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| Congratulations of Junior Iditorod`ers | Mon, Feb. 25th, 2008 | |
Congratualtions to Jesse Deloach from Trapper Creek and Amanda Olson of Talkeetna who both completed the 2008 Junior Iditarod this weekend. Jesse finished in eighth place with a time of 23 hours and 44 minutes, just 57 minutes behind the winner, 17 year old Jessica Klejka of Bethel, AK. Amanda finished 10th in a time of 24 hours 22 minutes.
A few of the dogs used by Jesse are on the list and may be used on Heathers Hardcore Team for the 36th Iditarod which starts this Saturday in Anchorage. Jesse has also gone on training runs with Heather while both prepared for their respective races.
Again, congratulations to both Amanda and Jesse for a job well done!
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| Bismarck Tribune Pays Tribute to Heather and Anne | Fri, Feb. 22nd, 2008 | |
Bismarck Tribune
Bismarck, North Dakota
February 19, 2008
2 women from North Dakota and their missions
Two remarkable women were featured in different sections of the Tribune on Sunday: Heather Siirtola and Anne Mahlum.
Their missions in life might be vastly dissimilar, but the reader got a strong impression from the stories that they share things in common. Both are athletic. Both are brave. Both are determined.
Both are from North Dakota.
If there is a tiny note of "that`s too bad" in response to their stories, it`s that they`re cast their lot in life elsewhere than in their home state.
Her life has taken Mahlum to Philadelphia and its decidedly urban landscape.
Siirtola`s patch of the world now is Alaska. Her buddies are a pack of sled dogs. Her mission in life is mushing. That term has stuck, though mushers don`t say it. They say, "Hike."
Siirtola soon will take a 1,150-mile wintertime trip. She`s doing the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race - again. She finished last year`s race, not high in the standings, but about one in three mushers drops out. She hopes to spend no more than 12 days on the trail, her dogs hitched in front of her, pulling.
Shift from the Alaskan winter wilderness to a street in Philadelphia, 5 a.m. The runner is Mahlum, at one point a multisport athlete at Bismarck High School in her native city. Mahlum has a mission that works in cooperation with a mission. The people in the inner-city mission are generally in transition, some from prison to free society. Others are drying out or kicking drugs.
Mahlum`s mission is to encourage them to run with her. Running is a means of orienting every aspect of the mission-dwellers` bodies, minds and souls to feel the exhilaration of doing something good for them that presents challenges and goals.
Over its six months history, Back on my Feet, invented and led by Mahlum, has grown to close to 50 members in four teams of runners. They have to have been in a shelter for a while and have been sober for at least 30 days.
And they have to be willing, happy even, to get up at 5:30 a.m. to run.
Mahlum`s running companions are not choir boys. And Philly, belying its brotherly love moniker, has mean streets, a high crime rate and a gang problem.
Figure Mahlum to be every bit as brave in her own way as Siirtola, who was charged by a moose while on a practice trail last year. Score 1 for the moose, who got in a lick, knocking Siirtola down. Then score final point for Siirtola, who put five slugs from her pistol into the moose. Dumb moose, taking on a woman from North Dakota. Dead moose.
Two brave, determined women displaying North Dakota values. Competitiveness - Siirtola wants to win. She won`t be the race`s first female winner; Libby Riddles took care of that in 1985. But the North Dakota native wouldn`t mind being the latest of her gender to do it.
And compassion - Mahlum. Her running buddies have her to thank that their lives might well be on the mend.
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| Iditarod Vet Check Set | Fri, Feb. 22nd, 2008 | |
Susan Whiton will be coming to do the Iditarod vet check at the Hardcore and Sundog Kennels. She is the wife of Vern Halter who is originally from South Dakota. Vern is a retired Iditarod veteran who placed well when he raced.
According to race rules, all mushers must have the team physicals performed at the official pre-race veterinary examination or by an Iditarod Trail Committee approved veterinarian, on or after February 16, 2008. Mushers are allowed to have up to 24 dogs screened for the race (microchips, EKG’s and blood work). From these 24 a musher may select a maximum of 20 dogs for listing on the Dog Microchip Identification Sheet, which must be submitted to Iditarod Trail Committee Headquarters by the Wednesday, February 27. 2008. The final 16 dogs for the team will then be selected from this list.
Heather says she still has no idea who the final 16 dogs for the Hardcore Team will be as they tend to change in the last week before the race. She did say "I`ll probably make the decision on the final 16 a day or so before heading to Anchorage but all of the dogs are all looking good."
Heather says she just completed a three hour run with Junior Iditarod musher Jesse Deloach. Jesse is racing in the Junior Iditarod this weekend. GO JESSE!
Jerome Longo is tuning her starting sled with new brakes and more. Heather says she is bringing new plastics over to slide onto the runners for a smoother ride. She says "Thanks Jerome."
The 2008 Iditarod begins in just 7 days!
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| Mackey wins 4th Yukon Quest | Thu, Feb. 21st, 2008 | |
Defending Iditarod champion Lance Mackey won his fourth consecutive Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race yesterday.
The Fairbanks musher completed the 1,000-mile race by pulling into Whitehorse, Yukon, at 1:23 a.m., 15 minutes ahead of Ken Anderson.
Mackey, 37, last year became the first person to win the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in the same year.
The 2008 Yukon Quest started Feb. 9 in Fairbanks, and Mackey crossed the finish line 10 days, 12 hours and 14 minutes later.
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| Vet Check for the Team - Rest for Heather | Thu, Feb. 21st, 2008 | |
Update for 2-20-08:
The Hardcore Team had another vet check was today. A few of Hardcore members are healing from minor aches and pains. Heather says she is waiting to see who heals in the next week to determine who makes the cut of the final 16. Other than that they are sticking to short runs from here on out.
It has been raining off and on making the dog yard slick to walk in. Heaathers says she brought her sled over to her neighbor`s house tonight to put anew drag brake on it. This is her starter sled. She will be putting new plastic runners on her sleds Frdiay along with new line to hold to sled bag up. She says she will also make sure all the bolts are good to go. Other than that she is trying to relax and rest up in anticipation of the long journey ahead.
The mushers banquet is next week and the cerimonial start in Anchorage is only 10 days away. The 2008 Iditarod is almost here!
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