Snippets

[libby the lab]

Insider has been great. Most times there are 3 cams and those behind them are providing commentary. Katie Jo Deeter is with one crew, Bruce and Greg another and Sean Underwood with the third crew.

[fladogfan]

Moose and others who do not have II. Got an offer from ITC in email about the 48 hour pass for 'only' $15.00 .

Reads like a good deal.


today, Sunday, March 10 at 8:00 am AKST (12:00 pm EST). You have the opportunity to watch the mushers Finish in Nome for at least 48-Hours.
Access officially begins at 8AM Alaska on Sunday, March 12th (12:00PM EST)
The live finish coverage will be available when the stream is activated when the finishers are closing in on Nome
You have access to the live Iditarod 52 Champion’s Show, Insider live chat with fans, video clips and live musher finishes

I had trouble getting my computer to copy so go to ITC for more info if you are interested.

[flowerpower]

Thanks, I did see that, but we're about to have company, so I'll just stay old school and scan media and watch the standings!

[libby the lab]

KJ interviewwed Erin in UNK after she scratched WOW
here is a reaction from chat:
danny_seavey: I love these interviews, we get caught up in the race and competitive decisions and forget how incredibly hard it is just to finish, and even the best mushers have crashes and wipeouts and bruises and can tell stories for hours. Just making it to Ruby is as long as any other race in the world now, and finishing is downright amazing.

[fladogfan]

I'm enjoying the coverage from Unk. Saw that interview also libby.

Some camera troubles, not much, but good to watch the teams coming in and then seeing them vet checked, given treats and then their straw beds, gotta have that straw just so, say the dogs.
Hope the young boy getting autographs on the pizza box manages to get all of them.

[elsietee]

From Seavey's IdidaRide Sled Dog Tours

The making of an Iditarod Sled Dog (and Tuesday morning #Iditarod2024 update)

Dallas completed his last mandatory in White Mountain last night, after spending 48 hours without going inside a checkpoint building, he found himself on an almost human schedule, camping at midnight, and taking off at 8am. If all goes well, we expect him in Nome around 5pm Alaska time, which would be a record 6th Iditarod win.

Matt Hall will leave second, with an hour and a half lead over Jessie Holmes in third. Things will get interesting after than, with Travis Beals, Jeff Deeter, and Paige Drobny all within 27 minutes, and likely some racing between the three.
Dallas has largely been led by Sebastian and Prophet so far, but as he discussed in White Mtn, Sebastian was a little stiff, and it was time for somedog else to step up. If you watched the Insider video of Dallas' leaving Wht Mtn, he's talking to Aero (sometimes misspelled Arrow). Aero is a perfect example of what goes into creating an Iditarod sled dog, so here's his story.

It starts with genetics. Sled dogs aren't purebred, but they're not accidental mutts either. Neither are they a mix of purebreds, as is often claimed. Some people have mixed in various purebreds over the years, but that is the exception, not the rule. We have pedigrees 12 generations long on each of our dogs, and there's not a purebred dog anywhere on there, it's all just a long history of other dogs bred for this specific purpose.

Mitch Seavey has one of the best breeding programs in mushing, and he's responsible for creating the "Seavey Dog" as we know it, which of course is an offshoot of other great racers before us. Even though Mitch isn't racing he's maintained the breeding program, and his dogs are in many of the teams racing now.

To understand Aero though, we have to go back to the year 0 BC (Before Covid). In 2020, While most of the world was on lock down, and the Iditarod was the last sporting event still going, Mitch had just placed 2nd in the Iditarod, his last competitive race. He would give his main race team to Dallas that spring, but wanted to keep the puppy program alive.

One problem with having a strong "breed" or "line" is that all your dogs are related. So when it came time for spring breedings for summer puppies Mitch was looking outside the kennel. Despite being little known to fans, relatively new musher Josh McNeal had an impressive breeding program going. Josh had been buying and crossing Mitch's dogs to other great racers dogs for some time, and had one dog in particular named Athena that was out of Mitch's 2013 lead dog Crisp, and Jenna, who went back to Solomon, the father of many of our best competitors dogs.

Josh and Mitch agreed to "split a litter," crossing Josh's Athena to Mitch's leader Pilot. Standard practice is the mother's kennel gets first pick of the puppies, since they typically raise them. However, one male and five female puppies ended up being born and raised at Mitch's kennel. Mitch claims he knew Aero was the super dog right away, feel free to call hogwash:) Either way, he renegotiated with Josh, and Mitch kept Aero, and one female Angel. Josh got the other 4 females.
Aero and Angel joined our "development program." Most of Dallas' and Mitch's success racing happens long before the race starts, and the puppy programs are the foundation of the whole thing.

