Unk-Shak-Koyuk-Elim-WM

[elsietee]

And this:

Chad Stoddard
June 26, 2020
Last winter my dog team and I were able to successfully finish 800 miles of Iditarod and Yukon Quest qualifying races. Two of these races, the Copper Basin 300 and the Yukon Quest 300 are considered by many as two of the more difficult mid distance races in the sport due to the potential for cold temperatures, challenging terrain and many other variables. The team did amazing and I couldn’t be more proud of how those dogs handled the challenging conditions we encountered. From the bone stabbing -50F temperatures during the Copper Basin, to the vertical climb and descent of Rosebud and Eagle summit during the Yukon Quest. I hope that these experiences in both training and racing will make for a strong run to Nome next winter, as last weekend I submitted my application to run the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, The Last Great Race On Earth.

The backbone of the team will be mostly 3 year olds whom I’ve built a strong bond with over the last several years. I’ve spent countless hours from puppy age until now with many of them finishing our first 300 mile event together as yearlings last winter. Watching these dogs grow and thrive together has moved me to tears on many occasion.

I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to travel the historic Iditarod trail with the greatest dogs and mushers in the world and to honor and respect those dogs and mushers who have come before me. Thank you to my summer employer Gold Rush Dog Tours and the @Mackeykennel for their support !

[elsietee]

And Brent is into WM, safe and sound! Dogs look *great* - peppy and happy.

Bruce says he can tell by Brent's voice that he's really tired, but that he should get a 3-4 hour nap here, and will get a couple of feedings into the dogs.

Half the dogs are still on their feet, eating snow, shaking, rolling in the snow, and looking back to see what's going to happen next. His wheel dog has a waggy tail. Brent's taking off booties and unhooking harnesses.

Edited to add:

Brent has fluffed the straw and the dogs are flopped down in the sunshine, looking expectantly at Brent who is now chopping at meat from his drop bags with his axe - handing chunks of whatever it is to his dogs as he breaks pieces up. He's also taking some pics with a couple of little local kids, signing some autographs for the locals, and doing some audio interviews.

I read somewhere this is Brent's 21st x 1,000 mile race.

[elsietee]

Procession across the ice. All teams carrying good speed. The back four teams are Michelle, Mitch, Mille, and Ryan.

[elsietee]

Also just noticed, Dan Kaduce currently in 4th is the only team to still have all 14 dogs.

[elsietee]

From https://www.alaskapublic.org/2022/03/14 ... heres-how/

Dan Kaduce is the only Iditarod musher still racing with a 14-dog team. Here’s how.
By Lex Treinen, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage -March 14, 2022

<pic> - A man eating pizza
Dan Kaduce eats pizza at the Unalakleet checkpoint on Sunday. (Lex Treinen/Alaska Public Media)

UNALAKLEET — Dan Kaduce was calm and relaxed at the checkpoint here Sunday afternoon. He ate pizza next to his 14 dogs as they rested under clear sunny skies with just about 250 miles left to the finish line.

You’d hardly know that Kaduce and his dog team had some of the fastest run times between checkpoints on the Yukon River on the way to Unalakleet. He continues to post screaming run times up the Bering Sea coast. And he’s the only musher in the field who still has 14 dogs. Everyone else has sent at least one dog home as they race down the trail.

So how has Kaduce managed to keep all the dogs he started with?

“I don’t know,” he said with a laugh. “You do things long enough and sometimes you get lucky.”

Kaduce lives in Chatanika outside of Fairbanks with his wife Jodi Bailey who also races the Iditarod. This is Kaduce’s fourth Iditarod, he’s placed as high as 16th last year.

Like other mushers, he said, he’s putting a lot of effort into dog care. He said he’s particularly focused on giving his team lots of food, as well as adapting their eating schedule to the temperature.

“If it’s warm out, I try not to feed very much while they’re running. Only while they’re resting,” he said. “If it’s cold, they can get it shoveled at them every two hours.”

Kaduce and his 14 dogs raced out of Unalakleet at 6:53 p.m. Sunday. They made it to the next checkpoint, Shaktoolik, in 5 hours and 7 minutes — a faster run time than every team in front of them.

The steady runs and strong team have helped Kaduce move to the front of the pack.

He left McGrath — about a third of the way through the race — in 20th position after taking his 24-hour stop. By the halfway mark, he was in 11th. Now he’s in 7th.

While he has won a handful of Yukon Quest 300-mile races, he said he’s not getting sucked into competition.

“For me the way to go is just mush the team in front of me and pay no attention. If you’re faster than me or are willing to cut on rest, have at it,” he said. “If you’re slowing down or you haven’t quite paid attention, I’m comin’.”

[elsietee]

Quick interview with Bruce and Sasha (who was following on a snow machine). Turns out Brent's stop just before Elim wasn't planned.

Brent had an emotional slump, kept looking behind him and thought he saw Dallas' light, broke his sled, tore his boots, thought his dogs were were at walking speed. His GPS broke, so he thought it was still 12 miles to Elim, so he just pulled over and camped (not realizing it was just 4 miles to Elim).

Sasha said that he thought that "mistake" actually helped him and worked out to his advantage. Once B got going again, he was back to full speed, grabbed a little bit of stuff from Elim, and off he went.

Bruce said although Brent was tired, he was still joking around with the local kids about all the mistakes he made, and Sasha said you couldn't tell if B was depressed because he was always so upbeat.

They're bringing water for the dogs now, and doing some more on-camera interviews.

[elsietee]

Chad just arrived in Koyuk in 3rd place - dogs look good. He's staying for a little while.

Liz Failor just confirmed, these are Dallas' dogs.

[JLJ]

I must be missing something, above was discussion of Chad in 2020 for Idit 2021 having a team he'd built since they were puppies then a post saying his 2022 team is Dallas' dogs. Dogs from Dallas bloodlines, or is he using a totally different team of dogs?

[fladogfan]

I wondered about that also

[elsietee]

I must be missing something, above was discussion of Chad in 2020 for Idit 2021 having a team he'd built since they were puppies then a post saying his 2022 team is Dallas' dogs. Dogs from Dallas bloodlines, or is he using a totally different team of dogs?

Sorry, I think that was probably me being confusing. My first thought was he was running Dallas' dogs because of the mention "...and now Dallas Seavey"; then I found the snippets from FB which suggested he was running his own dogs; but then when he arrived in Koyuk, Liz Failor confirmed he is indeed running Dallas' dogs.