ASK THE MUSHER Vol 5: Ken Anderson

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Re: Ask the Musher...Ken Anderson

Postby mithious » Mon Jul 14, 2008 9:54 am

Hi Ken and Gwen,

congrats on the twin....praying and sending abundant blessing for you and your new family :D :D :D HUGE thanks for doing this :D :D :D I followed both your Q and I race closely....have been VERY impressed with your runs and such.... :D :D :D :D

1. When you are racing, does it FEEL like you're going fast? I mean once out of the start and re-start and the dogs settle into a pace, or do you feel more like on and extended camping trip?

2. When the twins get old enough, do you plan on letting them race if they want to, and how will you start them off....the Jr? or smaller races...and what age will you let them start running teams. also, do you plan on having them work in the kennel too?

3. Does Gwen run a racing team, or does she run the next years super stars?

4. Does it feel like a free fall when doing the steps and Gorge? and were you ever scared going through?

5. Do you ever get to the point where you feel like throwing in the towel but push yourself past it? and if so...how?

6. How has the changes in weather, and snowfall the past years changed your strategy?

7. What do you think of Kings "new" sled design, and do you, or would you use the "sit down" sled, and if you do use it....how hard is it to steer?

8. What's the most magical part of the race for you? A place, or moment that puts you in awe...if you have one?

9. Do you pretty much stick to your proven strategy, or are you always tweaking it to get the best out of your dogs?

10. Are there any little tricks you use to keep the dogs in high spirits?

By the way..I know you probably don't remember me...but I had the honor of meeting you in Alaska this past race.....and It WAS an honor...although I was in such awe of it all, I probably just gushed some incoherent non-sense, and sounded like an idiot!!!! :D :D :D You and Gwen ROCK!!!! All the best to you all...and I will be following you down the trail next race :D :D :D

Thanks again and thanks Gwen for letting us borrow your husband for a week....especially right now :D :D :D shhhh...but I think at some point...Ken is going to give Lance the what for...and be our next star :shock: :D ;) :mrgreen: :lol:

Was thinking that during the Q last race :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.
Henry D Thoreau
Happiness depends more on the internal frame of a person's mind than on the externals in the world.
George Washington
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Re: Ask the Musher...Ken Anderson

Postby ken anderson » Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:16 am

Mithious,

Wow, I'll try to answer these as best I can. Thanks for the wonderful support.

1. I don't think it feels like you're going fast at all. Sprint racing sometimes feels fast, but you get used to the speed.

2. As far as the kids go, I have no plans for them in terms of mushing. I don't have any personal need to create a legacy but if they enjoy mushing I'll be totally supportive.

3. Gwen has finished both the Quest and the Iditarod (one of only a handful of female mushers to do so), and won the Stage Stop in Wyoming in 2003. She's also run Yellowknife, the North American, and lots of other sprint and stage races. Last year she was pregnant so she hardly ran dogs at all. The prior year she had a weird autoimmune condition and was on prednisone and the doctors told her to stay off the runners. She's pretty wrapped up in her career right now but would like to do some more racing this year. She has no more desire, though, to do the long ones, just sprint and mid-distance. She really enjoys her job and is taking off with that.

I'll get back to the rest of these questions later. Ken
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Re: Ask the Musher...Ken Anderson

Postby MotorWerk » Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:44 am

Hi Ken.

What about taking your vacation in Europe one winter, and perhaps try your team in Finnmarksløpet, Norway, or perhaps La Grande Odyssee in France? I know there's not much money involved in European mushing - but wouldn't it be cool to race in Europe at least once in your career?

And; who is the biggest joker among the mushers? Would that be Martin Buser (ref the stunt he did with his gps this year)?

