Salem & Jeff King 2006 Champions

Jeff King spoke at the Iditarod Winter Teacher’s Conference on Friday. He’s the winningest musher of all times and has four Iditarod victories to his credit. He shared stories about his rookie trip from Anchorage to Nome in 1981. It took him 15 days to cover the route and he finished in 28 place. He didn’t run Iditarod again until 1991 when he finished in 13 days, taking 12th place. Jeff has made the trip from Anchorage to Nome 20 times, has won 4 and placed in the top ten all but 4 times. What a record that is! It was a surprise to everyone in the room when he announced that this Iditarod would more than likely be his last. He plans to run other races but wants to retire from the Iditarod at the top of his game rather than run his final race knowing that he had run one to many.

Salem in lead for the 2010 Ceremonial Start

Jeff has a very famous lead dog named Salem. Had it not been for Salem, Jeff’s 4th victory in 2006 might not have been. One of his wheel dogs came loose from the gangline and was running out in front of the team. King stopped the team and stomped the snow hook into the trial. He took treats and walked out toward the lose dog. This dog had a playful streak and as soon as King would get close, he’d run off a few yards. All the time, King is saying, “Come boy, come, here boy, come on…” Well the team thought Jeff was calling them so leaning into their tugs, they pulled the hook and trotted toward Jeff who had just caught the loose dog. When they reached King who was holding the captured wheel dog, they trotted right on by expecting him to jump on the runners. With the dog in his arms, Jeff stood helplessly as the team continued down the trail and disappeared over the crest of a hill. Jeff was calling, “SALEM STOP! SALEM WHOA!” Carrying the captured dog, King made his way to the crest of the hill to find his team waiting on the other side. Now there’s a lead dog that listens to and follows commands. If Salem hadn’t stopped the team, Jeff would have had a long walk to the next checkpoint and quite likely would not have won the race. Salem hasn’t run Iditarod since 2006 but has been training puppies. Jeff ran Salem in lead for today’s ceremonial start.

Jeff King steers the sled with a gee-pole

King used a gee-pole set up to guide his team 11 miles from 4th & D in downtown Anchorage to the Campbell Airstrip. There’s a long sturdy pole lashed to the side of the sled which the musher uses for steering and support. Two sturdy skis are attached to the gangling behind the wheel dogs. The musher is pulled along by the team while standing in bindings on the skies behind the wheel dogs but in front of the sled. One of Jeff’s daughter’s was riding the runners of the sled. It’s a most unusual set up that originated from the gold rush when dogs were scarce and miners had to propel their loaded sleds themselves. Jeff used this old method of steering the sled in the 2009 ceremonial start also.

Well there you have it, the latest scoop on Jeff King and his Iditarod Career. Will Jeff earn another Iditarod victory and join Rick Swenson as the winningest Iditarod mushers. Only time will tell.

Born to Run,
Sanka

Bosca - once a bully, now a friend

Now days, there is much concern about bullying in schools, on the play ground, in Physical Education class and even in the dog yard. All age groups can be the target of a bully – puppies, yearlings, two-year-olds, adults and seniors. I want to share a story about bullying in the Just Guts Dog Yard.

When I was a little puppy, just off the plane from Alaska to Wisconsin, most of the dogs were wondering who this tiny little dog was who now lived in the puppy pen and was getting so much love and attention from the humans. I sized up the other dogs that were close to the puppy pen. There was Blackjack – BIG, Black and seemed pretty nice. There was Bootleg – BIG, Black and seemed friendly. There was Bosca – BIG, Wolf-like and barked even when I looked at him. On my first venture out of the puppy pen under the watchful eye of Handler, I trotted on over to Blackjack who flopped over on the ground and let me bite his ears and his tail. Ditto with Bootleg. Those guys were so friendly – I like them right away. I loped over toward Bosca where I was greeted by vicious growling, lunging and barking. I hightailed it out of there! Gee, what did I ever do to him? Then I heard Handler scold Bosca for bullying. What?

