Monthly Archives: March 2008

At the top of his game

Lance Mackey works harder than ever, motivates his dogs to victory

If a human being could win the Iditarod’s Golden Harness award for best lead dog, the honor this year would have been bestowed to Lance Mackey, hands down.

Mackey’s dog team was always at the front of the largest and most talented field in the history of the Iditarod, and he pulled out a nifty win, but the effort took every trick in his book to cajole, reassure and reprimand his usually smooth-running unit of rock solid veterans.

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2008 Iditarod Purse Awarded

Pos. Name Amount

1 Lance Mackey $69,000

2 Jeff King $65,100

3 Ramey Smyth $61,400

4 Ken Anderson $57,800

5 Martin Buser $54,400

6 Hans Gatt $51,100

7 Mitch Seavey $48,000

8 Paul Gebhardt $45,000

9 Kjetil Backen $42,000

10 Sebastian Schnuelle $39,200

11 Zack Steer $36,600

12 Cim Smyth $34,000

13 Rick Swenson $31,500

14 Jessie Royer $29,100

15 Dee Dee Jonrowe $26,900

16 Gerry Willomitzer $24,700

17 Ed Iten $22,600

18 Ray Redington, Jr. $20,600

19 Aaron Burmeister $18,600

20 Jim Lanier $16,800

21 Aliy Zirkle $15,000

22 Silvia Willis $13,300

23 John Baker $11,600

24 Sigrid Ekran $10,000

25 Hugh Neff $8,500

26 Warren Palfrey $7,100

27 William Kleedehn $5,700

28 Matt Hayashida $4,300

29 Ed Stielstra $3,000

30 Melissa Owens $1,800

31 Gerald Souza $1,049

32 Rick Casillo $1,049

33 Jason Mackey $1,049

34 Scott Smith $1,049

35 Robert Bundtzen $1,049

36 Sven Haltmann $1,049

37 Rohn Buser $1,049

38 Lous Nelson, Sr. $1,049

39 Cindy Gallea $1,049

40 Jon Korta $1,049

41 Clint Warnke $1,049

42 Robert Nelson $1,049

43 Rudi Niggemeier $1,049

44 Rick Larson $1,049

45 Kelley Griffin $1,049

46 Bruce Linton $1,049

47 Lachlan Clarke $1,049

48 Fabrizio Lovati $1,049

49 Benoit Gerard $1,049

50 Jennifer Freking $1,049

51 Blake Freking $1,049

52 William Hanes $1,049

53 Zoya DeNure $1,049

54 Benedikt Beisch $1,049

55 Matt Calore $1,049

56 Karen Ramstead $1,049

57 Joe Gans $1,049

58 Rick Holt $1,049

59 Jeff Deeter $1,049

60 Sam Deltour $1,049

61 Joe Runyan $1,049

62 Dries Jacobs $1,049

63 Rich Corcoran $1,049

64 Laura Dangereau $1,049

65 Jack Berkowitz $1,049

66 Anne Capistrant $1,049

67 Kirk Barnum $1,049

68 Eric Rogers $1,049

69 Richard Savoyski $1,049

70 Sue Allen $1,049

71 Wayne Curtis $1,049

72 Sue Morgan $1,049

73 Trent Herbst $1,049

74 Heather Sirtola $1,049

75 Gene Smith $1,049

76 Martin Koenig $1,049

77 Liz Parrish $1,049

78 Deborah Bicknell $1,049

Total: $925,052.00

Its not just an award, its an adventure

Bicknell’s Red Lantern run includes pit stop in dreaded blowhole

KASILOF — The 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is officially over with the arrival of Red Lantern winner Deborah Bicknell.

Deborah Bicknell

The second time proved to be the charm for Bicknell, who returned to the Iditarod in 2008 after enduring a day-long adventure last year lost in a blizzard and drenched by a slip in the Kuskokwim River in the heart of the Alaska Range. This year, Bicknell helped a couple of other mushers — Liz Parrish and Molly Yazwinski — and wound up getting the honor of being last across the finish line when Yazwinski scratched and Parrish’s stronger team surged ahead.

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Bicknell wins the Red Lantern!

