. We are very grateful for their hospitality. In preparation for the Can-Am, I had to psychologically prepare myself for the slow runs that past Can-Am run times had shown. I had trouble believing that teams could actually average 8 mph on the first run of the race. I was preparing myself so I would not become frustrated with our slower than normal speeds. The Can-Am trail is mostly on logging roads that are totally unused except during the race, so the trail is not packed and fast like trails frequently used by snowmobiles. My team was mostly the same dogs that had competed in the UP 200 with Jen two weeks earlier. Duece, Trouble, and Telly were my primary leaders and actually led throughout the race. The other leaders in the team were Trekkie, Baldy, Inga, and Altoid. Also on the team were Ewok, Punto, Kimber, Remi, and Gonzo. On our first run of the race, we really felt the power of the bright March sun which hit my Siberians especially hard. After a short rest at the Portage checkpoint we left under a clear sky and cool temps, the team got into a perfect rhythm. Although this run did not seem remarkably fast, we were the fastest team on that leg of the race. I was especially impressed with the altitude changes. This was my first time in Maine and I had no idea they had such terrain. I enjoyed traveling through such wonderful country behind a remarkable team of dogs. I was quite sick coming into the race and nearly handed the reins over to Jen before the race. I felt I was not quite able to assist the dogs on the long hills like I would normally have. In this race, I especially felt as though I was the weakest link in the team. I apologize to my teammates for that, but like the troopers they are, they prevailed. The soft trail caused several sore wrists in the dogs. This is not a serious injury, but of course it is better for the individual dog to stay at a checkpoint, rather than to continue on with the team in discomfort. Because of this I was down to seven dogs when leaving the final checkpoint of Allagash. We left Allagash in the coolest part of the night, and I must say that if there was such a thing as a fast run in this race, it would have been the first half of our final run. I was thrilled to see my little 7 dog team performing so well after 200 miles of racing with such little rest. As soon as the sun cleared the hill tops around 6:30 am, that strong March sun zapped the speed from the dogs. We did have a fast enough run to have the second fastest time on the final leg of the race. We finished in 6th place at around 9:30 Monday morning with a strong, solid team. The dogs were certainly happy to see the truck, but after a few hours of resting they were already making trouble and looked ready to do it all over again. I was especially proud of the team because they have become such a good checkpoint team. "Run hard and rest hard" has been the motto. The dogs come into a checkpoint, eat a nice meal, then its lights out while they get a nice massage. Many teams have several dogs that are not comfortable camping or resting away from home, so having good resting dogs is a real asset. Jen finished 8th in the 60 mile race with a happy team. The heat really hit her team hard as well, as they cruised fairly well through the firmer trails in shaded wooded area, but felt like they were melting in the open sunshine. Jen's flu/cold symptoms were at their worst race day making her relieved she had decided to keep things simple and just run the 60 miler. The dogs did very well except for Naoki and Ed. Naoki has been a little "off" all season. Jen had treated him for cholecystitis a couple weeks before the race, and we thought he was back to normal. He performed well the first half, but had abdominal pain the second half of the race. He tried hard and had a tight tug most of the time despite this. We have a lot of respect for tough dogs like him. He is scheduled for an ultrasound to look for possible masses or stones of his gall bladder. Ed got a little too hot. He never has a slack tug unless he is in serious trouble. When his tug when slack; Jen let him ride in the sled. After about 15 minutes, he seemed to feel better. He rode for half an hour and was happy and bouncy when he went back into the team and ran strong for the last 1.5 hours of the race. Although her goal was to finish in the top 5 teams, she was just 12 minutes off of 4th place. There is a good chance things could have been different if the weather had been cooler. We enjoyed the chance to see some old friends and meet some new ones. We enjoyed seeing the other Siberian teams on the east coast. Many we have heard of but have never seen in action. We see lots of potential in the teams we saw and the mushers we met. Mike Ellis's team especially impressed us with a nice steady race. Mike and Sue also do a great job of taking care of their athletes. Now we are back in Minnesota, focusing on puppies and planning a couple fishing/camping trips into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
CanAm Crown 2006 3-2-06 Jen and Blake are in Maine for the CanAm crown races. They've brought for Jen's team - Jodi, Naoki, Kenzi, Bluie, Eddie, Bodo, Orso, and Mac. (all Siberians) For Blake's team - Deuce, Trouble, Altoid, Trekkie, Baldy, Ewok, Kimber, Inga, Telly, Punto, Remi, and Gonzo. (4 alaskans) They also brought Chester along as an alternate. They sent an email halfway through their trip out:
