Sunday, January 26, 2020
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
2020 Kuskokwim 300 Bib Numbers
You can view their short bios on the Kusko website here.
1. Dennis Kananowicz - Facebook
2. Pete Kaiser - Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
3. Joar Leifseth Ulsom - Website / Facebook / Instagram
4. Dave Turner - Facebook
5. Wade Marrs - Website / Facebook / Instagram
3. Joar Leifseth Ulsom - Website / Facebook / Instagram
4. Dave Turner - Facebook
5. Wade Marrs - Website / Facebook / Instagram
8. Matthew Failor - Website / Facebook / Instagram
9. Richie Diehl - Facebook
10. Jeff King - Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
9. Richie Diehl - Facebook
10. Jeff King - Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
11. Travis Beals - Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
12. Will Rhodes - Website / Facebook
21. Lance Mackey - Facebook / Instagram
Who are you cheering for? Comment below with your picks!
12. Will Rhodes - Website / Facebook
13. Tony Browning - Facebook
14. Aaron Burmeister - Facebook
15. Ramey Smyth - Facebook
19. Joanna Jagow - Website / Facebook / InstagramWho are you cheering for? Comment below with your picks!
2020 Kuskokwim 300 Race Preview
The Kusko roster is stacked with a who's who of teams that Iditarod fans are very familiar with. Formidable teams who could all easily take the top prize. Last year, Matthew Failor and team pulled an upset winning his first Kusko 300 against the four-time and favored champion Pete Kaiser. Failor and Kaiser are both on this year's roster along with other past champions and hopefuls. Let's take a look at some of the top teams.
Dave Turner - The 2019 Tustumena 200 Champion has a solid, steady team that eats up trail. Turner has the ability to take the lead, though with this being a trail he isn't as familiar with he may take a little more conservative approach. It will be interesting to see how he plays this run.
Jeff King - Can you do a top ten and not have Mr. The King on the list? Possibly. King hasn't really dominated as the "winningest musher" in a while now, but he still has the goods. His dogs are running well on other teams, so it's most likely not the dogs that hold the team back. Like the Copper Basin the Kusko plays out as a training run for many of the teams, don't look for King to go balls to the wall, but don't expect him to sit back either.
Joar Leifseth Ulsom - the 2018 Iditarod Champion should have a good run on the Kusko. Don't expect him to be outside the top teams. We'll see how he does this year against many of his main competitors for the "big one".
Matt Hall - The former Yukon Quest Champion and his Smokin' Aces team cannot be left off the list. Matt has the goods to take a win, if he plays his cards right.
Matthew Failor - The reigning Kusko Champion is coming off a very cold and brutal Copper Basin 300. Doing two three hundred mile mid-distance races can wear a team down especially since the Kusko is the one race that is not on the road system and most teams must be flown into the area. It doesn't mean Failor's team doesn't have a good chance of taking the prize again, but it could be more challenging.
Nicolas Petit - Team Petit is no stranger to back to back races where "dad" let's them run. Petit and crew just finished the Copper Basin 300, and here they are on the Kusko. Don't expect him to take it easy. Petit will get up front early and do his best to stay there. He just has to not take the wrong turn.
Pete Kaiser - The 4-time consecutive Kusko Champion didn't make it a 5-Pete, but that doesn't mean the era of Kaiser is over. He's the reigning Iditarod Champion after all, this team has just found its stride. Look for a strong, confident team who will be hunting for that win again. Expect them to take it.
Richie Diehl - Another team who are running in their backyard, Diehl wants this win and has the speeds and the knowledge to do it. It just has to come together for him. I almost put Ramey Smyth on here instead, but with it being Richie's stomping grounds I'm gonna give him the edge.
Travis Beals - While this is Beals' first trip to the Kusko, this is not his first sled dog race. Beals has steadily climbed the ranks in the sport and is another solid competitor in any race he enters. Don't expect the rookie to hold back, he'll be in the mix and I wouldn't be surprised to see him running close to the front.
Wade Marrs - Wade is another one of the younger mushers who has already made his mark. He's always in the mix and he just needs the stars to align for it to happen. Look for him to be in the lead pack.
How to Follow
Unlike the bigger races like the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod, there is very little promise of any video coverage. With the temps dropping so low, even the facebook live feeds we've grown accustomed to cannot be guaranteed. Cold air zaps batteries faster than lighting, and who has the time or ability to keep their fingers exposed long enough to even press "start"?! So, how can race fans follow along when a race doesn't have Iditarod Insider like coverage?