2008 Iditarod Ends With 78 Official Finishers

The 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race officially ended at 8:36 this Evening (Alaska Time) when Auke Bay Alaska musher Deborah Bicknell (Bib #21) ended her journey under the Burled Arch in Nome Alaska with a breathtaking sunset at her back. The 62 year old musher made the trek from Willow to Nome in 15 days, 5 hours, 36 minutes and 12 seconds.

Bicknell was greeted by a large crowd of well wishers at the finish line including Loren Prosser Wells Fargo Bering Sea Community Bank President who awarded her with the highly coveted Wells Fargo Red Lantern. Bicknell then ended the 2008 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race by blowing out the Widow’s Lamp, signifying that all mushers and their teams were safely off the Iditarod Trail.

Tomorrow, (March 18th) the Red Lantern Awards Banquet will be held in Nome at the Mini Convention Center beginning at 6:00pm (Alaska Time). The public is invited to attend.

2008 Iditarod Raffle Winners Are Announced!

 

Raffle Prize Winners

2008 Iditarod

(Drawn March 16, 2008 Nome, AK)

Prize #

Winner

Prize

Donated By

1

 

#0999

Nancy Jenson

Petaluma, CA

2008 Dodge Ram Laramie “HEMI”  4×4 Quad Cab Pickup with Leather Package, 20″ Alloy Wheels & Tow Package Anchorage Chrysler Dodge

2

 

#0898

Dolores Hunter Marshall, AK

2008 Ski-Doo Summit “Rev Chasis” 550F Snowmobile AK Mining & Diving Supply

3

 

 

#3204

Thomas Hanifan Kivalina, AK

Caribbean Cruise for Two (12 days/11 nights) Holland America

4

 

#0927

Bill Painter Fairbanks, AK

Women’s Fancy Fur Parka by David Green Furs David Green Master Furriers

5

 

#2449

Roger Oliver Wasilla, AK

Crestliner Model 1448 Jon Boat Marita Sea & Ski

6

 

#2872

Kjetil Andre Spone Landsale, PA

Roundtrip Airfare for 2 on PenAir PenAir

7

 

#2694

Bertha Hoffman

Bethel, AK

2008 Dodge Ram Laramie “HEMI”  4×4 Quad Cab Pickup with Leather Package, 20″ Alloy Wheels & Tow Package Anchorage Chrysler Dodge

8

 

#3983

Trevor Colby Nome, AK

Set of 4 Cooper Tires with Custom Wheels Diversified Tires

9

 

#0176

Loyd Clayton Eagle River, AK

Stihl MS 310 Farm Boss Chain Saw & Accessories Jackovich Industrial Supply

10

 

#1801

Rick & Jane Newman Willow, AK

Base Camp McKinley Tour for 2 w/Glacier Landing Talkeetna Air Taxi

11

 

 

#0400

Lawrence McCoy Barrow, AK

Wildcat ATV Camo Meat and Gear Wild ATV Trailers

12

 

 

#1969

Leroy Plum Anchorage, AK

John Deere JS30 Electric Start 21″ Mower with Accessories Craig Taylor Equipment

13

 

#0047

Angela McNiven Anchorage, AK

Honda EU1000iA2 Generator w/ Inverter Technology AK Mining & Diving Supply/Honda

14

 

#1518

Thomas Foss

Anchorage, AK

2008 Dodge Ram Laramie “HEMI”  4×4 Quad Cab Pickup with Leather Package, 20″ Alloy Wheels & Tow Package Anchorage Chrysler Dodge

15

 

 

#0803

Larry Taylor Big Lake, AK

One Way Car Shipment - Tacoma, WA & Anchorage, AK Horizon Lines

16

 

 

#0156

Joseph Beucler Wasilla, AK

Stihl FS 130 Handheld Heavy Duty String Trimmer Jackovich Industrial Supply

17

 

#1132

Gerri Koechling Cordova, AK

Handcrafted Gold Nugget Jewelry Gold Rush Jewelers

18

 

#1482

Karl Almasy Anchorage, AK

Deluxe Weekend for 2 at the Millennium Hotel Anchorage Millennium Hotel Anchorage

19

 

#3806

Howard Misner Central Pt, AK

David Green Master Furriers Gift Certificate David Green Master Furriers

20

 

#3127

Leo Regner

Fairbanks, AK

2008 Dodge Ram Laramie “HEMI”  4×4 Quad Cab Pickup with Leather Package, 20″ Alloy Wheels & Tow Package Anchorage Chrysler Dodge

Family reunion at finishers banquet

Smyth’s dog Babe wins golden harness, King gets humanitarian award

NOME — DeeDee Jonrowe summed up the mood at this year’s finisher’s banquet before a packed crowd inside this city’s convention center.

