The 2008 Race
Awards Ceremony and Banquet: Sadly, our star, Molly Yazwinski, couldn’t be with us (working in Fairbanks). But she will receive a check for $720, a finishing certificate, a finishing medal, and the new Bowers coat patch (designed by Sandra May). We paid to five places, so all finishers got something. Fifth place finishers also got red lanterns!
Just when you think the event is over, and there can be no more snafu’s, shortly after mushers and volunteers had ordered their meals the propane line at the Pioneer Lodge broke! The staff at the lodge didn’t bat an eyelid, found a flaring tool (Newmans to the rescue again?) and everyone had a hot meal.
Roy Monk gave away a set of runner plastic to the musher who most nearly estimated the number of markers between Willow Lake and the bottom of Coral Hill. Those estimates were 35, 53, 70, 70, 75, 98, 118 and 237. Rick Holt won with his estimate of 237. The actual (audited) number was 273.
The Roy and Lesley Monk Award for Sportsmanship ($100) went to Rick Holt, while the Roy and Lesley Monk Humanitarian/Best Care of Dogs Award ($100) went to Alan Peck.
Analysis: And a view from one end of the trail, by Joe May—
56% scratch rate. Must be a record of sorts considering that the trail was generally good. I parsed it for causes and non-causes:
- Several undertrained teams.
- Several physically ill mushers.
- Several mushers with damaged or hurting human body parts.
- Several teams using the race as a training run or a yearling test.
- Several mushers clearly over their head in the experience and expectation department. That’s what qualifiers are for.
All of the teams coming into this checkpoint looked good. Particularly notable were the 300 milers who finished their race here.
Also, a few more photographs (bottom of page)
Belated thanks: While we owe thanks to all the volunteers that took part in the race, we also owe thanks to those who couldn’t. Mike Williams (Eaglesong) and Dan Gabryszak (Yentna Station) worked to provide both trail and amenities at their respective lodges right up until the last minute—and did so last year, and in years past. Our decision to reroute the “300″ trail was concern for the feet of teams needing an Iditarod qualifer. But we hope to see Mike and Dan next year.
Mon 9am The 300 is OVER (and finished while I wasn’t watching). All teams are in safely. Rick Holt walked in front of his team over the river from marker to marker under blowing/snowing conditions. All dogs finishing the 300 are reported as looking good. [Willow: Overcast, toasty 5.7F°]
Mon 12:26am …and Lou is through Oilwell. We now understand Alan Peck was the musher 20 miles outside of the Oilwell checkpoint, not 5 miles out. We hope he is already on his way!
Late breaking news: Alan is through Oilwell, at 23:46. Oilwell will close shortly, once they believe no mushers are returning. Rick: Janet, Jerry and Charlie Alison are watching you!
Sun 10:42 Both Rick and Justin have left Oilwell and are headed to Joe’s. Both teams are rested (Justin camped on the trail), so we can expect them into Joe’s around 2–3am tomorrow. [Willow: Overcast, 1F°] Don’t take any stock tips from me! Wind and snow combined have slowed all teams still on the trail.
Alan Peck is camped out about 5 miles south of Oilwell and plans to just check in and continue to Joe’s. Lou Packer is about 20 miles south and plans to do the same thing. Oilwell doesn’t expect them until sometime between midnight and 2:00 am
Jim Kershner, trail-master-san, carries a chainsaw on his snowmachine. Or, he used to. It disappeared sometime yesterday. Rick found it on the trail, stopped to pick it up—wasting several seconds, mind—and dropped it off at Hal’s checkpoint (Oilwell) on the way through.
Sun 05:30 Molly Yazwinski wins the 300. She said, “It was GREAT! I had fun!!!” Her dogs look GREAT! Time 28hrs 10m.
And I finally managed to get some photographs of the start uploaded—see Gallery 08.
And a note from one driver—
The reason I’m writing, is, I want you to know, that the trail, the volunteers, and the organization was excellent. I want
you to know that at least as far as one scratched musher is concerned, it was an excellent race. If things were just a bit
more positive with my team, I would have loved to finish the race without doubt. I had a great experience, a good 100 mile
training run, and no real dog injuries (mostly just preventative concerns with the team).
I’m sure one or both of us will want to run next year.
THANK YOU for a great event.
Leo Lashock (handler for Gary Paulsen)
Sun 11:20: Molly is in to the Oilwell checkpoint, about 50 miles from Joe’s and first place on the 300. Justin is behind roughly 2 hours, and Rick behind him a further two hours.
Sun 9:15 Elaine Martin reached Willow at 8:19; all “200″ mushers are now in. More of the “300″ drivers are now resting at Eaglequest, and Molly has started her return to Joe’s, the last 100 miles of the race. [Willow: Clear, −19F°]
Sun 5:38: Paul McLarnon has arrived at Willow; Sue Allen has scratched (going on to Deshka rather than in to Willow), as has Hans Miller. Hans scratched at Oilwell, but I don’t have an accurate time yet. [Willow: Beautiful sky with stars everywhere but at least −22F°]
Sun 01:35: No update, but the tales of markers being mowed down turns out to be a myth. A very few had been lost (now replaced) but, if you fail to turn onto John Lake—the turn is well marked—you can follow permanent (Willow Trail Committee) markers to Willow using a different trail than used by the race. There are no markers on that trail, of course, which might account for the confusion.