Official Website
The Kusko's website is pretty slick. You can follow all of the races, fundraising and news from their site. It's easy to navigate and they have great musher bios. Be sure to check it out.
GPS Tracker
Real time updates will come through the trackers as always. With the cold there may be more glitches than we'd like (I blame the aliens!) but there's not much we can do. Cold and technology don't get along. You can follow the trackers here, but they won't go live until closer to go time on Friday.
Radio Broadcast
KYUK Radio will broadcast the start which begins at 6:30pm (start listening at 6pm for pre-race info). You can listen to the broadcast online through this link.
Social Media
Updates will most likely be posted on the race's facebook page, and possibly their twitter account. Photo updates should come from Instagram. They typically try to have a facebook live feed, but if it stays cold that could become problematic. If you are tweeting, instagramming, etc. the traditional hashtag is #K300.
KYUK is also plans to post updates on their facebook page, including facebook live feeds of the start.
Schedule of Events
Thursday, January 16
6pm - K300 starting position drawing
7pm - Bogus Creek 150 starting position drawing
Friday, January 17
5pm - Bogus Creek 150 START
6:30pm - 2020 Kuskokwim 300 START
"The Lead Dog Light Show" presented by First National Bank Alaska
Saturday, January 18
2pm - Akiak Dash Mass Start
7pm - K300 Concert (Co-sponsored by Bethel Council on the Arts)
Monday, January 13, 2020
Mitch Seavey "takes his hat off (quickly)" to Copper Basin Finishers
Mitch Seavey was the latest musher to take to Facebook following his scratch from the Copper Basin 300. Temperatures averaged in the -40s all weekend on the trail, and reports had the second checkpoint on the trail hovering at -60. While 13 teams have managed to make it to the Chistochina checkpoint - the final stop before the finish - 15 teams so far have scratched. Seven teams are still racing, six have come into the finish.
"It was -44 F. at the start of the Copper Basin Sled Dog Race," Mitch wrote. "At the first checkpoint, 75 miles into the race, it was -52 and -60 at Sourdough, the next checkpoint. We (Hal Hanson with second team) scratched from the race out of concern for frostbite to the dogs. Personally, I was quite comfortable, considering the temperature. I’ve been experimenting with some new gear and called it a success, especially heated insoles in my boots! Using contact lenses for the first time avoided frozen glasses – another plus."
Several teams chose to scratch at Point Lake after hearing reports of the temperatures dropping so low, including Iditarod and Quest veteran Michelle Phillips.
Mitch continued, "Caring for dogs in cold temperatures is a challenge. Booties, coats, leggings, male wraps, flank protectors and more are deployed. As long as the team keeps eating well, cold temperatures are manageable, unless something goes awry, such as a wrap or protector getting dislodged, urine-soaked or snow-filled. Then a problem can develop quickly.
Cold can also be depressing to the dogs. More than ever, they rely on their musher to set a positive tone and mood, and as long as we project joy and optimism, they will join in the festivities. But extreme cold can be depressing to humans, too."
Weather, and especially temperatures are always a huge factor in races. Mushers have to take into account what their dogs are capable of, and what they're prepared for.
"The first time I won the Copper Basin Race was in 1997. Warm temperatures as high as 48 F. stopped teams as they waited for cooler evening temperatures. I kept going, developed a big lead, and won the race. I was criticized and even dissed by the race marshal at the finisher’s banquet for running when it was, “too hot” and for taking a “big risk.”
I shrugged. “Apparently, it wasn’t too hot,” I said flatly, as I took the check and sat down. Today, 50 F. is a common cut-off temperature for teams doing long runs, especially in fall training."
Ultimately, Mitch chose to do what was best for his team on the day of decision. That does not mean it was the right decision for another team.
He concluded, "Techniques, gear, experience and even the dogs themselves continue to improve as the years go by and conquering extremes is at the heart of sports. At 60 below my hat’s off (and back on quickly) to the teams who reached their goals in the 2020 Copper Basin. If I’d been carrying the diphtheria serum to Nome, I would have gone on. But geesh, I was just hoping for a nice training run! Congratulations finishers."
Hal Hanson's next race will be the Willow 300 on January 30. Mitch Seavey's next race will be the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race set for March 7.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Friday, January 10, 2020
2020 Copper Basin Bib Numbers
Want to know who the mushers are running this year's Copper Basin 300? Look no further. I just spent a crazy amount of time tracking down the teams online. Mushers are traditionally the sort who balk at modern technology, so some of these sites are outdated at best, and some non-existant. Use this info as you wish, perhaps this will help some with their Fantasy Mushing teams.
