Musher Tidbits from Pre Race show

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Re: Musher Tidbits from Pre Race show

Postby elsietee » Sun Mar 06, 2022 5:44 pm

Thanks for the recaps - I was gone all weekend (durn the timing), and just now sat down to catch up on everything. Trying to find the replay of either of the starts. Need to wade through all the Insider videos.
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Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, CA
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Re: Musher Tidbits from Pre Race show

Postby elsietee » Sun Mar 06, 2022 8:20 pm

Here's mine from watching the Insider vids:

  • Bridgett Watkins - says it's just like the last 20 years - except she's on the front sled
  • Aaron Peck - has three of of Jason Campeau's power dogs in his team. Jason has reluctantly retired from mushing (presumably because of his health issues). Aaron says his dogs have been running in the warm, so he's fine with warm. Snow is very wet, so planning on letting them eat a lot of snow along the trail at the start. Will be riding the brake - wants to keep the dogs under 10 mph.
  • Michelle's 12th ID (21st x 1,000 mile races) - still gets nervous - doesn't eat for the couple of days before. Has bigger, hairier dogs, so may have to run at night if it gets warm
  • Lisbet - hopes to wake up when her alarm clock goes off, which she says is pretty ambitious. Not very experienced team.
  • Julie Ahnen - running Jessie Holmes' B team. Expects them to do well because they're well-conditioned and talented
  • Hugh running Jim Lanier's dogs - they have 67 x 1,000 mile races between them (33 for Hugh). Comes to Jim's house every day and has been caring/running for Jim's dogs all winter. Says the biggest adversary is the weather (started flying the Ukranian flag
  • Dan Kaduce - doesn't look like they're going to see -40°F
  • Eric Kelly - starting hanging around Newton in 2004 ... and here he is... Goal is to get to Nome with happy dogs
  • Matts P - said in 2014 - his rookie year - he said he'd never do it again (this will be his 7th). Has been in AK for four weeks from Sweden preparing. Where he trains in Sweden is a bit like Fairbanks - does most of the work himself. Trains his dogs in the heat of the day to get them used to it - also trains year round. He's only seen the sun 2-3 days since he arrived in AK. Thinks there are more rookie dogs in the race than ever this year, due to covid.
  • Hanna - have been working on getting the dogs here from Norway since last fall. Don't have sun for two months in Norway. Brought 16 dogs and Joar has the two she's not taking with her
  • Paige - hard to get a house-sitter because they live 54 miles off the road system. Has been running the dogs in the day time to get them used to running warm. Has 17 dogs she wants to take with her.
  • Travis B - has some vacuum-sealed coffees packed by Sarah. Last year was a rebuilding year and this year all the dogs in the team are the same as the ones from last year.
  • Sean Williams - had to pull out of the race the morning of last year with a family emergency. His mother died but told him to race, so he's racing in her honour. Has a new two-week old baby so has been on a "competitive Iditarod sleep schedule" already. This year running Martin's B team.
  • Ryan Redington - 12 veterans, two rookies, lots of dogs from his 7th placing team from last year. Hoping to make a push towards the end of the race. Steady, but good trotters.
  • Richie - more experienced team than last year - usually 24s in Takotna - this year sent out several 24-hour drop bags, so will have to wait and see
  • Riley D - just wants to finish with a strong, young team. Got less training this year than last, but able to do Willow 300 and did good this year. Dogs are little - has 6-7 that are under 45 lbs ("Kind of a 'Wade Mars' type team)
  • Amanda Otto - has been warm in Denali, so dogs having been doing shorter runs and drinking a lot. Her job is going to be slowing them down
  • Joe Taylor - rookie from FBs, looking forward to going over the AK Range and seeing the big mtns. Despite coming from FB, they've had a warm spell there recently, and his dogs have been sleeping in his 50° cabin to try and acclimate to the warmer temps
  • Martin Massicotte - (gah, french canadian is hard to understand. I speak french, but... :) ) - it's his second attempt to finish - he didn't in 2020 (I couldn't catch why he didn't finish then). This year he's going to pay careful attention so he finishes
  • Sebastien DSB - 6,000 km with 22 dogs to get to Yukon from France (he did YQ just a few weeks ago). Happy to have got to the start and looking forward to finishing with his "little french dogs" (who he says are his friends). They are going to have a long, long adventure. All his dogs are shelter dogs
  • Karin H - trying to juggle life/work/dogs. Mainly concerned about the moose out there - that are very stressed due to conditions, so they have been more worried about them than trail conditions