Peter Cohrs scratched at Joe’s, but Sven Haltmann (whose dogs Peter was running) has decided to drive the dogs back to Willow (Eaglequest) “just for fun.” Sven won the 300 last year (I know, the archives have 2006 repeated twice; I will fix that before next years race).
Peter is suffering serious back problems (unrelated to the race, I think). Sven says that he can only walk hunched over. But he had been coming to Alaska for several years now, to run dogs, and this year was his hope for running Iditarod.
Sat 10:37pm: Back at the Community Center and the second/third place finishers are in for the 200, Molly has arrived at the Lodge (300) where she can enjoy a six hour rest.
Roy Monk (Race Manager) is out replacing the missing trail markers “as we speak”.
Sat 7:52: Teams are filtering through Oilwell; current temperature in Willow is −18.4°F, sure to be colder nearer the river. Elaine Martin (200) sailed through while the Talkeetna Triumvirate (300) are visiting with Hal (Hal Morgan is the checkpoint “manager in a tent” with neighbors from the Petersville area lending a hand). And I missed entering Justin and Rick’s times through Oilwell around 3:30 today. I’m going to end up fired!
Sat 4:01: And DeeDee Jonrowe wins the 200 for the third year in a row…and carrying one dog in the sled all the way from Oilwell checkpoint.
Time this year 26hrs 29m; last year 27hrs 55m (the trail is a little shorter, due to last minute changes. It’s not over an hour shorter though).
Sat 12:30 A beautiful sunny day in Willow and around −12°F. After yesterdays run the return trail should be fast. I have been updating the times from Willow Community Center and the dsl connection keeps dropping which is why no commentary had been posted. Once home it turns out this problem is not limited to the Community Center, and I am having problems updating the site. Will keep trying…
DeeDee cleared Oilwell with one dog in the sled. Amanda Olson left Joe’s at 10:01 this am, but returned an hour later to drop a dog and left again. Amanda turned back again—not sure why— and scratched.
Sat 7:45am: I had intended to update this site all night—didn’t work! But all caught up now. All but one team now into Joe’s. DeeDee is on her way home. [Willow: −14°F]
Junior race–12.59: All five team are back to Willow! Times later when the organizers let me know. Well done kids!
Sat 12:44am: Robert Nelson arrives at Joe’s. [Willow: a balmy −11.4F° Joe will be a little colder] Updates may be a little slower while I take a nap. Note: Earliest departure for DeeDee is 07:02, Bob Nelson 08.23…
Fri 11:23: DeeDee arrives at Joe’s (10:46pm), first in the 200 for the third year running, one dog in the bag sled.
Fri 9.21pm: The “200″ teams are pushing through Oilwell; the “300″ teams are resting at Oilwell. [Willow: Overcast, −5°F; probably cooler at Oilwell]. Heather: Dann and your mother are watching you!
Fri 7:56pm: Lead mushers, one each, for 200 and 300 have reached Oilwell.
How to run a dog race: Willow, Fri 25. Well, start by plowing the parking area … and thanks, once again, to Gene and the crew at Newmans Hilltop for helping out in an emergency. Then, get all teams out, but be sure to shut down all local telephone communications first, so that updates etc., cannot be posted. Luckily we have excellent radio communications this year. Phones back circa 3:30pm
All went smoothly for the start, with a slightly cloudy morning at around 6°F. The five or more inches of snow we received last night will slow down the trail, and we have had intermittent flurries–some heavy–since around 3pm. The trail is very well marked with reflective tape and pie plates on stakes, so no one should have problems finding their way (whiteout conditions excepted).
Mushers meeting: 23 teams signed up, on an evening when just driving to Willow might take hours. Some switched races from the 300 to the 200; vet check is at 9am., the 300 will leave as near to noon as we can manage, followed by the 200. Many thanks to the folks at Pioneer Lodge who had to deal with serving around 40 people as though a tour bus had pulled up …
January 24: The 300 route is now officially changed, and will require a return and finish at Joe May’s—
- 200 racers return to Willow as usual;
- 300 racers divert off Corral Hill to Eaglequest Cabins and Lodge [Directions]. This checkpoint replaces the Deshka checkpoint and is also a mandatory 6 hour layover; straw and water will be available here and the lodge is on the road system (so handlers can pick up dropped dogs [quickly, please]). Our thanks to Raymond and Shirley Roth for helping with these last minute arrangements;
- continue through the Lodge and back onto the river to pick up the outgoing trail to Joe’s and the finish of the 300 Bowers.
- total race length may be a few miles short of 300 (around 287?).
This is the best we can manage, and avoids teams returning to Willow then having to leave again for Joe’s. The river to Yentna is runnable but with fast snow machines churning the ice up we were concerned about dog’s feet. More information this evening….
