THE KLONDIKE 300 -- PRE RACE

Well, a lot goes into preparation for a race and I am determined to be better prepared for this one. Just finishing the Don Bowers Memorial Race has given me a real boost in my confidence. It has enabled me to face this next challenge head on and I am quite excited about it.

So, many hours were spent getting in my long training runs. Often my days would start at 6:30 am and end after 9 pm. It was hard finding the needed time to keep the dog lot clean...I will never again complain about picking up after Sandy Dog ! I started putting together my drop bags and it was much easier as I had labored over the ones for the Don Bowers...do I have enough of this or too much of that? I also made calls to Kathy for advice. I had spent hours in my outdoor butcher shop, chopping up meat for snacks for the dogs and also for their meals. So things were on track.

Food for my Athletes...snacks of salmon, white fish, liver, lamb, pork, beef, poultry skins, and the chicken and rice cookies that I make for them. Their meals will be either beef or lamb prepared in the cooler and then kibble added to it.

Food for Jan...well, on this race we can actually buy a meal at the lodges...so I pack the regular peanut butter and honey sandwiches (they don't freeze solid and you can gag them down on the trail !) I also pack yummy gogurts. They are great. I start with 6 in my sled and ship out 6 in each drop bag. I have a special supplier of delicious fudge that I have carefully cut up into tiny pieces for the race. Gummy bears are another favorite...they can be frozen solid but when you put them into your mouth they thaw and are juicy. Other than that I have an assortment of dried fruit and nuts, pepperoni sticks cut into bite size pieces, elk jerky cut into bite size pieces, maple flavored bacon in food saver bags, and a breakfast burrito.

Vet Checks, food drops and the musher's meeting:

I was relieved that this race included your vet check...for the Bowers Race I ended up paying $145 for a vet to approve my dogs. So, we loaded up the race dogs and away we went with all of my drop bags...the dogs all passed the inspection and as like before, the vet commented on how it was a pleasure checking my dogs. They are very friendly and not hard to work with. (Actually a couple of them can make it hard because they like to be in your face kissing you as you are checking the dog next to them.)

After the vet check, I went through my drop bags and then tied them all up and they were loaded up into the trucks and ready to be taken to the airstrip. On this race you can't get to the check points by car...you have to snowmachine in, mush in or fly in.

The musher's meeting was at 7 pm and it was about 2pm when we had finished with our vet check and drop bags. So back home we go.

We arrived early at the musher's meeting. DeeDee Jonrowe sat across from us, along with Kathy. Next to me were the Redingtons. This race was full of Iditarod mushers and it was fun getting to put faces with the names.

Well, as we munched on pizzas, the trail guys began talking about the trail...for me it really made no sense as I didn't know any of the trails or the lodges or rivers...so it was more of a anxiety building evening. Especially when the got to talking about the trail from Yetna to Tal Vista. We were told of open water...holes in the ice...rushing water and snow bridges...particularly one snow bridge that a snowmachine had partially taken out. We were told that if you fell off to the right you would be down 4 or 5 feet in deep snow and that if you fell to the left you would fall into open water. "WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO ?????" Kathy and I exchange looks of great concern ! And I wanted to be well rested at the start of this race ... HA ! Knowing this I am sure that I will sleep well.

Then comes the race marshal's talk..."this is NOT a camping trip." The rookies who are running this race as a qualifier can not camp on the way out. We have to run our dogs 75 miles. We can snack them but not camp them. Originally Kathy and I were planning on equal run/rest schedules. We were going to run 35 miles/rest 4. You can imagine the dialog back and fourth with the rookies and the race marshal....even the veterans spoke up on our behalf and said that why is it a double standard for us...it was nice knowing that they were pulling for us. WE were also told that if we didn't average 8 mph we would be withdrawn from the race. He did finally say that if we had 8, or 9 hour runs that we could rest the dogs for 8 or 9 hours...the required rest was 6 hours at each of the lodges.

More than anything I want to finish this race and I do want it as a qualifier, but I do not want to be withdrawn. Oh, I forgot to mention that we had the race start drawing and to my horror...I drew number one ! EEKS !


I leave the musher's meeting with anxiety building....