UP 200 Jen's Race Journal I had a wonderful time competing in the UP 200 last weekend. Duece, Trouble, Trekkie, Baldy, Ewok, Kimber, Altoid, Ed, Noor, Chester, Punto, and Gonzo performed outstandingly. It was phenomenal to be behind such a talented group of dogs. The UP200 has a fantastic downtown Marquette start, with hundreds of cheering fans lining the streets. Many fans hugged our dogs as we harnessed and bootied the team, and several offered to take team members home with them. The first leg of the race was about -20F and very windy with about a foot of freshly broken snow on the trails. Fortunately, in the cold temperatures, the trail had set up better then most of us expected. After leaving downtown, the trail follows along the shore of Lake Superior before crossing over to a straight railroad grade for many miles. It then has many sections of narrow, snakey trails through heavily wooded sections where the leaders are often two curves ahead of the musher and sled. These crazy little trails were interrupted with several sections down straighter, wider roads. The team was driving hard and fast, but I stood on the drag for the first 3 hours holding the team back to a relatively slow pace wanting to begin conservatively and keep the team strong and sound through the 240 miles to the finish line. It was snowing and blowing, and anywhere the trees were sparse, it was nearly whiteout conditions. I was the third musher to arrive in Wetmore, an unassisted checkpoint. After feeding, bedding down, and caring for the dogs, I enjoyed a nice meal of macaroni and cheese my mother had cooked a few days earlier and frozen in bags to warm in my cooker. I then wandered into the checkpoint headquarters where I enjoyed snacks provided by the race volunteers and chatted with the other mushers. I retreated to the wall tent set up among the teams to provide the mushers with a little protection from the elements while sleeping. I overslept about 10 minutes, so I quickly set to work preparing for my planned departure to head to the halfway point of the race. I thought several times that it seemed odd I didn't hear or see other teams leaving, however I spoke to several people as I got ready to go, and I shrugged it off thinking I must have forgotten where some of the front- runners were parked. I felt I was late and didn't want to waste more time. I had the team booted and screaming to go, when someone walked up and said "You know there is a musher meeting in 10 minutes, right?" I felt horrible to have woken up the dogs and gotten them all prepared to leave, just to have to shut them down and get them to rest again. It was definitely unfair to them, and they were visibly confused but fortunately settled in as I removed tuglines, gave them another snack and some fresh straw before heading to the meeting. It had been snowing all night and the wind was blowing, but it didn't seem very severe where we were. Just about 15 miles up the trails however, conditions were much worse. Lake effect snow, high winds, and whiteout conditions caused race officials to modify the race after the trailbreaker snowmobiles were unable to locate and mark the trail in the weather conditions. In addition, communication was shut down due to a repeater station malfunctioning. Trailbreakers, ham operators, and race officials were having a very difficult time communicating. The decision was to hold the teams in Wetmore for 8 hours plus their time differential and let them race the next leg to the new finish line in Grand Marais. There were many logistical and safety reasons making this the difficult but best decision, including the fact that the weather forecast suggested worsening conditions the next night. The checkpoint volunteers did a great job timing getting teams to the departure chute and counting them down to their departure time as many teams departing only seconds from one another. Fortunately, the race officials allowed several handlers to come to the checkpoint to help guide all the well rested, excited teams to the chute. It was a fun run to Grand Marais, as we were all suddenly racing to the finish line much sooner then expected. The trail had up to 18" of fresh snow, but most of it was broken at least with a few snowmobiles, and some areas were groomed. Unfortunately, one section of the trail was plowed by a county snowplow between the trailbreakers snowmobiles and the first two teams, burying the trial markers and redirecting these two teams many miles in the wrong direction. Fortunately, a race volunteer realized what happened, corrected the markers, and chased down the teams to turn them around. I left the checkpoint in 10th, but my team soon enjoyed catching and passing several teams moving us into 4th place. I was very impressed with our team's performance. In the two weeks between Beargrease and the UP, they appeared to recover phenomenally well. They performed beyond my expectations, finishing strong, happy, and were eager to go again after just a few hours of rest. I will always wonder how they would have done if the race had been a full 240 miles, however we will never know for sure. Hopefully we get the chance to run the full race next time. Meanwhile, we are busy reorganizing and preparing for our trip to Fort Kent, Maine next week. Blake will compete in the Can-Am 250, and I will race in the Can-Am 60. The UP 200 was the first time Blake handled for me at a race, and I don't think he enjoyed being the one waiting and wondering what was going on out there! He will surely be happy to be back on the runners. Stay tuned for updates from our final race of the season!!
