It has been a busy past couple of weeks since my last update, which found us wrapping up the Tustumena 200 race. Immediately on the heels of that event, which is held locally here on the Kenai Peninsula, Paul and Kristi packed up to finally head north for the running of the Klondike 300 race. This was scheduled to be the final element in Kristi’s resume to prepare her for a possible run as a rookie in the 2010 Iditarod.  Her successful completion of both the Knik 200 and the Tustumena 200 had her close to fulfilling the required “500 racing miles” that Iditarod stipulates as a prerequisite to entering the thousand mile race to Nome.

Paul could not have been more pleased with the job that Kristi did coaching our team through the 300 miles of Klondike racing in the area that crosses a shared trail with the earlier Knik 200, as well as an identical leg to the initial miles of the Iditarod Trail.  I am not so sure that Paul really enjoyed the aspect of serving as Kristi’s “handler” for the event, as opposed to being on the runners himself, but between taking a bunch of dogs out on training runs himself while in the area, he kept busy picking up the last gear he would need to finish his Iditarod food drops, as well as keeping tabs on Kristi’s progress.

He was encouraged by all the reports back from the trail volunteers as to how exceptional the team that Kristi was running looked, and proud when musher after musher came to him following the race and commented on what excellent care Kristi had taken of the dogs. This race does not honor any musher with the prestigious Humanitarian Award for some reason, but I think it would have been a likely chance that she would have won this had it been available based on all the feedback we received. Paul gave her what I deemed as a pretty significant pat on the back when he told me that he felt that “Kristi was really the first person he had met that cared for the dogs like he does”. By this, he is referring to a deeper level of rapport and emotional connection with the dogs, that goes beyond the mechanics of good dog “care”.

The benefit to our program as a result of this type of bond that both Kristi and Paul have for the dogs is priceless. In a recent interview that Paul did (which if you are an Iditarod Insider, you can view at http://www.iditarod.com/ “Could this be the year for Paul?”) he noted the impact of Kristi’s influence on our team. He stated that “the team is the happiest he has seen them in 12 years of racing the Iditarod”.  I couldn’t agree more.  Even the veterinarians that have been dealing with our team with the various vet checks tied to the mid distance races and our other care have commented on how playful and easy going our dogs are. 

This said, I will tell you that Paul is extremely fit himself. He had a thorough physical done, including blood work himself, and as he creeps up on his 53^rd birthday, he is in great shape physically and mentally. He has taken various precautions to safeguard his health going into the race, including a flu shot and getting an advance prescription of medication to pack in his sled in case he comes down with the type of illness that has thrice plagued his progress in the race over the years. About the only thing that raises any concern would be his back – which for those of you that have followed us over the years know is a chronic challenge for him.

At this point, we now have all of the food drops wrapped up and shipped out. Paul and Kristi took those up on Tuesday of this week, culminating several months of intense preparations.  For the past several weeks, the meat saw has been running quite a bit, as has the vacuum sealer.  Everything from booties to salmon, to foot ointment to bags of beef fat have been packed and laid out in a logistical undertaking that rivals some military deployments. The nylon reinforced bags that are packed for the “food drops” contain nearly everything Paul will need to care for himself and the team on their way to Nome.  

It is not a task that Paul approaches haphazardly.  Each year, he notes the contents of each drop bag that is shipped out in a tiny notebook that he will carry with him on the trail. When we prep the food drops, he pulls out these books and compares the ingredients to adjust to several factors. One of these would be the appetite of the dogs on the team that year. By this, I am referring to their menu preferences. One year the team might favor lamb over beef, or horse meat over turkey skins.  By addressing this during the feeding regimen during the training season, he can pack his food drops accordingly. One thing that is a constant year after year is the inclusion of salmon in these drops. We can’t say enough about the value of Alaska’s wild salmon and the benefits to our dogs. One of the things Paul has adopted over the past several years are long, thin sticks of sliced king salmon.  The deep red fish is high in healthy omega oils for the dogs, and regardless of the temperatures, maintains a quality that will benefit the dogs.  This is like a piece of cheesecake to them.  Although we are the recipients of fish heads and some fish donated by processors and others, we do purchase the king salmon from commercial fisherman locally.

Overall, Paul shipped nearly 2,500 lbs of food and gear out in his food drops.  These will be directed out to the various Iditarod checkpoints and will be awaiting his arrival there in just a couple of weeks from now. Additionally, there will be resources such as straw, which is bagged in bright blue plastic and “Heet” – the alcohol fuel used to fire up the self-contained cooking devices each musher carries in their sled. The latter two are provided by Iditarod – the cost is factored into the $4000 entry fee for this race. (Which, our thanks go out again to Bill Petrell for sponsoring us by covering this expense!)

Paul will also have a few resources that he will finally ship with the sleds he sends out to strategic checkpoints along the trail. He can use up to a total of three different sleds on this journey.  Over the last couple of years he has modified the popular “sit down sled” design that has a compartment on the back of the runners to distribute the weight differently. As you know, Paul builds his own sleds – a little bit of an anomaly in the mushing circles where this craft is normally done by someone other than the musher themselves.  He will test an idea, run the sled on a tough trail locally, then haul it back into the shop for any modifications or tweaks. Even if it is a sled that he knows runs well, he will go through the entire thing before the Iditarod to double check every bolt, and every union of parts to assure it is trail-ready. It was a broken sled that pulled him off the trail in the 2007 race when he and Lance Mackey were running neck and neck along the coast – ultimately costing him the victory that year.

In addition to the gear and sled prep, the dogs of course are getting plenty of attention these days as well. On Saturday, we will take the team in for full bloodwork and ECGs.  Next week they have yet another physical with our team of veterinarians at Kenai Veterinary Hospital. This compliments the three reviews the team has had by a professional veterinarian at our kennel over the past month.  Paul is doing everything he can to keep the team in top shape physically and nutritionally.  I will be posting a separate list of the team and description of each dog on our website within the next week. 

More updates will be coming to you as we lead into the home stretch for the start of the race on March 7^th.  Then I will be sending regular updates throughout the race.  Here are a few food drop photos of late:

Until later - Life is a journey, enjoy the ride! Evy