1. Misha Wiljes - Website / Facebook
2. Mille Porsild - Website / Facebook
3. Kalyn Holl - Website / Facebook
4. Fabian Schmitz - Facebook
5. Nicholas Petit - Website / Facebook / Twitter
6. Madeline Rubida - Website / Facebook / Instagram
7. Michelle Phillips - Website / Facebook
8. Hal Hanson - Website / Facebook
9. Eric Kelly - Instagram / Facebook
10. Rob Cooke - Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
11. KattiJo Deeter - Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
12. Susannah Tuminelli - Website / Facebook
13. Aliy Zirkle - Website / Facebook / Twitter
14. Chad Stoddard - Facebook
15. Riley Dyche - Website / Facebook / Instagram
16. Louve Tweddell - Website
17. Mitch Seavey - Website / Facebook / Instagram
18. Lori Tweddell - Website /
19. Kyla Boivin - Facebook
20. Jason Biasetti - Can't find anything!
21. Christopher Parker - Website / Facebook / Instagram
22. Magnus Kaltenborn - Facebook / Instagram
23. Ryne Olson - Website / Facebook
24. Matt Paveglio - Website / Facebook
25. Brent Sass - Website / Facebook / Instagram
26. Hunter Keefe - Website / Facebook
27. Matthew Failor - Website / Facebook / Instagram
2020 Gunflint Mail Run begins Saturday
The Gunflint is not a qualifier for the 1,000 mile races, but it is one of the most anticipated races in the lower 48. While it won't get the attention and coverage that it probably deserves, with the help of Blair Braverman's fandom, it's gotten a lot more attention in the last couple of years. BraverMountain kennel will not be represented in this year's roster, but the field is exciting none the less.
Names like Redington, Neese, Freking, and Schroeder should all be familiar to mushing fans. Should be a fun race to follow.
So where can you watch the race unfold online? Let's get a quick rundown on how to follow this lovely little race.
GPS Tracker! Yes, where would we be in 2020 if we didn't have GPS trackers following our favorite teams' every step?! How did we ever survive the 70s-90s when all we had were the official times in and out of checkpoints?! All snark aside, if you aren't glued to a GPS tracker, why not? Gunflint's tracker map can be found here.
The Official Site of the race is one of the best organized and cleanly built. Lots of great information can be found on the site, including information of the areas the race runs through. Give it a look see. The FAQ is especially fun.
WTIP Broadcasting is the official radio station of the Gunflint Mail Run and will broadcast the start of the race. The broadcast can be streamed online.
Social Media
Gunflint's Official Facebook page will hopefully have live video feeds of the start and throughout the race, and of course will keep updated with race stats throughout the weekend. Years past they've been active on twitter as well.
Dog Talk Sports Network a fun fanlead twitter account that tweets as though dogs are commentating sports will be at the race and hope to cover it. With the unknown of weather and other logistics they are unsure if they will be able to "live twit", but there will be updates as they can be made available. It's a highly entertaining twitter account either way and I highly recommend you follow them.
Did I forget anything? Who are you cheering for? Comment below!
Fantasy Mushing - Join the Fun!
Several years ago Danny Seavey didn't have enough to do with running his family's tourism business, being a dad, and blogging about his dad and brother running Iditarod. No, Danny needed something more to do and he created a Fantasy Mushing League for everyone to join and add a new element of fun while following the Iditarod. What started out as a Google Spreadsheet with Danny computing everything, has now grown to its own website (run by David Hunt, volunteer extraordinaire). They've also expanded from just Iditarod rosters to include the Copper Basin 300, Yukon Quest, and Finmarkslopet.
The "league" is always free of charge and just a fun way to follow the sport. Improvement suggestions are encouraged, and there are simple ways to financially support the site should one want to.
You can even create your own "pack" so that you can play directly against friends, family, and fan groups.
If you want to join a pack, you're more than welcome to join "Iditafans".
Registration is currently open for the 2020 Copper Basin 300 and will close two hours after the race begins (so roughly 12pm AKST).
Do you have a team in Fantasy Mushing? Share your team name in the comments below!