Mari's Journal First of all, I would like to thank Jen and Blake for giving me this opportunity to train and race with their canine athletes -it has really been an awesome winter! I have learned so much from both you and your dogs and had so much fun on the trails that I wish there would be a way of giving at least some of that joy back to you. It has been great getting to know all these dogs and to actually see how a group of individuals starts to work as a team. It has also been very rewarding to raise all the puppies this winter, it's so nice to watch them growing and teach them all kinds of new things. They are such a nice group of babies! I must say that I will miss them very, very much… Thanks to my excellent mentors, I think I was as well-prepared for the Beargrease
trails as
a rookie could probably be.
My team, Capri, Shiloh, Siren, Trekkie, Silook, Jericho, Orso and Bodo, performed just super. I remember standing on the runners somewhere between Finland and Tofte and thinking how beautifully those eight dogs were running. The other one of my main leaders, Shiloh, was on her very first race, and she did so great. It was very nice to see her getting all the time more and more confidence. Together with Capri they were really an awesome pair of lead dogs. And it is not just only about the race -it's about the whole winter. During all those training runs I had some very amazing experiences with my team. At the beginning of the season I wasn't quite sure what I was getting in to, but the more time I spent out on the trails with the dogs, the more addicted I got. Leaving is always hard but leaving here will be especially difficult. I'll be flying home next week, but a part of me will stay here... Finally, I would like to thank once more Jen and Blake, the dogs at Manitou Crossing Kennels, everyone of the handler crew, Liz and Cindy for keeping my family updated at the race, my good friends Jenni Hasa and Elina Maatta in Finland, my mom and dad for taking such an excellent care of my doggies at home and of course, my very own dogs, Viiru, Viti and Istna, who are patiently waiting for me to come home. I'll be back. See ya guys,
Mari, We'll miss you too! Good Luck, Happy Trails,
and Thank you for all your help and beautiful photos!!
UP 200 Updates
Jen Placed Fourth, is top-placing rookie, 2-19-06 The UP 200 is being cut short and ending today in Grand Marais, MI. With Blizzard conditions, Jen is doing well and is poised to finish in the top ten. For more race reports, see the Race Coverage Page: http://www.up200.org/Coverage.htm Jen and Blake are on their way to Marquette, Michigan for the Start of the UP 200!
Jen will be running the 260-mile race with Deuce, Trouble, Noor, Altoid, Baldy, Ewok, Eddie,
Punto, Trekkie, Gonzo, Kimber and Chester. The first 9 are siberians and the last 3 alaskans.
Only 2 weeks out of the Beargrease, her team picks were based on who had recovered the best
from the 400 mile race. We'll be watching the UP Race Website
and I will update this website with news as I get it. I would love to get photos of Jen's
team from anyone who is lucky enough to be up there watching the race!
Just email them to me!
Thanks for your support of our sled dog teams!