Buddy Blackjack

What is a bully? A bully is somebody or somedog who leaves others out on purpose. A bully wants to harm others. A bully says unkind things to others. Bullying often involves lopsided power and strength along with abuse or negative actions. Ask yourself these 3 questions to make sure your behavior isn’t bully like, 1) Do I hurt others by what I say, 2) Do I make others feel afraid and 3) Do I leave others out of games, sled pulling and other activities? If you answer yes to any of those questions, then your name could be Bosca and you should change your ways.

What should you do if somebody or somedog is hounding you or making you feel afraid? Do what I did – walk or trot away and don’t look back. Tell an adult, a bigger dog or your handler or your musher. And just like Blackjack and Bootleg were to me, be a friend to others. A really good strategy is to avoid the bully – I can tell you, when I was socializing in the dog yard, I just avoided Bosca. I never went over to visit him unless Handler or Musher took me there. It took a while but finally Bosca realized I was nothing to be afraid of – there was no reason for him to be insecure because of little Sanka. By the time we were pulling the sled just a few months later, Bosca and I were good friends.

New puppy Smoke

Bullying is not okay! From this story, you know what bullying is and what to do to stop bullying. I was so thankful that Blackjack and Bootleg were friendly toward me, I made sure that I returned the kindness when little Smoke joined our kennel. I hope you’ll do the same!

Born to Run,
Sanka

Team 6 is ready for their Junior Start

One can’t help but compare the upcoming Iditarod Sled Dog Race and Olympic speed events – skating, skiing and sledding. One thing they share in common is that champions are determined by time. The first junior musher to cross the finish line in Willow and the first musher to cross under the Burled arch in Nome have the best times and are declared Iditarod champions. In some Olympic events, time is also used to determine champions

In Junior Iditarod and Iditarod, teams leave the starting chute in two-minute intervals. The first team leaves at 10:00 followed by the next team at 10:02, the next at 10:04 until all teams are on the trail. How can the first team to cross the finish line in the Iditarods actually be the winner when they don’t all start at the same time?

We're on our way to Yentna Station

It’s called “differential” and here’s how it works. Time is added to the required rest stop to equalize for the start time difference. There were 13 teams that started the Junior Iditarod from Willow. Bib number 2 went off at 10:00 and bib number 14 went off at 10:24. When the teams get to Yentna Station their arrival time is recorded. They are required to rest at Yentna for 10 hours plus the differential. So let’s just say that Bib 2 got to Yentna at 18:34.00. All the required information is in place for the starter at Yentna to determine the departure times for bib 2.

Handler has worked as the starter for the Junior Iditarod at Yentna and here’s the procedure for putting the kids back on the trail so the first team that crosses the finish line is the winner. Add the required rest time of 10 hours plus the starting differential to the arrival time to determine the out time. Bib 2 came in at 18:34.00; adding ten hours brings that to 04:34.00, now add the 24 differential minutes. Bib number 2 can leave Yentna at 04:58.00. Don’t forget this is recorded and reported in Military Time.

Can you figure the out times for these Junior Iditarod mushers? Bib 4 started at 10:04 and arrived at Yentna at 17:29.00. Bib 5 started at 10:06.00 and arrived at Yentna at 17:46.00. Bib 10 started at 10:16 and arrived at Yentna at 18:27.00. The last musher left the start at 10:24.00.

Well there you have it – some great real life math problems from the Junior Iditarod. Just so you know, for the race that goes to Nome, the differential is added to the required 24-hour rest. Check my next story for the answers to the problem. Go Juniors!

Born to Run,
Sanka

I'm crazy about running - all I want to do is run!