  • Matt Hall - young team in their prime, great race in Copper Basin and YQ 350, has some new leaders he's hoping will shine on the coast - dogs not used to seeing nothing around them
  • Brent - coming from cold interior - just going to let the dogs go the speed they want to, keep them hydrated and let them roll around in the snow. Not planning on going fast the first couple of days. Needs to turn off his competitive brain and be comfortable with the dogs going slow - and adjust his plan to make sure they run mainly at night, and shut them down during the heat of the day. Breaks trail with the dogs a lot when they have heavy snow, so they learn to go slow. Because he's the only one running dogs in his area, they're used to punchy snow - they don't have groomed trail
  • Jeff - enjoyed ceremonial start snow yesterday and the bright sunshine for the restart. Has done two runs with Nic's dogs. Doesn't know the individual dogs names. Nic gave him a book with a page for each dog's idiosyncrasies (who they like to play with, who they like to run with, etc). Not planning on switching them around a lot. Has a "Bob" on the team who is also called "Robert" - so really doesn't know their names when they have more than one. When he kisses to them, they take off. Thrilled with the team - thinks they'll be easier to deal with than the team Amanda Otto (running Jeff's dogs) has to deal with (who are a bunch of brawlers). They don't squabble - they're like a team of retrievers, right up until you tell them to stand up, then they're all business. They are comically fat - remembers Doug Swingley passing him on the trail years ago with a team so fat that Jeff thought Doug had gone overboard - they were too fat... and Doug went on to win. Has since learned "Fat is good". Nic's team beat Jeff's team a month ago. Looking forwards to see how his experience can get out of the dogs. Thinks the dogs will want to go more than he does. Hopes to have learned their names by the time he gets to McGrath. Sick of the cold weather, and looking forwards to the warm.
  • Jessie H - has been warm at his place for a month, so the dogs are prepared. They just did the drug urine testing - and the dogs were overflowing the bags with urine they were so well hydrated. They also brushed out the dogs' coats really well to thin them.
  • Beringtons - planning to run together. They work so closely together that if either of them has success they both enjoy it. Expecting overflow, so have packed extra clothes. They don't drink an awful lot - don't have a lot of body fat, so can't store water, so they just have to pee a lot if they drink a lot, which is inconvenient.
  • Kailyn Davis - running Wade's dogs and Wade's sled, which she's less familiar with. Has to rethink where to put everything, but says she likes it better than the one she's used to. Her partner Justin helps her train and did the mid-distance races with the dogs while she handled. Gave her a lot of tips on what he saw in the dogs on those races. Super excited
  • Yuka Honda - second time at ID. Last time she did it for her mother who was ill with cancer. This year she's doing it for herself.
  • Apayauq Reitan - enjoyed the race last time and says the preparation is the stressful part. Did the southern route last time. Saw the trail by snow machine in 2017. Solidarity to all the trans people out there
  • Dallas - trained for everything. Says the warm start will slow the dogs down. First two thirds need to be steady so you can race at the end. Start is not when to race
  • Josh McNeal - changing his run schedule to avoid the heat. Is glad he's bib #46, so will be starting later. Has shorter coated dogs, so that should help.
  • Lisbet - feels like a rookie because it has been a five years since she last did it. She's happy to be at a place in her life where she's able to take the time to do the race this year - says it feels like a win. All purebred sibes.
  • Matt Failor - looking forward to making it to Nome (after scratching in Safety in 2020). Needs to avoid finding excuses to slip in 30 mins of extra rest. Doesn't really have a specific race plan.
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elsietee AT ponyhill DOT org
Repotted english person in the Sierra foothills, CA
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Re: Musher Tidbits from Pre Race show

Postby sarsmile » Sun Mar 06, 2022 8:45 pm

You know it's iditarod time when elsie starts posting recaps :) Always a favorite part of the race!
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Re: Musher Tidbits from Pre Race show

Postby fladogfan » Mon Mar 07, 2022 3:32 am

Such a true statement sars.
elsie thank you for all you will be doing the next couple of weeks.
All my children have four feet and fur.
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Re: Musher Tidbits from Pre Race show

Postby Moose » Mon Mar 07, 2022 5:32 am

As a footnote, Wade Marrs is here in Maine and just finished the Can-Am 250.
Wag more, bark less.
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