Beargrease 2006 The Beargrease Sled Dog Races were a great start to our 2006 Racing Season. Of the 36 of our Jedeye sled dogs that were in training, 32 competed in the Beargrease with great results. Blake and I had a fantastic time competing in the Marathon together. It was wonderful to be able to run together and see our teams running so beautifully. Our handler, Mari, had a great time racing in the Beargrease 150. She crossed the finish line with eight happy huskies that were eager to keep running. Our pit-crew of handlers was absolutely phenomenal. I am afraid many mushers were envious of our skilled crew who were able to feed and care for our canine athletes with such talent that the dogs left each checkpoint well rested, well fed and hydrated, limber, and happy. Our good friend Phil Morrison of Northern Ireland was the official "Coach" of the Marathon handler crew. John Vitek brought his dog truck for the second marathon team and helped coordinate the handler crew. Dr. Jerry Vanek worked with the handlers to insure each dog received proper stretching, massage, and wrist care. Richard Freking was in charge of tracking our run and rest times and helping us calculate optimal departure times, while Diane Freking made sure the mushers and crew were well fed and got some rest. Vern Hoff traveled to the checkpoints with his truck and snowmobile trailer converted to a heated bunk house to provide a warm area to rest to the mushers and crew. Our handler crew included Ryan Brick, John Stenke, Lori Hedin, Sean Johnson, Don Deckert, Laura and John Bonner, Kevin Freking, Carrie Nelson, Walt Brockman, and Ben. George Bailey and George also traveled from Greenbush, WI to help at the start of the race. The weather was remarkably warm during this year's Beargrease. It seems our typical January weather was forgotten somewhere and the entire month was extremely March-like. The cold weather waited an entire week after the Beargrease to move into the area. The trail conditions were very hard, as our snow base shrunk considerably when the temps soared into the 40's for a few days just before the race. The icy, hard base of the trail led to large numbers of dogs being dropped due to carpal injuries. Carpal injuries are not very serious and often dogs can recover from them during the race with proper wrist care. In these conditions they are caused by repetitively landing on a very hard surface with no "give" much like running on pavement, and stressing the joints. However, we much prefer to drop a dog with a sore wrist rather than risk having them change their gait to compensate for the soreness and develop a more serious injury, such as a strained shoulder. Our teams performed just as they had in training and were right on schedule throughout the race. The only run with really good temperatures (-10 F) was from Poplar to Sawbill on the way down the shore, where our all-Siberian team averaged 12.4 mph over the 57 mile leg and was faster then any other team. Just hours later, the temperature soared into the upper 20's, however our teams maintained an average speed over 10 mph. The most challenging run was the last leg of the race to the finish line on Wednesday morning. With our teams shrunk to 7 and 8 dogs, temperatures hovering around 30 degrees, heavy snow falling, and many long hills to climb, our average pace fell to around 8 mph. On top of this, I was carrying one of my 7 dogs in the sled for about 38 of the last 40 miles since I was concerned that he may have had a shoulder injury. That proved to be unnecessary, as when I let him out of the sled after a nice ride up all those hills, he has happy and limber as a little kid and eagerly raced to the finish line. He only had a slightly stiff muscle earlier which had relaxed during his little sled ride. I felt a little foolish for carrying all that way, but I would always rather be cautious than injure a dog. I was most impressed with the drive my little 6 dog team showed as the continued to tackle hill after hill. The were never put off by the next mountain to climb and always seemed to be sure they would be able to lope all the way up next one! We were very pleased to reach the finish line in 2nd and 3rd with happy dogs that were eager to eat and drink and get their well deserved massages from our awesome pit-crew! We were very successful at reaching all the goals we had made for the Beargrease this year, and are looking forward to the UP 200 in just a couple weeks.
Beargrease 2006! Updates: Blake Finishes 2nd and Jen 3rd in the Beargrease Marathon!!! 2-1-06 Well, Folks, even though Mari was the 11th one across the finish line
in the Mid-Distance race, her time was 4 seconds faster than the guy in front of her. So, Mari Placed TENTH!! :) YAY! 1-31-06 Jen and Blake are sticking to their steady pace and it's
starting to show. They came into the Sawbill Checkpoint this morning in 2nd and 3rd position, rested
and took off again at 11AM. I haven't gotten a full report of dogs dropped yet. I do know that the first
one that Jen dropped was Ziggy due to a sore shoulder. It's a rough trail and very icy with the temperatures
hanging around 30 degrees. A mid-distance musher reportedly hit a tree and broke some ribs, so it's not
a nice trail. But they're doing very well and we are all holding our breath and hoping for no accidents. With
Jerry Vanek DVM guiding their awsome pit crew, there is no doubt that the dogs are getting the BEST
of care and attention. Stay tuned! There are pictures of Mari up and I keep getting more - I'll post them
as I get them (while trying to get my day's work in at the same time) so keep 'em coming! :) Thanks! - Webmaster Cindy in Illinois The Manitou Crossing Kennels siberian husky Beargrease Teams have an Awsome Pit Crew filled
with an All-Star cast following them down the trail!! Jerry Vanek, DVM is part of the team handling for
Jen and Blake this year - before he heads up to be the Chief Veterinarian at the Yukon Quest!!