John Stewart has been running dogs since the age of six. Throughout his 18-year mushing career, he’s had a chance to learn dog sled racing from the best. His list of mentors is pretty impressive and worth a closer look. Before getting to the mentors, defining mentor might be helpful. A mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser. Words that can be used interchangeably with mentor are guide, counselor, consultant, trainer, tutor and guru. Guru – that’s a cool word but what does it mean? Guru is defined as influential teacher, authority, specialist or popular expert. Amateur is the opposite of mentor and guru. The experts that John has sought training and advice from include Tim White, Egil Ellis, Hans Gatt, Doug Swingley and his own father, Alan. Who are these guys? What have they accomplished that qualifies them for “guru” status?

Quick-change Runner System appreciated by musher in Galena

Tim White is a Minnesota musher who some consider to be the “ultimate dog man.” Iditarod’s trail boss, Mark Nordman says, “Sleddog sports are his life. His every thought and action is somehow connected to dogs.” Besides being an international champion, Tim is an expert innovator and sled builder. He has designed the quick change runner (QRS) system. Different snow conditions require different runner plastic not to mention, runners become damaged on poor trail so it’s necessary to change the plastic periodically. With Tim’s QRS, an aluminum rail is screwed to the bottom of the runners then lengths of plastic can be easily slid into the rails. White has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Mush with P.R.I.D.E for his never-ending energy in being goodwill and promotional ambassador for sleddog sports worldwide. White is also known for his knowledge as a mushing historian.

Shorthaired Pointer

Egil Ellis was born in Sweden but now calls Willow, Alaska home. His father introduced him to sleddogs almost 30 years ago. Today he is known as an exceptional Scandinavian Hound sprint class racer with a long list of victories on both the European and North American circuit. With the Scandinavian Hound line, Ellis and other mushers are seeking to develop a faster sleddog by crossbreeding Alaskan Huskies with German and English Shorthaired Pointers. The outcome is a tough dog with enormous stamina and endurance that is eager to please and extremely friendly. When asked in an interview with writers from Sled Dog Central what advice he would give to beginning mushers, Egil replied, “You must LOVE dogs and ask experienced mushers a lot of questions – that way you will avoid many stupid mistakes.”

Hans Gatt grew up on a farm in Austria and now lives near Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory of Canada. Hans used to focus his energies on motocross racing but after attending a sleddog race, he parked the bike and devoted his life to sleddogs. Hans started raising dogs and amazingly, he won all eight races that he entered in his first year of competitive racing. Was his success due to the breeding of his dogs, his dog-driving abilities or the sled he built to race with? Hard to say for sure but many other mushers ordered sled from Hans. Hans is the current Yukon Quest Champion and has won the Quest 3 other times. He’s won on the Wyoming tour, is a 4-time winner of the European Championship and a long list of other accomplishments. His current goal is to improve his best finish of 6th place in Iditarod. Keep an eye on Hans in Iditarod this year.

Doug Swingley tends his dogs in White Mountain

Doug Swingley from Lincoln, Montana is a 4 time Iditarod Champion. He joins Susan Butcher and Lance Mackey in being the only mushers to have won Iditarod 3 consecutive years. In 1995, Doug became the first non-Alaskan to win Iditarod. From 1992 to 2001, Swingley finished every Iditarod in the top ten. He’s also a champion on the Montana race circuit. Because of eye problems experienced in Iditarod 2004, Doug has some difficulty with night vision so he prefers to race during daylight hours. Stage racing is a perfect fit. It’s like the Tour de France – there is a different distance to cover each day but then the athletes rest all night. Along with the stage racing dogs, Swingley still raises and trains Iditarod dogs that are known to be excellent marathon athletes and are renowned for their speed, endurance and durability on the trail. With his superior animal coaching skills, Swingley has now expanded to training horses for endurance racing.

Alan Stewart, John’s father, lifelong mentor and friend says, “My advice… which he does not need… would be – follow the game plan and the advice from those real close to you.” It will only be a few days and John will have the chance to put what he has learned from his mentors to use on a very tough Iditarod Trail. Good Luck John! Godspeed.

Born to Run,
Sanka