2009 11th Place Beargrease 8-Dog 112 Miles

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***Photo taken coming into the finish*** My team did a super job for me and showed they have a lot of heart! I was very proud of them for how well they did considering our late start in training and low miles! They really powered me up those hills! The last leg of the race we did most of our passing in the hills! They just motored right up! I felt nauseous and wasn't able to help them out as much as I would have been able to if I had felt better, but they never stopped pulling and just kept going and going. We narrowly missed out on my goal of a top ten finish but I made a few mistakes, things I defiantly plan to change or do better next time, and to top it off, left late out of Finland. Thank you to my awesome handler crew, my mom, Leah Richter, and my cousins, Sarah & Holly Oberg who showed up as a surprise to help out! I couldn't have done it with out all your help, you gals are awesome! My mom didn't get a wink of sleep, even though its not her thing she was a trooper and did awesome! Leah, you were amazing and on the ball! I still can't believe how fast you tied that spare neckline on to replace the chewed one as they are counting down in the starting chute! Sarah and Holly, you guys are awesome, always looking to help out in any way you can, thank you so much for the support!! And thank you to my dad, who followed me on all the late night training runs with the snowmobile to make sure everything went ok and I didn't run into an angry moose or anything:) He stayed up late building dog boxes in the trailer the night before the race and helped pack everything up... I know he wanted to be there with me but someone had to stay home and feed dogs and man the generators! We missed you! While I am thanking people, a huge thank you to Blake & Jennifer Freking and their friends who helped pull our trailer out from being blocked in by vehicles after the pre-race ceremonies!! You guys are our heroes!! I sure enjoyed running my powerful crew, even my helpers at the start of the race commented that my team was the strongest (and craziest) they had brought up yet! The morning after the race you could hardly tell my team just ran 112 miles! They all were peppy and happy! It was fun to see old friends and make new ones! Congrats to all the winners and finishers alike!!
... Talon-2006 (M) (L)
Pedigree
This was Talon's first race and boy was he a superstar!! He ran point the whole race next to Stryder. Those two are my energizers, they never seem to tire! He loped and loped, pulled hard in the hills, just did phenomenal! He finished strong and I couldn't be happier with his performance! Look for him to be leading my team in the future!
... Sparrow-2004 (F) (L)
Pedigree
Sparrow was one of the best in my team! She was on fire, just awesome! Drove super hard, very focused, did great passing and was excellent on commands! She and Radar made a good team up front the first two legs of the race, unfortunately I had to drop her in Finland due to a sore shoulder muscle. She started limping pretty badly just before the checkpoint. Sure wish I could have had her for the last leg, she would have been a huge asset as she sets a competitive pace in lead!
... Xander-2003 (M)
Pedigree
I just can't say enough about Xander and how impressed I was with him! He was one of the hardest working dogs in the team, and definitely the strongest! Though the speed was sometime a bit fast for him, he gave his all! He had a mild sore wrist at the finish, as he did hold back on the steeper down hills and being such a big guy those down hills were tough on him. Pulling up the hills every muscle was straining, he just dug in with all his might and was a HUGE asset in the hills! What a super d…
... Phantom-2002 (M)
Pedigree
Phantom did super, drove hard, just lopes and lopes! He was a bit off on the last leg of the race as he was struggling with diarrhea but he hung in there and showed the 2 yr. old's how its done! The vets were amazed that he was 6 yrs. old, they thought he was much younger!
... Stryder-2002 (M)
Pedigree
Stryder was one of my most consistent dogs, always on the tug line whether it was fast or slow, he is and always has been a superstar! He didn't even act tired at the end! What a dog! He did fantastic, I couldn't be happier with his performance, he always is driving, always focused, always consistent, never tired, just an incredible animal! The vets could not believe he and his brother were 6 yrs. old, they thought they were young dogs!