Phil Morrison flew back in from Belfast, Ireland to be part of the team and John Bonner came from Alexandria, Virginia!
The rest of the support crew are Rich and Dianne Freking, John Vitek, Don Deckert, Sean Johnson,
Walt Brockman, George Bailey and George from Wisconsin, Lori Hedin from St. Paul, MN, Ryan Brick and John Stenke! A Great Big "THANK YOU!!" to the Whole Crew!
Race Results - Official Checkpoint Times
1-30-06 - Noon: Jen and Blake came into the Sawbill checkpoint together at 9:43 this morning. Blake has all 12 dogs
still, Jen dropped 1 in Finland. They were the 6th and 7th into the checkpoint, but they have 1-2 more
hours of mandatory rest already behind them than those ahead of them. They are scheduled to leave the checkpoint
after 4pm, so right now they are enjoying about 6 hours of rest in the capable care of their awsome
pit crew - getting sleep during the heat of the day. Sweet, Rejuvenating Dreams and Good Luck, Guys!! -Cindy Finnish anthem heralds musher's first try Mari Places 11th of 37 teams in her First Dogsled Race - the Beargrease 150!! Mari crossed the finish line with a big smile, the sun shining and a Bald Eagle circling
the finish line above her. She was right on the heels of the 10th place finisher and would have
been in 10th place if she had been able to pass him. Her leaders, Capri and Jericho, weren't
ready to stop; after crossing the finish line, they were still jumping and pulling.
Race Time! After months of training and preparation, the 2006 racing season has arrived! The 2006 John Beargrease will kick-off this weekend with their annual Beargrease Gala Event featuring Polar Explorer Will Steager on Friday. On Saturday the popular cutest puppy contest is held. Meanwhile, the excellent veterinary staff will be examining the canine athletes that will compete in the races. Saturday evening, the opening ceremony is held including the bib draw which determines the order the musher will leave the chute. Mari and the rest of the mid-distance team will depart from Ordean Middle school starting at 1pm with the Marathon Mushers following. The dogs are looking great and are definately ready to hit the trail. The Beargrease is earlier this year than the previous few years, and we are very pleased with teams' performances. My main leaders include Duece, Jodi, Altoid, and Trouble. Blake's primary leaders are Naoki, Inga, Kenzi, and Telly. Mari's main race leaders are Jericho, Silook, and Capri. There are 24 competators in the Beargrease Marathon and 40 mushers in the Mid-Distance race! The field includes three former Beargrease Marathon Champions, two Canadian teams, two from Montana, four from Michigan, and one traveling from New Hamshire. There are six Iditarod Veteran mushers and three Yukon Quest Veterans competeing in this years Beargrease Marathon. We are very happy to see such a strong field of mushers! My "Webmaster sister" will update our website with photos and updates during the race. The Beargrease website www.beargrease.com will have the most current updates during the race. Stay tuned!
Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a Happy Holiday Season! We have been quite busy training teams and preparing for the upcoming races. Despite March-like weather the past few weeks, the snow is nice and deep here on the North Shore of MN, and the trails are great. The dogs are strong and running beautifully. We have been amazed at their quick recovery from every run and awesome attitudes. Our Beargrease teams are taking shape. Jen will be driving our "A" team, which is entirely AKC Siberian Huskies. Blake will have our "B" team which will include a few of our Alaskans and Alaskan/Siberians. Since all of our dogs are in the same training program, we expect their performance to be very similar. Our puppies arrived in November happy and healthy! We don't commonly have winter pups since we are so busy training, but we felt these shouldn't wait until spring. Emmie and Fiona both have 5 pups sired by Bluie. Bluie has raced on our primary race team since he was 2-years-old, and these are the first litters he has sired. He is an awesome mover and steady worker, and we are anxious to work with his pups for years to come. Shjegge Mann's Bell gave birth to 5 females and 1 male sire by our great race leader Naoki. This is also Naoki's first litter, though he has led primary race team since 2001, including the 2004 Beargrease winning team and the 2005 Yukon quest. This is also our first breeding with any of Walt Brockman's dogs since they arrived 1.5 years ago. These are definitely some youngsters to watch! We are currently running from our kennel to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, taking a short rest, and then running home. This schedule mocks our race/rest schedule in preparation for the Beargrease and other races. We see lots of wildlife on our training runs including Lynx, Wolves and Moose. Thus far the moose have been very courteous and get off the trail for our passing. The next few weeks are going to get much more hectic and exciting! Just as the hours we spend each day on the trail are peaking, there is a lot to do to prepare for the races. Our Beargrease handlers are gathering soon to go over our racing plans and checkpoint routine. We have a great crew of family and friends coming to help at the race; in fact, Phil Morrison from Northern Ireland is returning to handle for our Beargrease teams again this winter! We hope you enjoy the new photos on the site as my Webmaster sister continues to update the site with great photos from Mari and Lori. There are also some fun new items at our Cafepress shop, including valentines with Bonnie Lundberg's design!
