Seeing Double’s competitive season launched in early December with the 65 mile Alpine Creek Excursion (ACE) race.  Anna, running the varsity dog team, secured 5th place of 22 entrants in 6 hours and 19 minutes, right behind champions of the Kobuk 440 and Knik 200.  Kristy, despite running two new lead dogs and a squad of rookie 2 year old pups, was not far behind.  With lots of snow and mild temps, this was as much a sprint fun run as it was hardcore mushing, and a great way to start off the season. 

The remainder of December and most of January were focused on fairly aggressive Iditarod-geared training runs, with the team tackling 200, 300, and 250 mile training campouts, predominantly along the scenic Denali Highway.  The twins also found time for a quick presentation to the Rotary Club in downtown Anchorage, taking Jonah along to enjoy the views from the top floors of the Hilton.   

January 27th brought the start of the Tustumena 200 (T200).  Designed as a 200 mile race, lack of snow necessitated a reroute, resulting in 167 miles of challenging trail through the Caribou Hills on the southern Kenia Peninsula of Alaska.  The hills were no joke - as elevation changes were the standard for this trail - nor were the glaciers and dangerous water crossings.  Of 18 entrants, Anna finished 10th and Kristy 13th, after 28 hr 56 min and 29 hr 18 minutes, respectively.  Three teams scratched.  For those curious on the overall spread, the winner came in around 26 1/2 hours while the “red lantern” came in at 33 1/2 hours.   

After only a few day’s rest, Seeing Double didn’t have to venture far from home for the start of the Willow 300 (W300) on February 1st, a (technically) 279 mile race through the Susitna Valley.  Thirty-five teams with 14 dogs each converged on Lake Willow for an atypical mass start (most races usually have teams start individually in 2 minute intervals).   Although Anna said both longer races of the season had “friendly weather”, they did see -25F (-31.6C) air temps and intense headwinds at times during this one.  Anna finished in 20th place in 52 hr 16 min and Kristy finished 22nd in 53 hr 5 min.  Five of the thirty-five teams scratched. 

Most Iditarod-qualifying and sanctioned mid-distances races award Sportsmanship and Humanitarian awards, both held in high regard in the sport.  The Humanitarian award is voted on by the race’s vets for the musher they feel exhibited exceptional dog care during the event.  Anna was thrilled to be named this year’s Willow 300 Humanitarian award winner! 

All attentions are now focused on Iditarod 2018.  Drop Bags, the bags of dog and musher food and supplies shipped out to checkpoints in advance of the 1,000 mile race, are due by Feb. 15th.  Each of these is a logistical consideration, an educated guess at what you and your dogs likely need most at each of the 25 checkpoints along the trail.  More training runs will be made and gear readied. 

Generally, Kristy and Anna feel good about their dogs and their season thus far.  They've made changes to their training program, the dogs' diet, and they have lots of new canine talent in the kennel.  This season, they’ve been focused on training for Iditarod rather than impressive fast finishes in mid-distance events.  They’re also training 3 Iditarod dog teams (with Kristy's husband Andy Pohl running a team this year), which presents some logistical challenges and stretches things a bit thinner than they’d like.  But they are confident in their experience as mushers and their dogs and are optimistic personal bests can be achieved in Iditarod 2018.

While you wait for the start of the 46th Iditarod, be sure to check out...

Footage from the Mass Start of the Willow 300 (ADN.com)

Seeing Double helps The Try Guys Race Dog Sleds, in Part 3 of the Dirty Tour.

And of course... pictures!

With the final days before Iditarod 2017 going by in a flash, it is nice to pause and take a quick look back at what we and our dogs have already accomplished this season.  The prior post got you up to speed on the first race of the season, ACE, and of course we've been getting a ton of training miles in.  Here's an overview of the rest of our competitive events.

Aurora 50/50:  Dec 30 & 31, 2016.  This ended up being more of a "40/40" due to route changes from weather, but it was still a fun early season run.  There were 7 entrants.
Anna ~ 3rd place, 7h 15m 7s.
Kristy ~ 4th place, 7h, 15m, 15s.
 
Gin Gin 200:  Jan 6-8, 2017.  Kristy finished 5th of 13 entrants after 33h and 32s on the trail.  The weather was excellent; clear and calm with temperatures ranging from -15 to -30F. Trail was hard-packed and fast. The trail features six climbs of over thousand feet each, a 12-dog maximum with ten hours of mandatory layover time. The checkpoint at Alpine Creek Lodge is used twice during the event. Racers carry most of their own equipment and supplies due to Alpine Creek being a very remote checkpoint - available only by snowmobile, seventy miles from the start.
 
Copper Basin 300:  Anna, 13th place.  66h 23m (44:23 run / 22 rest).  Jan 13-15, 2017.  Anna had a great race in the Copper Basin 300.  She was one of 38 teams to leave the starting line on Saturday morning (Jan 14) at 10am Alaska time.  Conditions were challenging and 11 teams scratched along the way, despite this being an Iditarod-qualifying race that tends to draw a fair bit of mushing talent.  Anna pulled bib #13 on Friday the 13th, and secured a 13th place finish after nearly 67 total hours on the trail (44.5 hours actual run time x 22 hours of rest, where 18 of those hours are mandated by race rules).   As to the challenging conditions…  a lot more deep powdery snow than a lot of teams, including the twins, have been training on, which led to more dropped dogs with things like shoulder and wrist strains.  A storm blew through during the race, with reported 50mph winds and sub-zero Fahrenheit ambient air temps (-20F was reported along the trail at various points).  There were reports of blown in trails, big drifts, and moguls.   In other sections, particularly during the peak of the day when the sun broke through, they saw temps of +15F to +20F, which can be too warm for the dogs to comfortably run in without risk of overheating.  Oh, and there was some open water crossing, just to keep it real.
 
Tustumena 200:  Anna, Jan 28 – 30, 2017.  Race time 29h 9m.  Anna competed in the Tustumena 200, finishing a respectable 12th place (of 24 initial entrants and 21 final finishers) after 29 hours and 9 minutes on the trail ~ only 3 hours behind the 1st place finisher.  Weather and trail conditions were friendly aside from some pretty heavy snow over the last third of the race.  This race was held on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, running through the Caribou Hills.  By hopping off her sled and running up some of those hills, Anna gave her team an advantage that later paid off when she had the distinct pleasure of passing her mentor and a former Iditarod champion Dean Osmar to beat him to the finish.
 
Willow 300:  Seeing Double wrapped up their last scheduled mid-distance race before Iditarod with Kristy competing in the inaugural run of the Willow 300, held Feb. 3 – 5, 2017.  There were 35 teams registered and 29 finished, with Kristy securing a 9th place finish after 57 hours and 37 minutes on the trail.  This race had 5 checkpoints, 3 of which were in remote locations only accessible by dog team, snow machine, or small plane.  Temperatures hovered around -17F (-27C) at night with a thick blanket of hoarfrost leaving dogs, mushers, sleds, and trees with a crystal-like coating of ice.  Running with Kristy were 14 dogs, all but 2 of which made it the entire way to the finish (and the 2 “dropped dogs”, which were left in a checkpoint with vets, only suffered minor muscle strain).  The twins are excited to have a deep roster of canine athletes to choose from as they finalize their respective 16-dog teams for Iditarod.  Wondering what kinds of names sled dogs get?  Running with Kristy in the Willow 300 were:  Jonah, Beatrix, Jack, Quintes, Beaker, Lucy, Sneaky, Beccaroo, Bulleit, Bill, Achilles, Pace, Shoes, and Duramax.