Thursday, January 9, 2020
2020 Copper Basin 300 Preview
Weather forecast is calling for clear skies and temps between -25 and -35 degrees Fahrenheit. It is going to be a cold race and as such some teams are making the decision to withdraw from the race. Depending on where teams have been training can impact how teams run in these conditions. While most of Alaska has been under these very cold temps, not all teams have experienced it for days on end while training. At this time, there are at least four teams that are still listed as racing have made public statements saying they will not race this weekend. **Update 5pm, January 10: the roster is down to 30 teams now.**
Until the bib draw Friday, there's no real way to know just how many teams plan to make it to the start line, but the roster is a healthy number and even a few more withdrawals won't hinder a very difficult, yet promising race. A quick scan of teams' social media pages (ones that are known, anyway) it looks like most plan to race this weekend. Let's take a look at some of the top players in this weekend's race.
Aliy Zirkle - If you've followed mushing at all in the last two decades (wow, she won the Quest a long while ago!) you know who Zirkle is and what the SPKennel dogs are capable of. Zirkle trains in the Interior of Alaska and is no stranger to plunging temps. In fact, Aliy made a point to acknowledge the negative temps in a recent blog post. This is a great weekend for Yukon Quest like weather training. While most of the top names in mushing use the mid-distance races as "training runs" for the bigger races like the Quest and Iditarod, they are still competitive.
Brent Sass - Another Interior musher who also has a couple of Yukon Quest titles to his name. No stranger to cold, Sass's Wild and Free team will be a formidable team charging down the trail. The Interior has seen temps close to fifty below, so -30 will probably feel like a heat wave. Sass is coming off a fairly successful 2019 season (he won the Yukon Quest). Look for Brent to have some strong pushes along the trail.
Matthew Failor - The 2019 Kuskokwim champion can no longer be called an "up-and-comer", Matt Failor is another team that has the goods to be a spoiler to the "more experienced" teams out on any trail. Having a decade of mushing under his belt, Failor considers himself the "17th dog" (which I guess now that the Iditarod is down to 14 dogs per team he's the 15th dog?) Don't expect Matt to just be along for the ride. He'll run with his team to the finish. (In Nome for the Iditarod finish he actually picked up the sled because it had too much drag on the pavement. Quite the feat after a week on the trail with little to no sleep.)
Michelle Phillips - Girl power on the trail! in 2017 the top three teams to finish the Copper Basin were women. Phillips came in third that year, beating out Allen Moore. Phillips is a consistant competitor on the Yukon Quest and Quest 300 coming close to finishing first several times. Another team that's used to "brutal cold" this weekend should shape up nicely for them.
Mitch Seavey - The three time Iditarod Champion is known to use the mid-distance races as training runs. Doesn't mean he can't win them, just that it isn't the goal for the weekend. Mitch has won the Copper Basin several times... in the nineties. He's been around a while. Look for a strong run from Team Seavey, but don't expect him to have the dogs to balls to the wall.
Nicolas Petit - The speed demon of the trails, Petit will once again go for the win. Petit is known to "let the dogs" choose how to run. "Dad" is just there to make sure everyone does it safe. Petit and "the kids" have won before, and I wouldn't expect anything short of going for another win this time around.
Ryne Olson - Ryne was the woman to win the race in 2017, and has also seen some pretty cold temps in the last week or more. Olson's posts seem confident about her race weekend, and it wouldn't be surprising to see her post some good runs and make a push for the front. Ryne's positive approach to racing is always good for the team, and she'll need it with temps reaching -33 by weekend's end.
How to Follow
Unlike the bigger races like the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod, there is very little promise of any video coverage. With the temps dropping so low, even the facebook live feeds we've grown accustomed to cannot be guaranteed. Cold air zaps batteries faster than lighting, and who has the time or ability to keep their fingers exposed long enough to even press "start"?! So, how can race fans follow along when a race doesn't have Iditarod Insider like coverage?
GPS Tracker
Real time updates will come through the trackers as always. With the cold there may be more glitches than we'd like (I blame the aliens!) but there's not much we can do. Cold and technology don't get along. You can follow the trackers here, but they won't go live until closer to go time on Saturday.
Radio Broadcast
KCAM Radio will broadcast the start beginning with musher interviews at 9:30am. If you're in the area you can listen to the broadcast on AM 790, or online through this link.
Social Media
Updates will most likely be posted on the race's facebook page, and possibly their twitter account. There may even be live video feeds, but again with the cold don't count on it. If you are tweeting, instagramming, etc. the traditional hashtag is #CB300.
KCAM is also posting updates on their facebook page, starting with the musher meet and greet Friday night.
Schedule of Events
Friday, January 10
9am-3pm Food Drops
10am-4pm Vet Checks
3pm-5pm Community Dinner and Musher Meet and Greet
Saturday, January 11
10am - Race Start
Will you be watching? Who are you hoping takes the win? Comment below with your thoughts!