All the best,

Stig Olsen
Sarpsborg, Norway
-exit body, exit mind-

""It's a mathematical certainty that somewhere among all the millions of stars, there is another planet where they speak Norwegian""
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Re: Ask the Musher...Ken Anderson

Postby ken anderson » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:29 pm

Back to questions:

4. There's a couple of places on the happy river steps that can feel like free-fall if the wind's right and a cornice develops. To tell you the truth, the most afraid I've ever been behind a dogsled was racing in France. The scariest part was knowing that the trail was not being put in by mushers or otherwise experienced dog race people. I was petrified at times at what they sent us down. Black diamond ski runs and 180 degree switchbacks. Several mushers wound up in the hospital. At one point Emil Inuen got thrown from his sled, lodged his body between two trees and was stuck there. He couldn't feel below his waist and we all thought he had a broken back. Turns out he had broken ribs instead. Magali Philip was thrown multiple times from her sled and also wound up in the emergency room. I dumped my sled on a steep switchback while following Magali on the second day. She dumped in the same place and her sled runner was sticking up pointed straight at my head as I was speeding towards it while holding onto the handlebar and dragging on my stomach. I had to let go or get skewered. It was a painful sight watching my team careen off down the mountainside with no one on the runners. I caught them about 40 minutes later and amazingly none of the dogs were injured. I wound up second place in that race about 40 minutes behind Jacques Phillip. At one point the mushers mutinied and refused to go on some of the trails they wanted to send us down. I recall multiple times running along a narrow logging road, peering over the edge to see the lights of a villa 2000 feet straight below us, hoping my leaders didn't see the lights and try taking a shortcut. That happened to Grant Beck one year in the old Alipirod. His leader dove over the cliff and he got his team barely stopped. Many of the dogs were hanging by their harnesses until he got them back on the trail. The Odyssee (as it's called) was in January of 2006 and that year the steps and the gorge never felt easier.

5.Nowadays I don't really contemplate scratching. I've been through a lot on the race and have come to realize the dogs are capable of amazing feats. I've finished with six dogs before and still cracked the top-20. You certainly do go through highs and lows though. It's very easy, especially if you're new to distance racing, to get bummed out and want to throw the towel in. Oftentimes the dogs go through cycles of fast running and slow running. It's important to even out the peaks and valleys by not letting the dogs run too fast when they're feeling up. Because the end result is that they'll be tired the next run and have a flat run. The flipside of that is that when they have a flat run, you can usually expect a strong run after that, assuming the dogs aren't sick. But these highs and lows are mentally draining on dogs and mushers and I try to avoid them by pacing the dogs correctly. The most important thing is to never make drastic decisions when you're on a downer.

6. I don't think a lot about the weather. I don't look much at forecasts while I'm at home and rarely on the race. They're typically not very accurate anyways. We've had some cold races recently and we've had some warm ones. And then we've had some that were warm to start and cold to finish and vise versa. I think the best approach is to have versatile dogs. I prefer dogs with a slightly thinner coat in case it does get warm. Dog coats are a pain but they work and can be used if it does turn cold.

7. Jeff's sled design isn't so new any more. It seems like nearly half the field now uses tail draggers. The upside is that they're more comfortable and you can get out of a headwind better. The downside is they tend to make you a little lazy and it's very easy to fall asleep in them, which always takes the edge off the dogs (knowing the boss is taking a break, why can't they?). I didn't use one in the Quest and managed just fine. I sent one out to McGrath and used it from then on. Before that I think they're maybe a little dangerous. If you get your leg caught under the taildragger, it'll suck you right off and do damage if you're moving fast.

8.I've always loved the coast. I especially like the views from atop the Blueberry Hills. On a clear day you can see a big rock island out to sea that never seems to be in the same place each year. From the bluff over the spit leading out to Shaktoolik you can see forever. It's also very beautiful coming into Elim. Some years we take the road in from Moses Point and it climbs up high to a steep bluff overlooking Norton Sound. If we stay on the ice we go right underneath that bluff and if feels like a scene out of Lord of the Rings.

9.I talked about my strategy I think in an earlier post.

10. The only trick I know of to keep dogs' spirits up is to keep you own spirits and focus up. Late in the race the dogs really look to you for leadership. You see a lot of teams fall back at this point and I think it's because the musher is getting tired, losing faith and focus. I've had good years with this and not so good years, but typically by the coast I'm on my "A" game.