November 20, 2005 Happy Thanksgiving! SNOW HAS ARRIVED!! Though conditions are marginal, we have been sledding since last Wednesday. About 8 inches of snow arrived in our area early last week, though it has shrunk considerably with the temps hovering in the 30's. The dogs are eager and running strong, and training is progressing as planned. The heavy, wet snow covering the tree branches has turned our trails into a beautiful winter wonderland! We often take a passenger in these conditions to help control the team and assist if needed. The heavy snow and strong winds during the past couple of weeks have brought down many trees that could present a real challenge when running a strong team with little stopping ability! This also helps make the transition from the heavy ATV to the sleds more gradual. I enjoyed giving a presentation at the Mid-West Mountaineering Expo last week, and we are looking forward to participating in the Ely Christmas Parade the day after Thanksgiving. Many Beargrease volunteers and handlers are also getting geared up for the early Beargrease this winter... I understand that many of the volunteers from the Sawbill checkpoint are gathering for Thanksgiving! The puppies arrived the same time as our snow! "Emmie" Alaskan's Emaurade of Anadyr gave birth to three females and three males sired by "Bluie" last Wednesday and Shjegge Manns Bell had 5 females and 1 male last Tuesday sired by our race leader "Naoki." We are very pleased that these two beautiful litters are looking happy and healthy. The yearlings and 7-month-olds are all running really well in harness with our handler Mari's careful guidance. I hope you've checked out the great holiday gift ideas available from our store!
October 15, 2005 Greetings! 
Training is off to a great start this fall and we have finalized our race plans for the season. We have two excellent handlers right now from Finland (the country), Mari and Elina. Elina will be flying home to head back to school in a couple of weeks,and Mari is staying to prepare one of our teams to race in the Beargrease 150 and assist with the training of the yearlings and puppies. We are training forty three dogs for the race teams, and the dogs are covering 11 miles of trail every other day right now. A lot of the younger dogs are showing great ability in lead. This is really a super group of dogs with a lot of experience. That fact made us really hopeful to be able to race in the Iditarod this season; however after studying our budget, we realized that goal was out of our reach. We are very hopeful that we will be able to field two Iditarod teams in 2007. We have big and exciting plans for the 2006 season! On January 29th, Blake and I will both be racing in the Beargrease Marathon and Mari will be racing in the Beargrease 150. So, thirty two of the forty three dogs in training will be racing in the Beargrease! In mid-February, I will be racing in the UP 200 for the first time. In early March, we plan on racing in Fort Kent, Maine where Blake will compete in the Can-Am 250, and I will be in the Can-Am 60-mile event. The next generation of Jedeye Siberians, the yearlings and 6-month-old puppies, are all running in harness well and looking great. Be sure to explore the website and enjoy the new photographs taken by Mari and Elina. A Big Thank You to my sister, Cindy, for all her work renovating the website for us!
