Monday, February 1, 2016

The IronLine Recap

This weekend was phenomenal. We packed up and headed out on Thursday night for the Upper Peninsula (UP) - specifically Iron River, Michigan.



We arrived around 6:30am on Friday morning, and headed to our room to take a nap. We attended the mushers banquet where Ruger was the subject of much attention. Such a handsome dog warrants lots of photos!

We headed to the start line to watch Richie Camden of Breakaway Kennels head out for the 40 mile, 10 dog race. This event started in the dark, and was really exciting to watch.

Saturday morning was our turn. We left the chute at 9:40am. Our race was a 4 dog, 12 mile race (in the daylight).

We opted to race Ruger and Denali in lead, and Prudhoe in single wheel. A few weeks ago, Calypso quicked several nails, and has not been able to train. We didn't feel it was right to ask her to race. She was quite mad at us, and pouted in the corner of the dog box while the other dogs were being hooked up. However, she did enjoy playing in the snow and burying her face in it.

Ruger, Denali, and Prudhoe were ready to race. At the starting line, we overheard "That one leader is as big as two normal dogs put together" (referring to Alaskan Huskies of course).

The dogs ran well. Ruger was flawless, and Denali used her speed well. This was Prudhoe's first time on snow. He was unsure at first, but by the end of the race he was a pro.

Our official run time was 1:31:36, so about 7.9mph. We made a few quick stops along the trail, so our moving speed was just under 8.5mph! Our team placed 7th in the 4 dog race, and we were really pleased with this. It was the first time racing on snow for our team, and a great experience overall. We are looking forward to going back next year, and adding a few more races to our calendar.



Two little girls built a snow sculpture of Ruger

Headed out on the trail

Race start


This is pure happiness


Dog selfies are hard




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