It's been a busy summer in Alaska! Let's take a look at what Kristy and Anna have been up to since they got off the 2012 Iditarod trail...
Not long after the last great race wrapped up in March, Anna gave a great interview on KVRF 89.5 FM Mushing Radio. But don't take our word for it! Listen to Anna's interview.
The month of May brought some travel for both twins. Anna headed back to Wisconsin to help childhood mentor Lisa with the dogs in her kennel for a couple weeks, while also spending some quality time with Mom and older sister, Kat. Kristy made a trip to Colorado to visit family, take in the sights, and even managed to make a presentation to an area elementary school class.
Not long after the last great race wrapped up in March, Anna gave a great interview on KVRF 89.5 FM Mushing Radio. But don't take our word for it! Listen to Anna's interview.
The month of May brought some travel for both twins. Anna headed back to Wisconsin to help childhood mentor Lisa with the dogs in her kennel for a couple weeks, while also spending some quality time with Mom and older sister, Kat. Kristy made a trip to Colorado to visit family, take in the sights, and even managed to make a presentation to an area elementary school class.
Kristy takes in the sights in Colorado.
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Kristy meets with elementary school kids during her trip to Colorado.
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Just because it is summer doesn't mean folks aren't thinking about mushing. The twins were spotted on Discovery Channel's Flying Wild Alaska on June 29th. They were featured in Issue 43 of AlaskaMen Magazine. And they also got to work with Albert Lewis on the development of his new book: Born to Run ~ Athletes of the Iditarod. This coffee table book will focus on the amazing dogs that run in the Iditarod each year, featuring beautiful artistic photographs from a variety of Alaska kennels. To learn more about this project or reserve a copy of the book, visit Albert's site.
Mid-summer brought the Iditarod Trail Committee's annual picnic and early registration. Fifty-four mushers signed up for the 2013 Iditarod during the picnic, including Kristy and Anna, as well as our friends Paul Gebhardt and Scott Janssen. Sadly, Anna had to work during the event so she wasn't able to attend in person. But Kristy was there and she even got to share some thoughts on summer training and puppies during this Iditarod Insider clip.
Mid-summer brought the Iditarod Trail Committee's annual picnic and early registration. Fifty-four mushers signed up for the 2013 Iditarod during the picnic, including Kristy and Anna, as well as our friends Paul Gebhardt and Scott Janssen. Sadly, Anna had to work during the event so she wasn't able to attend in person. But Kristy was there and she even got to share some thoughts on summer training and puppies during this Iditarod Insider clip.
The end of the summer brought a welcome visit from Dad to Alaska. And in case anyone has been wondering where the nearly 6 foot tall twins got their height from...
Most recently, the twins participated in the Tsalteshi Trails Association 5K Zombie Run in Soldotna on October 28th. This year, Kristy and Anna dressed up as escaped prisoners. In addition to convict garb, they decided to get creative and shackle themselves together with real chains. It was a great idea presentation-wise, but running in tandem with another person while carrying upwards of 20 pounds of chain makes a 5K run feel more like 10K! Despite that, the twins finished in 2nd and 3rd place in the Women's division in just over 27 minutes.
Of course, all of the above are fun highlights. What were the twins doing with the rest of the extra summer daylight? The snow may have gone, but all the dogs are still there! Which of course necessitates twice-daily feedings and cleaning up the dog yards, training and socializing puppies, and general care and maintenance.
Summer is also the time for Kristy and Anna to work as much as possible to replenish their bank accounts to help fund the winter's mushing addiction. Normally, Anna would have spent a lot of time commercial fishing. Unfortunately, concerns over king salmon stocks in the Cook Inlet area led to widespread fishing limitations, leaving commercial "set netters" like Anna on dry land. There was still construction work to be had, which was Kristy's primary focus and gave Anna something to supplement the lack of fishing.
And now, as the temperatures drop and "chance of snow" again becomes a staple of weather forecasting, we say goodbye to summer and anxiously look ahead to the sled dog racing season!
Summer is also the time for Kristy and Anna to work as much as possible to replenish their bank accounts to help fund the winter's mushing addiction. Normally, Anna would have spent a lot of time commercial fishing. Unfortunately, concerns over king salmon stocks in the Cook Inlet area led to widespread fishing limitations, leaving commercial "set netters" like Anna on dry land. There was still construction work to be had, which was Kristy's primary focus and gave Anna something to supplement the lack of fishing.
And now, as the temperatures drop and "chance of snow" again becomes a staple of weather forecasting, we say goodbye to summer and anxiously look ahead to the sled dog racing season!
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