I'd love to go back to France, but frankly, I'm glad I came out of that race alive with a paycheck big enough to cover my costs. It was a huge liability. We spent $25,000 doing that race and won just over that with a second and fourth-place finish. At any point things could have turned south and we'd still be paying that race off. Unless I got a sponsor or the purse went way up, I can't justify taking that kind of risk again. However, I'd love to race in France and then head north to run the races in Scandinavia.

Martin Buser is a real joker but there's other sides to him as well. You'll have to read my journal to find out.....

Some of the biggest belly-laughs I've had on the trail came from Ray Redington, Jr. He comes up with these hilarious one-liners that are always self-deprecating. One year I was 24ing in Takotna and waking up from a nap in the church. He and his brother came in there and I asked him how his team was doing. He kind of hemmed and hawed and said "I think I'm going to have to prop that little black book (pointing to one of the bibles in the pew) up against my lead dog to get through this one". I just rolled.

Thanks for the questions, it's actually kind of relaxing for me to do some writing. Ken
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Re: Ask the Musher...Ken Anderson

Postby mithious » Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:07 am

Ken....THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH....I felt like I was there.... :D :D :D I live vicariously through you mushers.....as you can see from my avitar...I am now confined to a wheelchair...but used to race sprint with plans to run the Iditarod.....was almost there...then the car accident...so you have given me more than you know :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

YOU ROCK KEN :D :D :D :D THAT WAS AWESOME :D :D :D :D

If you haven't already...with the exception of your journals....you should consider writting a book....I love your style of writting.....you paint an awesome mental picture :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

HUGE THANKS FOR DOING THIS FOR US :D :D :D :D :D :D
Nay, be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.
Henry D Thoreau
Happiness depends more on the internal frame of a person's mind than on the externals in the world.
George Washington
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Re: Ask the Musher...Ken Anderson

Postby CynCyn37 » Wed Jul 16, 2008 3:49 pm

Can't think of anything else to ask since I am so late to start reading. One day, I'll get around to ordering the journal Ken.

Thanks to you and Gwen for sharing. I appreciate it! One day, I hope to ride on a sled in the snow!!! So far, I've only been on one with wheels, but it was so great I am now HOOKED!!!
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Re: Ask the Musher...Ken Anderson

Postby Heidi » Fri Jul 18, 2008 1:03 pm

Thanks again, Ken, for doing this.

One more question from me: What's the most dangerous situation you've encountered on the Iditarod trail? Or any trail really?
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Re: Ask the Musher...Ken Anderson

Postby Moose » Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:43 pm

And the most humorous...at the time or after the fact?

Can't wait to get my copy of your journal. Reading your words here, I know I won't be disappointed.
Wag more, bark less.
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Re: Ask the Musher...Ken Anderson

Postby ken anderson » Fri Jul 18, 2008 4:28 pm

I'll try humorous first. And this is definitely an after-the-fact one. This one's kind of foul, but I think it was probably the funniest thing (in hindsight) that happened to me on the race.

My second year racing Iditarod (2002) I was camped out in the burn in an area of thin, charred black spruce. Essentially it was an open area (bad place to camp). After taking care of the dogs I kind of had to go to the bathroom..number two that is. The dilemma was that there was really nowhere private to go. I could see either way down the trail for about a quarter mile before the trail disappeared into thin willow cover. So I decided to chance it and leaned up against one of these thin trees. Just as I decide to let 'er fly I heard none other than Linda Plettner coming down the trail. If you don't know Linda, she's a great gal but really talks a lot. If you're in a checkpoint with her you'd better have earplugs or you're not going to get any rest. I recognized her voice from behind the willows, chatting away to her dogs as she drew nearer. By now I was fully committed and there was no turning back. A few moments after she came into the clearing all I heard was......dead silence. All I could do was hang my head in shame as she eased on by.

Ken
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Re: Ask the Musher...Ken Anderson

Postby MelanieGouldFanBrian » Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:00 pm

Now That's an Iditarod story Ken! :shock: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us on our forum. We appreciate it.
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