Since crossing the finish line of Yukon Quest with eight very special huskies, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the experience. I must start by thanking everyone who made this season possible, especially the 14 huskies that I traveled with across the rugged Yukon and Alaskan terrain. So many people have helped us accomplish our goals. They know who they are, and we are forever grateful. My team was made up of 6 females, 8 males, 11 Siberians and 3 Alaskans. I am inspired and motivated by anyone who shares their life with Siberian Huskies. It is a noble, passionate, tough, independent breed. My hat goes off to all who are dedicated to working with them, whether it is in the show ring, agility, obedience, or in harness recreationally or racing. They are truly amazing animals. Our journey north began in mid-January since we needed to be in Whitehorse in time for food drops and vet checks. When we left Minnesota, the weather was bitter cold with lows from -30 to -40 F. During our trip north, we experienced everything from -50 degrees F all the way to 40-50 degrees F above and rain. Fortunately, the weather and snow conditions in the Yukon were exceptional with record snowfalls and great winter weather. The trip was fairly uneventful, and we arrived in Whitehorse on January 19th with 18 dogs and a loaded down truck and trailer. The home we stayed at was just south of Whitehorse on some wonderful trails utilized by many Quest mushers. Not long after arriving in Whitehorse, the dogs came down with the first of several ugly race viruses. The appetite of the team diminished and so did their fat reserves. I was extremely happy with the team's condition before leaving for Canada, and unfortunately, I was watching this vanish before my eyes. Although we continued training, I had to skip some of the long runs I had planned to do in the month before the race. Despite the challenges, the dogs were in good shape with great feet and few injuries during training. Everyone was beginning to eat and feel better about 6 days before the race, and we worked hard to get some weight back on them before starting the "toughest sleddog race in the world". The Yukon Quest is an amazing race and can hardly be compared to the Iditarod or any other race I have ever participated in. One of the most obvious differences is the great distances between checkpoints, some over 200 miles. We are able to utilize cabins offered to us by generous folks along the trail. These people open up their homes to give us a place to hang our hats for a few hours, and many times, offered a very welcomed warm meal. These beautiful cabins are usually made of Spruce logs chinked with moss, with sod roofs and a wood stove as warm as the hospitality. Some of these cabins were built during the 1890 Gold Rush, and they absolutely amaze me. I spent far too much time studying the craftsmanship of these structures and in awe of the fact that much of this country has not changed since they were built. In hindsight there are many changes I would make to our training regimen to accommodate the condition. In preparation for the race I made several calls inquiring to the condition of the trail. I was told it was in great condition and "hard and fast" many times and once even told that they could run the North American Championships on this trail. Although I realized they were exaggerating and expected a rugged wilderness trail, I later found that most of the trail is not actually put in until the race is under way, so "hard and fast" was mostly speculation. A trail broken just ahead of the teams has no base. I planned my training program for a relatively packed trail, but this was not the case. In training, we break open our own trails with the dog teams, but there is almost always a base of packed snow beneath them since we use the same trails repetitively. Running in truly soft, baseless trails changes the strain on the dogs' muscles and joints considerably. If I had the opportunity to speak with a veteran of the race a year ahead of time about the realities of the trail conditions, I probably would have prepared the team entirely differently. This is what I would consider one of my biggest challenges and mistakes as an outsider and a rookie. The extremely soft trail at the beginning of the race took a toll on my bigger tougher males. Our most common injury was a hyper-extension of the wrist. This is not a terrible injury, just one that takes time to recover, time that we did not have. By the time we arrived in Dawson I had already dropped Bluie, Jodi and Altoid, three excellent males. Punto is our largest male and really a powerhouse in the team, and I was nursing his wrists in hopes that I could get him to Dawson City to fully recover during our 36 hour layover. Despite the challenges, we were holding 7th place of the 21 teams that started the race and were progressing down the trail nicely. I was very happy with the team's rhythm, ability to camp and rest well, and eagerness to leave each campsite. They were very obedient and truly worked as a team. Our run over King Solomon's Dome and into Dawson was magnificent. It was nearly a full moon and the Aurora was throwing its purple and green spears toward the heavens. During the mandatory 36-hour layover at Dawson, handler assistance is allowed, so I was able to turn over the team to Ryan Brick of Coon Rapids MN, Michael Ralston of Ireland and John Stenke of Dundee MN. This crew would administer regular feedings, massages and allow some much needed rest. Upon leaving our 36-hour layover, I knew that Punto had not entirely recovered and the entire team did not have the spark I had hoped for. They hadn't