2015 Sled Dog Racing Season is in progress!

Although there are some other odds and ends of races, the Copper Basin 300 is pretty much the official kick off of the annual racing season in Alaska. This year's race took place this past weekend starting and ending at the community of Glennallen in southeastern Alaska. (SE although not down on the long southern arm. It is north and east of Wasilla/Palmer in a rather mountainous historical mining area.) The race has been in existence for several years and is one of the qualifiers for the Iditarod. Yes, it is 300 miles long and takes about three days to run, not quite a third the length of the big ones. It is reputed to be a challenging race although not quite on a par with the big two.

About fifty teams entered this year. A few scratched out but about forty-four finished. The first team across the finish line was the SP Kennel Black Team driven by Allen Moore. He was defending his championship as last year's winner and will be competing in the Yukon Quest next month as well. Aliy Zirkle (Mrs Moore) was driving the SPK Red Team and came in sixth. Their protegee Spencer also ran the 2015 Copper Basin and I do not have his placement at the moment.

I may be out of order here but my observation has been that Aliy and Allen may both enter a race but they do not directly compete. One of them will have the special light and strong sled designed and built by Allen (pictured at right) and the most likely dogs in harness while the other will be giving experience to some younger dogs and training, testing and assessing dogs in various places in the lashup. Aliy won the Yukon Quest once several years ago but does not now compete in it--except for the shorter division--while Allen has won it several times to include 2014 and will be back to defend his title again this year. He also runs the Iditarod but usually well back in the pack with young and developing dogs.

The past few years Aliy has been very focused on the Iditarod and, as we all know, has come in a closer second place finish each of the last three runs. I am sure she'll be giving it her best again when the race heads out of Willow the first Saturday in March and I will be with her in spirit! I'm hoping this will be her year but there is a huge element of luck as well as many other factors at play. Sometimes the best team does not actually get there first...

But meanwhile I will follow some other three hundred milers and the YQ, which kicks off early in February. How I would love to be in Fairbanks when the first racers come in--maybe Allen Moore again or any one of some very notable mushers who are among the twenty six competitors running this year to include such well known names as Jeff King and Lance Mackey. I saw about six or eight women in the list of entrants posted on the YQ site. If you want to go take a look for yourself, the YQ site is at http://www.yukonquest.com/ and the mushers' portraits scroll in the upper left hand corner. You can click on them to read a bio and information.

Another Copper Basin racer whose placing I do not yet have is Paige Drobney who I met this past summer. That's her on the left with one of her dogs. Her kennel outside of Fairbanks is named Squid Acres as she's a marine biologist by trade and schooling, working summers to support her dogs and racing. I do not think her partner races although he supports her efforts with a lot of hard work! And I can vouch that keeping a kennel and training and racing dogs is one big job--if you are not supported by big sponsors and able to afford an extensive staff of many assistants, you are going to be one busy person--or two or three.

That is what makes the feats of rather independent and initially little known racers of earlier times so amazing. Libby Riddles did not have a big team of backers and got most of her training from Joe Redington and a one-time partner, Joe Garnie, who was also a racer in the early Iditarod days. Susan Butcher did not start big either. Of course things have changed a lot in the past twenty years or so. Still, there is a lot of brutal work and tedious hours involved. You have to really love this to put in the effort and dedication required even to complete races, much less win them. That is yet another reason for my deep admiration of these folks, especially the women.