Besides this ice on the steep down slopes early in the race, there were blizzard snow conditions and later some major overflow problems that challenged everyone. However, I am really proud that the four women who had signed up completed the race, all but one in the top ten--which is kind of a feeble joke since only eleven finished! However they all did awesome jobs, even Olivia Shank-Webster-Neff who won the Red Lantern, arriving just at the start of the finisher's banquet on Feb 15. She had fought a real campaign holding last place for almost the whole thousand miles and braving deep blown snow and some fierce overflow as she made he final distance from Pelly to Whitehorse. She got a standing ovation from the crowd as she came into the hall after settling her dogs.
The big competition for me was the two who led much of the race, double winner in a prior race and last year, Brent Sass and Michelle Phillips of Tagish Lake Kennel. They were running different schedules and played leap frog over and over as they passed each other while one had a team resting. Finally the last stretch seemed to be more manageable by Brent's very strong and tough team and he got and held the lead. Michelle and her team came in not too far behind--a couple of hours as I recall. Then there was a l-o-n-g gap before the third and fourth place racers arrived, Cody Strath of Squid Acres at third and Allen Moore of SPK as fourth. Another gap and Torston Kohnert, a Swedish musher came in 5th and Ryne Olsen, once a protegee of SPK and now building up her own kennel was 6th. The other woman, Nora Sjalin, another Swede, got seventh place and rookie of the year.
I was very proud of all the women and enjoyed the speeches they made as they accepted their trophies. Michelle had run a very fine race and to be a close second under the savage conditions was a real win in every way. I was also impressed by Nora, whose command of English was very good and they all had wonderful things to say about their teams. It often seems to me that although all the mushers have a good bond with their dogs--it is really essential--that the women are at least more expressive about it and openly emotional with and about their canine partners. Well, maybe it is just a 'female' thing!
The jolt of the night came when Allen Moore admitted he had only been training for thirty days before this race after undergoing shoulder surgery in the summer. He announced this was his last big race and he was not going to fully retire but would be a handler for his daughter Bridgit who is following in his and step-mom Aliy's runner tracks and will be competing in the 2021 season. That brought a few tears as Allen is one of my mushing heroes but I know he will be part of Aliy's team as long as she is competing and now his daughter and maybe some grandkids will be coming along in the tradition. He is such a neat guy. I love his droll Arkansas humor and his upbeat attitude. In that he is very like Aliy but just lower key and the old country boy comes through in all the little jokes and homey phrases. He needs to write a book and I'd be honored to help him on that!
A few pix I grabbed on line. The musher's banquet; that is Olivia getting a hug with her Red Lantern.
The next is Allen with the Black Team at the finish--he said the dogs were awesome! Only two 1000 mile 'rookies' were dropped, Decaf and Sanka, for minor injuries only. Third is Michelle as she gave her speech. She is right up there with Aliy and Deedee as my most revered lady mushers! Her dog care is amazing. BTW, Cody got the Vet's award.
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