Monday, October 28, 2019
Movie Review: The Great Alaskan Race
This time the independent film with a nationwide release takes a greater look at the Serum Run canine hero Togo and his human Leonhard Seppala. This is typically not the route the story tellers go. After all, it was Balto who ran the AntiToxin Serum down "front street", but it was Togo who ran the furthest distance. Only true historians and mushing enthusiasts even seem to know the name Togo, so it was no surprise that the child I went to this movie with was confused when "Sep" kept talking about his awesome lead dog Togo.
The film starts with the note that the film is "Based on the True Story". This is Hollywood Speak for "yeah we didn't find the story compelling enough without embellishing". If you're a history buff, the "warning" can make you cringe because you expect the worst. The movie does change Seppala's story a bit with becoming a widower early in life and being angry at the world for it. It feels like they felt they needed to humanize a man that is more legend in history than human. The pacing of the film as they bring this emotional part of the story to light goes a little slow, but works to establish what motivates the film's hero.
Playing Leonhard Seppala is Brian Presley, who also wrote, directed and produced the film. He looks a little like Stephen Amell (Arrow) with the mountain man appearance. Presley's take on Seppala is as a romantic turned hard due to the loss of his wife. He grumbles, seems angry all the time, and runs head strong into danger. The one constant is his love and loyalty to his dog Togo and his daughter whom he has to save from the Diphtheria outbreak.
The movie does not fully go into the history of the dogs in the relay and the danger they faced. They do make mention of the storm and how dangerous negative temps can be, but we don't see a whole lot of the struggle the teams faced other than Seppala shivering in the cold and his face getting frostbite sores. The film only shows one child passing, but doesn't fully grasp the full impact. While there was the drama of getting the serum in time, it sometimes was lost as the film continued to focus on Seppala's grief (most of his flashbacks involve his late wife).
If you're worried about seeing trauma or death to the dogs - none of that is shown. Togo becomes tired and needs to rest in the sled but it's split second, blink and you miss it. There isn't anything that should trigger emotion based on the dogs - until the end when the real dogs are tributed through historic footage and photography. I dare any dog or mushing enthusiast not to have a sense of pride for what these four legged athletes accomplished. Working dogs are incredible.
The most positive part of the film is the spotlight brought to Togo and Seppala. Sitting with a 10 year old movie goer, she was very confused at the beginning when the focus was on a dog named Togo. After several questions of "but where is Balto" I finally leaned over and said he comes in only at the end. She was emotionally invested in the plight of the children - and was quite upset when one of them died - and cheered as the team ran into Nome (I did manage to point out that Balto was leading). When the film ends with some factoids about the dogs and mentions the Balto having a statue in New York City's Central Park, my young friend got on her soapbox and declared it completely unfair that Togo did not get the honor considering how far Togo traveled.
The film is supposed to be about the amazing feat that the teams of sled dogs accomplished in saving the town of Nome, but a lot is focused on Seppala's grief. A lot of the politics of the event were also rushed through. It would have been interesting to meet some of the other players, they did give a couple of the mushers a few lines - and some great musher attitude - but the film bounced quickly back to Seppala's plight as a father and widower. One of the more interesting parts of the story was the governor's battle over who was going to get the serum to Nome: the dogs or an airplane. The Governor of Alaska makes mention of "the lower 48" not understanding how Alaska works, while the pro-airplane guy (the news paper editor? I couldn't figure it out) kept saying that Alaska was the laughing stock of the world because they wouldn't fly planes.
Creative license is always the right of the storyteller, and while I may have done it differently, Presley's film hits the mark in most ways. The mispronunciations of Alaskan towns and villages will give Alaskans a chuckle, but will be lost on those not familiar. The historical inaccuracies are mainly ones that have been around for decades - and probably existed as history was unfolding. One fact that needs pointing out is the film claiming that the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is run each year to commemorate the Serum Run - while this "fact" is often shared, it is not true. Official News of the Last Great Race detailed the history of the start of the race in a recent article to clear up confusion.
The film is a good matinee, and one worthy of the big screen. It has a nationwide release in the states with a hope to expand into Canada judging by their comments on social media. If nothing else it's a good excuse for a trip to get movie popcorn, but I feel most movie goers will be happy with the film. I hope this review doesn't come off sounding too down on the film, because I did enjoy the movie for what it was.
Have you seen The Great Alaskan Race? Tell me what you thought in the comments below.
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