2015

Help The High’s Rebuild Their Kennel

Sarah · January 10, 2015 ·

A few short weeks ago willow mushers Jaimee and Justin High lost their house and business in a fire. Although we have never met Jamie or Justin personally, the mushing community is small. When disaster strikes, we all have to help out. Jaimee is signed up for the 2015 Iditarod, having already completed it once. The Highs lost almost nearly everything in the fire — Jaimee’s Iditarod belt buckle, which she received after finishing her rookie year, sustained serious damage.

Fortunately for the Highs, their dogs stayed safe. They have showed tremendous resilience in the last few weeks — moving back to their property and beginning to rebuild.

The High’s are currently running a GoFundMe campaign to help finance their rebuild and to help Jaimee get to the starting line of the 2015 Iditarod. We would love to see as many Turning Heads Kennel fans as possible help out this hard working couple!

Help Jaimee and Justin rebuild their home and get to the starting line of Iditarod 2015. Visit their fundraiser and help these wonderful mushers rebuild! Jamiee has also set up an amazon.com wishlist for supplies she needs for her 2015 race. Here are some things you can purchase for the High’s!

Here are more articles about the fire that consumed the High’s residence:
Willow Fire Displaces Iditarod Musher & Dogs
Willow mushers lose home they built to fire; residents and dogs OK
Alaskans rally for Willow mushers who lost home they built to fire

Qualifying for the Iditarod

Sarah · January 8, 2015 ·

Qualifying for the Iditarod

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile long dog sled race run annually in Alaska by some of the top mushers in the world. The race tests the bond and endurance of the musher and their team of sled dogs. It’s an impressive event with many nuances. Learn more about it in our earlier post What Is the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. In order to participate for the event, new entrants, called rookies, first have to qualify for the race. In qualifying, mushers are proving that they know how to take care of both their dogs and themselves in Alaska’s winters and wilderness.

One of the most basic requirements is the age limit. In order to participate in Iditarod, a musher must be at least 18 years old and have qualified for the race by completing a series of mid-distance races.

According to Rule #1 of the Official Iditarod Rules:

he/she must complete two (2) 300 mile qualifiers and another approved qualifier for a total of 750 miles to be qualified. The completion requirements are that a musher must finish either within the top 75% of the field or in an elapsed time of no more than twice the time of the winner.; and he/she during such approved qualifying races demonstrated the necessary physical and mental aptitude and preparedness, as well as the necessary wilderness and mushing skills.

The Iditarod keeps an updated list that can be found on their website of which races count as qualifiers. Along with completing the race, racers must have specific paperwork filled out. These “report cards” are often filled out by the head race marshall of that specific race. This helps ensure that all those who set out on the Iditarod trail are qualified to be there.

In addition to completing the races and having their report cards filled out, Iditarod rookies must also provide a reference letter from someone who is familiar with the race. This is another measure to help ensure those on the trail have the necessary skills to be out there.

Why Must Mushers Qualify for the Iditarod?

The goal of qualifying races is to ensure that all mushers know how to take care of themselves and their dogs. One thousand miles is a long way to travel and the entirety of the race is off of the Alaska Road system. Mushers and their dogs must be prepared to face any challenge.

On the path to qualifying, Rookie mushers generally learn a lot both from experience and from other mushers. Once a musher has successfully completed the Iditarod, they no longer need to qualify. One successful completion of the race is considered qualification for life.

Travis used the Northern Lights 300, The Tustumena 200, and the Tiaga 300 to qualify for the 2013 Iditarod. Travis has now run the Iditarod 11 times, with a top finish of 5th place!

Sarah used the Sheep Mountain 300, The Northern Lights 300, and the Tustumena 200 to qualify for Iditarod. Sarah ran the Iditarod in 2016 and in 2019.

Rookie Iditarod Meeting

Before a musher’s Rookie Iditarod, they participate in a 2-day mandatory Rookie Meeting. Running a 1,000 mile long race is very different than running a 300 mile event. No matter how much wilderness or mushing experience you have, nothing can ever truly prepare you to race the Iditarod.

The Rookie meeting’s purpose is to help answer questions specific to the race and familiarize new mushers with the logistics. During the training, rookie mushers learn about vet care, training their dogs for Iditarod and how it differs from shorter races, and what to expect during the race. The Rookie Meeting is hosted by Iditarod and usually attended by several veteran mushers who offer value feedback to novices.

What Happens When you Finish the Iditarod?

When a musher completes his/her first Iditarod, he earns their Iditarod Belt Buckle, a one time piece of hardware that only official finishers of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race can sport. They also become members of the Iditarod Official Finishers Club. This club helps provide oversight to the race by providing valuable feedback to Iditarod’s board of directors.

Once a musher has successfully completed Iditarod, they no longer need to qualify.

Moonlight Mushing

Sarah · January 7, 2015 ·

The endless rain and warm temperatures at home in Seward were making us wonder if winter was ever going to show her face, so we piled in the dog truck and headed north. Traveling feels so natural to me that after long miserable weeks stuck in a rainy house, when I found myself in the passenger seat of the dog truck the only thing I could think was that I finally felt at home. So much of my life has been spent riding shotgun on long car trips. Before searching for dog trails and hunting down races, my poor parents carted me around New England and the entire eastern seaboard playing soccer for the Boston Renegades. I was a goalkeeper, twice playing in the national tournament for my age bracket and once winning my own bid to try out for the national team. But my dream was always dogs.