We strongly believe in very slow, but steady development, and its a very long, very active process. Around 6-8 weeks the puppies were weaned, and moved into giant run pens, roughly an acre in size but fully wooded. The puppies run free for hours a day, learning to negotiate obstacles, sticks, trees, etc. This continued all winter, life was mostly playing with the cousins, learning to run together in rough terrain and chasing squirrels.

Aero and Angel went for their first mush in May of 2021. They had seen the big dogs hooked up and run all winter, the run pens are beside the outgoing trail, and the puppies chase every team in and out, but they'd never done this themselves. It was scary at first. The other dogs were bigger, Pilot the big dog was already standing in lead, the harness was weird, and the noise was crazy, but when Dennis said mush for the first time, and the 4-wheeler started to move, some instinct kicked in and Aero and Angel leaned forward and pulled. Something clicked in their brains and they knew this was what they were meant to do. It took a while to avoid getting tangled in all the lines, and figure out when to go and when to stop, but the pulling happened instantly, and never waivered.

All summer Aero and Angel pulled tourists, 500 trips around a two mile trail. It was easy, short with lots of stops, but 500 hookups is a lot of lessons. That's a lot of hook up and unhooks, and stand still and don't get tangled. By the end of the summer they were a little over one year old, and they knew the ropes.

That winter they mushed on sleds for the first time. Most runs were 20 miles, but they went 3-4 times a week, again not worrying about speed, never running a race, but learning the motions. During the Iditarod the handlers took all the "yearlings" on a long camping trip, roughly six 40 mile runs back to back, but with big rests in between.

The following summer was more tours, but now Aero was a pro, and running in lead. He was also a crew favorite, his personality winning friends and fans along the way. He's always had the "it" factor, and when Dallas said his name on camera this morning, the crew text blew up with Aero cheers.

Aero and Angel's second winter got serious. They were a full two years old, had been hooked up almost 1200 times, and it was time for their first races. After some 2000 miles of training, Aero ran his first Iditarod in 2023 with Gerhart Thiart, finishing in 11 days and 21 hours. The whole point was to build up Aero and company's confidence. Don't race, just learn the trail, and see how this works. Again, Aero was a star.

But he was a star without a team. Mitch wasn't racing. Aero went through another summer, which by now was a big lark, and he spent most his time flirting with the staff and showing off for pictures. He was now three years old, and while he was going to race Iditarod again this winter, both the kennel's mushers, Calvin Daugherty and Lara Kittleson were rookies, meaning Aero was better than they were. He was training for Iditarod, but it was easy when you're the best dog on the team.

Then at Thanksgiving disaster struck. Dallas' team was hit by a snowmobile in training, and several of his dogs were out for the winter. Dallas called Mitch. They decided to do a joint training camp, with Dallas, Calvin and Mitch training together for a few weeks to see how the dogs fit together. Aero saw his chance. He was a star, and one of the first ones Dallas "drafted." It was exciting, but life got a lot harder. Like a college kid getting drafted to the NFL, he hadn't seen anything yet. But he had three months to learn, and he had the gift.

Life got real for Aero. He had to learn a new way to eat, a new way to train, and a new group of teammates. Mostly, he had to learn how to manage himself at this speed. He could no longer rely on sheer athleticism to carry him. He had to be smart too. These guys didn't stop. They did long runs, ate a 1000 calorie snack, and went out and did it again. And again. And again. There was no way he could keep doing this. But he was determined to try. And to Aero's astonishment, he kept doing it. His body did things he didn't think were possible. After a while, he realized he could REALLY do it. Once in a while the team would start to slow, and he would pop the line a time or two to get it back up to speed. "We're better than this, get moving." he'd say.

Somewhere along the way he realized they were on the Iditarod again. It was hard to tell because training and racing were now the same. He'd been doing this for months, and his body was used to it. Just keep putting one paw in front of the other. Day after day, mile after mile. Dogs don't think too much about the "why" of things, they live in the moment, and Aero had found his moment. He was a sled dog.

Aero is now leading the first place team towards Nome. The race isn't over, but he's a winner.

His sister Angel is with Lara Kittleson, currently in Unalakleet. His other sisters Dolly, Reba and Patsy made Josh's team, which became Wally Robinson's team. They're in Elim. They're a super litter. The latest in a long line. A repeat is in the works:)

[libby the lab]

Just watched Jessica K's finish video. She is PREGNANT! WOW running the Iditarod pregnant

[Pippiroo]

I think the old t-shirt slogan "Alaska Where men are men and women win the Iditarod" needs updating just for Jessica

[fladogfan]

15 weeks pregnant!!