PINK PEAKS Race Report

[tanglefoot]

hi all

just in off the trail in day one of the PINK PEAKS sled dog race
for breast caner reserch...we have raised $250+ outselves and the other mushers have all raised some too, not sure how much yet.

AND IT WAS....MUDDY!!! and WET!!!

i went bib# 50 and ems went off bib # 80..so all those teams before us cut the trail up to muddy mush! hard for the dogs and mushers wallowing around in the mud but was good fun and our teams went well...

was so pleased with my team sassy the puppy did so well and the training and time spent working on her as really payed off, tight tugs all the way, we over took one team but got caught by another, we kept up with them for a mile before losing them on a big hill (note to self..must get fitter for running up steep hills!) sassy was the dog that quit on us earlier in the season at her first race, over whelmed and too fast a pace for her, so for her to run in joint lead today was excellent we were just running to finish with her so took it steady, mind you it was so muddy we couldnt do much else! haha

ems had her first race, we handled for her, set her off then ran up a hill top see her come past, the dogs were working well for her and she was really pleased with her run. she was out bib #80 and th trail was so cut up she had to scoot alot and push the rig to help the dogs out on the hills, it was horrendous, not dangerous just really hard work for the dogs and the mushers...

day two tomorrow...and its raining really hard!!!!!!! OH NO MORE MUD we have harnesses hugn up drying al over the house, you know you addicted to sled dog racing when you wash muddy harnesses in the shower with you hahaha


another uk fan has just turned up and is handling for us tomorrow! yippe iditabuddies rock! you wait till you see todays photos...all i can say is it was PINK! more later......so will dash and start the uk iditaparty!

wish you all were here will post pixs after the weekend!

[fladogfan]

YEA TEAM TANGLES AND EMS GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOOGO

[boo]

Gotta tell 'ya my first impression when I saw the words, "PINK PEAKS"....I thought, aw, cool, someone took a nice picture of alpenglow on the Chugach Mtns.

Um.....probably not! Good job----that is a good one:

you know you addicted to sled dog racing when you wash muddy harnesses in the shower with you hahaha

Hope tomorrow is a good run, too. How's Em's knee?? And what kind of shoes do you wear for chugging uphill in mud? Football cleats? Cross-country spikes? Sounds like it was quite a slog and tomorrow more of the same. Be careful and have a good run! Good on AnotherUK for handling, too. Iditabuddies rock!

[Heidi]

Hope you have a great race again tomorrow Tangles! And I can't wait to see the pics!

And please check your private messages!

[mithious]

Whooohooo tangles and Ems...ya inquiring minds want to know......what do you wear to run in? On your feet?...in the mud

Have a great and safe race, Ems congrats on your first race...hope that knee is much better

YOU TWO ROCK....GO TEAM TANGLES

[aren]

Yehaaa Tangels Sounds like you guys have a lot of fun. Best of luck for todays race
Did you guys have the brit iditabuddy party last night Hope you had fun Btw is you pub a freehouse, if not which brewery is it conected to

[dilli]

WHOOHOO

Go TEAM TANGLES Go
Go TEAM EMS Go

Thru wind and hail and rain and mud .. race the good race to find a cure for breast cancer!!!!!

ROFHOWLing .. washing muddy harnesses while showering ..
Such devotion and dedication to the cause!

Can't wait to see photos of Tangles and Polaris in all their Pink Peaks glory

Matt .. sorry I missed your call live from the banquet last night .. duh .. forgot to open my email program so didn't see your message until this morning. Dang! I was clutching the magic Kirra Bootie and incessantly invoking though ..

[tanglefoot]

hi all,
hey dilli we were all set to call you but it was engaged your end..sorry you didnt get the email till late..

ok we had a good gang at the iditabuddy banquet oon the menu was nachos with chilli and cheese to start with, olives with vintage balasmic vingar and olive oil with tomato salsa, then we had a mix of fish pie, beef and ale pie, spicy chick peas cod and chips in beer batter and steak and i think we all stole some of ems ic cream for desert, we toasted lance on his win, jeff on his second, martin on his shirt, the BSSD idita project board and lots fo talk about the race, there was myself, ems, anotherukfan her hubby steve, wendy from the ITC forum and a friend of aukf and our friends mike and pauline, loads of fun wine and beer.. mike and pauline had been handling at he race during the day and in true iditabuddy fashion have become grat friends with aukf, steve and wendy, it was a really fun nite, thank you all so much!
we got some photos, including the newly formed 'team tiara'....more on that later ha ha. we'll wait for pix!

got up early after a fun night and headed off to the race...a weeks rain in 24 hours! great!!!!
we got to the race site and saw a few trucks pulling out, we guessed with guys camping on the trail there would be a few wet mushers pulling hook and scratching, but sadly when we got to the staging area, we learned they had cancelled day 2. the trails we flooded in places (bit like the kusco-swim) and someone couldnt even get a 4 wheeler around some of the course when they were assessing the trail. so we had driven 1.5 hours to no avail...i felt really sorry for aukf and team tiara as they had driven 3 hours the night before booked a hotel then drove another hour to get to the race and it was cancelled but in true iditabuddy fashion they braved the elements for a cup of hot coffee some trailside cheese burgers and a few hours looking at the teams packing up. we had the prize giving in the rain before a quick raffle and then folks departed, i think they raised about $1000 - £500 plus for the charity.

we hung about a bit and waited for most to depart before giving the dogs a run out on a short hardened trail, its wasnt suitable for the rally to be held on as it just ran along a rirge for a few miles to a dead end, but it gave the dogs that were excited dispite the rain a run out.

Ems will have to tell you her news, i'll get her to post later or tomorrow.

we came 8th in class out of 12 but we took time to rest and the trail was so bad we had to slow to walking pace to push through some bits, but i was running sassy team so just wanted to finish with her happy and wanting to go..she did! we belted through the finish and back to the van! so im pleased she has finished a race happy healthy and was very keen to run today..mission accomplished! so we are now packed up and back home, dogs, lines, harnesses mountains of wet gear all washed and hung about the place drying...and an excitable trip home after running out of gas 10 miles from home after long detour around some flooding ment we didnt pass a gas station.....ops! ems dad to the rescue..breaking down with a fully loaded dog truck isnt fun as the rescue recovery services wont touch you with dogs on board and rigs hanging off the truck. but we got home!

so the end of our season....it was fantastic...5 wins and 3 seconds plus the class win in the championship, ems's first race this weekend on possibley the hardest trail of the year a new dog running well, a litter planned of autum and iditabuddies coming to handle and cheer us on! the bootie went around with me then ems dilli! and brought her some luck too!!!!! go dillis magic bootie go!...its become famous now with friends asking if we have the lucky jeff king bootie on board hahahahaha. the iowa tshirt and neckachief also paid another visit around the trail luvmy! hee hee...needs a damn good wash now then!.......only 6 months till the start of the next season....still lots of training runs to do to warm them down..if anyone is coming to the uk this year PLEASE come over and see us and have a run out with the dogs!!

photos to follow!!

[Di*]

Ahhhh sorry Day 2 was a wash(pun intended!) Tangles!

Sounds like you made the best of it though, am excited to hear how Ems did and of course to see your pictures! The iditaparty sounds like a success too! Would like to hear from Aukfan on her handling duties, she is getting to be a real pro now!

[fladogfan]

THANKS M ATT!!

Interesting update, sorry day two washed out looking forward to seeing your pics. Hope ems knee took NO damage.