The quiet hum of the truck as we ride north relaxes me. We listen to the country station, singing along whether we know the words or not, grateful to be on the road together. We arrive late at Stump Jumpin Kennel and help Wade Marrs as he gets his last drop bags ready for the Gin Gin 200. He leaves early the next morning for the race. The first race of the season always brings excitement for dogs, mushers, and spectators. We’re sad to stay behind — not used to missing out on races but grateful for an opportunity to train.

In the morning, we get ready to gear up. Layering up is a slow process. First thermals, then fleece, then our own coats. The temperature hovers around -15 for the most part, our cheeks rosy from winters cold kisses.

The dogs are excited. We run, mostly at night, each day going further than before. Snow is so foreign to us that we forget how it dresses up the night. It shimmers beautifully in the cold glow of our headlamps. The moon, when it rises full, is so bright that we don’t need to use our headlamps to see so we shut them off and enjoy the peace of night. Our runners scratch over the icy trail and our dogs tongues hang out of their mouths. We can see each exhalation. In those quiet moments of dogs and stars and snow we forget about everything and as long as our dogs are running in front of us, the world is perfect.

It’s hard to tell who is having more fun out in the trail; us or the dogs. They thrive in the cold and even though the temperatures continued to plummet, their attitudes continued to sore. We stop occasionally to check in.

“Are you staying warm?” Travis asks.
“Yes,” I say somewhat surprised. Our runs are mostly at -15 or -20 and last anywhere from 3 to 6 hours but I never get cold. “My dogs are doing great,” I tell him.
“Switch for a bit?”
“Sure.” I say and so we swap teams for a few miles, happy to see how all the dogs have progressed.

One time we stop for cocoa only to find that the hot water we’ve brought out smells funny. “Do you think we can drink it?” Travis asks.
I take a whiff. “Eww. No.” I tell him, embarrassed that I packed a dirty thermos.
“Ya that’s definitely moldy.” He throws the hot water out and it freezes before it hits the ground into a fine powder — a cold weather magic trick. It was Probably too cold to be sitting around drinking cocoa anyways.

We keep mushing. The dogs have jackets on and at times we have to stop and check to make sure everyone is staying warm. Our smiles are big and our hearts are full. The dogs bark and jump and we, dogs and people, are all so happy.

This is it, I tell myself. These are the moments we live for.

Dog Of The Week: Boston

Sarah · January 5, 2015 ·

Boston

Boston is, well, like Boston. He is a hard headed, stubborn dog who knows what he wants and knows how to get it. He is beyond confident up front; he has led Travis to the finish line in Nome the last two years in single lead. Besides being a phenomenal gee-haw leader, Boston is also just a hard working dog who loves running and competing. He always sets a fast pace when he is at the front of the team.

Just like his namesake city, Boston is a little hot headed and occasionally finds himself in hot water when interacting with other dogs. Always resourceful, this natural leader knows how to best any problem and end up on top!

Boston truly embodies the “Boston Strong” mentality; the more difficult a situation is, the more this dog thrives. During the 2014 Iditarod, when battling fierce winds, Travis had zero visibility but Boston would keep him on the trail and headed towards Nome. During the 2013 Iditarod, Boston also helped Travis achieve some of the fastest checkpoint to checkpoint run time!

Boston has now had four litters of puppies for our kennel. He’s had litters with Madori, Tamere, Sage and Zena. All his puppies so far have excellent builds. The puppies he had with Madori and Tamere in 2013 are currently in training and doing well. We are growing more and more excited about the litter he had with Zena, a 3 time Iditarod Champion with musher Lance Mackey.

This dog is really an important part of our kennel and we are glad we could let you know him a little better!

The 2015 Gin Gin 200

Sarah · January 2, 2015 ·

2015 Gin Gin 200

The 2015 Mid-Distance Race season officially kicks off this weekend with the start of the Gin Gin 200. The Gin Gin is a 200 mile dog sled race that will be run along parts of the Denali Highway (closed in the winter time) from Cantwell to Paxson and beyond. It sounds like it will be a great race. Although it had been put on in years past, it has not been run recently. The race organizer, Zoya Denure & John Schandlemeier, have been busy raising their family and training their own competitive kennel.

The race has a lot of new names signed up – looks like a lot of people are either trying to qualify for Iditarod 2016 as many of the same mushers are signed up for other races.

The trail should be relatively fast and it will be interesting to see the speeds mushers like Joar Ulfsom, Ken Anderson, Wade Marrs, Paul Gebhardt, and Brent Sass post. I expect these mushers will make up the top 5. The first race is always fun as it gives us an early glimpse at this years coming racing season. Wish we were headed to the starting line!

Follow the Gin-Gin 200 on their facebook page:

We are wishing all our friends out on the trail a great race — especially friend Wade Marrs!