“I love my competition. They’re awesome. They’re a lot of fun to be around,” she said. “March is family reunion time.”

If the pre-race banquet in Anchorage is an in introduction of the year’s cast of characters, the finishers’ banquet on March 16 is a party, a chance to blow off steam; and that cast of characters is more grizzled, scarred and definitely relaxed than they were when this thing began on March 1.

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Runyan makes it to Nome

NOME — It’s been 14 years since Joe Runyan last ran a dog team up Front Street in Nome, but there was the former champion with a strong, 14-dog team trotting smartly in unison right up the chute and under the burled arch. Under the thick fur ruff and dark glasses, he busted loose with that trademark Runyan grin and made one point crystal clear:

“This may have been the last Iditarod with Joe,” he said. It had been a physically tough race, but Runyan, 59, said he felt a lot better after a full night’s sleep in Nome. The real reason he won’t be back is simple: He doesn’t have a dog team.

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Stielstra camped his way to best-ever finish

Ed Stielstra of Michigan finished in the money this year for the first time, coming in 29th, and he’s already pumped about improving on that next year, saying he has the dogs capable of passing other teams.

He did it this year by camping his way to Nome, avoiding all but five checkpoints all the way to the Bering Sea Coast. “My ideal race, I wouldn’t stay at any checkpoints,” he said. “The reason I run the Iditarod is I love traveling with the dogs. The people you meet and the villages you see are fascinating, but if I wanted to see people or villages, I would do it by airplane. I love running dogs, and camping with dogs. If I’m away from checkpoints, there’s no distractions, I’m focused on them and, more importantly, they’re focused on me.”

It worked out well for Stielstra this year, with temperatures rarely dipping below 10 degrees Fahrenheit and mostly staying around 30. His biggest risk was getting wet, not cold. “Camping” is a word mushers use that can easily be misunderstood. It’s generally a prolonged pit stop. They just pull off the trail so other teams can get by, put down straw and fire up their cookers with alcohol fuel to melt snow into water. They take the booties off their dogs, and give them dog food, water and meat. Then they allow the team to sleep for a couple of hours. The mushers typically lay right on top of their sled bags and snooze; they’re exhausted and can sleep on any surface. Then it’s time to bootie the dogs and go again. The campout can take as little as three hours, but is usually four to six hours long.

“I bet they sleep twice as much when they’re away from checkpoints,” Stielstra said. “I think I have a pretty well-trained dog team, and even so, watching them sleep at checkpoints, a good number will wake up when a team comes in and parks next to you, if they hear a cooler or a cooker, or when a team leaves.”

He added that his long camping trip ended on the coast, where he went checkpoint to checkpoint. By that point, it was a good idea to allow veterinarians plenty of time to look over the dogs.

Stielstra is excited by his finish in the top 30 and looking to improve. “I’m not just running it to run it. I’m running it to learn it, to win it. Winning it is many years away.” He is amazed at the schedules run by Lance Mackey and Jeff King. “To keep that big of a dog team running on that schedule was phenomenal.”

IDITAROD 2008 Begins on Versus!

The first of three one-hour captivating programs begins airing on Versus Sunday March 16th at 7 pm Eastern Time. The first airing will highlight the Start of “The Last Great Race on Earth” with special interviews and all of the drama that surrounded the first third of IDITAROD 2008. Catch it on Versus tomorrow at 7 pm Eastern Time!

Please click here to see the Show Schedule.

More than a hunt for the top 20

Iditarod experience is profound, emotional ride for back of the pack

NOME — Twelve days seems to be a magical dividing line — this year, at least — between mushers who were in the race to compete and those who were here to experience an adventure.

Almost to a person, the mushers finishing the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 53rd place and down are describing their time on the trail as a “life-changing experience,” as Zoya Denure put it, or a right of passage for younger mushers, such as 19-year-old Jeff Deeter.

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