recuperated during their layover as much as I remembered my 2000 Iditarod team had during their 24-hour layover in McGrath. I realized I was still seeing the effects of the viruses that plagued us from the time we arrived in Canada. Punto was left in Eagle, and I continued on with Naoki, Gonzo, Baldy, Deuce, Fiona, Inga, Kimber, Trouble, Telly, Kenzie and Noor. These dogs were all very sound and in wonderful shape. It eased my mind to not have anyone in need of special attention at this point. The others would get the normal massages, foot rubs, and ointments at every stop, and with fewer dogs, I was able to give them more individual attention. Between Circle and Central, I began to see the team's enthusiasm dwindle, and I am certain that they were wondering if this series of feeding, sleeping, running would ever end. Although there were several rookie teams in this years Quest, mine was the only one to have never run a 1000 mile race and the inexperience was showing. Just a couple miles after leaving Central we got off the trail and took a detour of many miles before I realized our plight. We found the trail again with no real problems but lost precious time in the process and wasted energy on the way to our big climb. Within an hour of getting back on the trail we caught one of the teams that passed us while we were off the trail. Rather then passing, I gave the team a snack, knowing Eagle Summit was just ahead. I felt our lack of power on the first pitch of the climb and was really missing the big strong boys I had dropped earlier in the race. We spent two hours getting to the top of Eagle Summit. The summit is a beautiful place, far above treeline. Several times I had to stop and take in the panorama around us. I arrived in Mile 101 just as the team ahead of me was leaving. At this point I knew that if the team behind me scratched, I would be in possession of the red lantern which seriously discouraged me. Soon I learned that nine teams had dropped out of the race, and I was in fact I was in the 12th and final position of the race. I decided from this point on we would race at a leisurely pace and enjoy the trip. The run through the Black hills into Angel Creek was a breathtaking series of climbs and descents that ended with our final camp and a mandatory 8 hour layover. The final run into Fairbanks was on perfect trails as they are used by many mushers and we had several head-on passes with teams training in the area. We arrived in Fairbanks in 12th position of the 21 teams that started with a time of 12 days, 5 hours, 3 minutes. Although setting the all-time record for the fastest red lantern was not among my goals, ours is nearly 44 hours faster than the next fastest red lantern time in the history of the race. The Yukon Quest officials expect this record to stand, as it is unheard of for all of the teams competing in a 1000 mile event to finish within about 24-hours of each other. Our team was the only team from outside of the Yukon and Alaska to finish the race. The six AKC registered Siberian Huskies that crossed the finish line did so nearly two days faster than any other registered Siberians in the history of the race. We had run a respectable race. And the great news is that I know we can do better. We met several of our goals during the 2005 Yukon Quest, and we certainly learned many priceless lessons in the process. None of these canine athletes had finished a 1000 mile race prior to this endeavor. This alone is a huge accomplishment as the next time we embark on a race of this magnitude they will understand that there is an end to our routine of running, eating and resting. When we reached the finish line and the dogs saw the truck, I could see a huge sigh of relief came through the team. I feel this was a huge trust building moment from the perspective of the dogs, and their confidence in me grew at that moment. In actuality, I finished with 23 dogs in the team as three of my best females, Fiona, Inga, and Noor, were pregnant during the race. I particularly admire the toughness and endurance of these girls. They have been the core of our race teams for several years. They gave birth to 15 wonderful pups by early April, which bring great promise to the future of our kennel. I am extremely proud of the 14 dogs that helped me through this race. Their perseverance inspires me always, and this red lantern will inspire me to be better prepared and train harder in the upcoming seasons.
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Phil and I ran the yearlings at their first race in the 8-dog, 43 mile 2007
Tahquamenon Country Sled Dog Race. The pups did great, and they learned a
lot about traveling in the dog truck on their first road trip. We were
there to have a good time, let them see the race scene, and get a lot of
experience. We gave them several rest stops along the trail and they all
performed very well. Phil ran Jodi, Capri, Twister, Oscar, Takhini, Aries,
Wat, and Roland. I ran Duece, Fiona, Kyat, Muski, Peso, Frog, Tagish, and
Taku. I finished 19th and Phil 36th.
The dogs are running very well and the youngsters are learning quickly. We have had several moose encounters and see hunting
dogs and grouse frequently on the trail. Training is right on schedule despite the fact that it is still just Blake and I
training 52 dogs. Fortunately, Blake has been done with season Forest Service job since last, week, and we have several great
friends that spend nearly every weekend coming from 1 to 4 hours away to help us train dogs and wrap up the projects before
winter arrives. We can't thank them enough for all the help! Our current project is setting up an 85' tower with a wind turbine.
