Fall is our favorite time of year... well that is until SNOW COMES!

It has been awhile sense we checked in. A lot of things new going on here! I am still in college and now am in all the good classes where we are learning so much and doing a lot of hands on stuff! Way better than text books that's for sure! The only downfall with school is now it is way more demanding than before so racing may not be what we want it to be this year. We may be lucky to get in two races this year. But time will tell.

Of course this is the year that the teams are really rocking and we have more training runs and miles on than we have EVER had this time of year. It is amazing to me because with mom being down from back surgery and me running 28 dogs (two teams) we are able to keep the teams rolling and really putting in some outstanding runs! Mom will be down until about mid January so no running dogs for her until then! Thanks that I have my boyfriend Dj, his kids and great neighbors (Late Start Kennel) for helping me get the teams out safely!

I have 14 veterans on my team this year and they really are rocking! We have more leaders than ever before and they all want to lead all the time! On moms team she has all the yearlings and a few older team members to help train those crazy yearlings! The yearlings are doing amazing this year, and it is so fun to watch them really get it and have such drive!

Dixie's pups are growing like weeds, and when I say that they are all legs! I will post some photos of them in this blog! As well as some training run photos.

Well got to get back to studying. Hope all are enjoying their fall time! Until next time here are some photos! 

 Wat and Kaltag

 Puppy team

 Dixie and Wat's pups

Wat and Yoda

Happy Trails!

~Fort Illio~

Puppies!

Dixie had pups on June 26th. She had 5 healthy pups, 4 boys and 1 girl. We decided to name them after heavy equipment, so introducing... TimberJack, Titan, Kubota, Komatsu, and Diamond. More photos to come, but here are some! Oh and they are all piebalds, and daddy is Wat!

~Fort Illio~

Tried, Failed, and LEARNED

We were beyond excited to be at the starting line this year for the Can Am 250! We felt very confident that we had the team to do it, and finish it. Unfortunately multiple reasons showed up pretty rapidly that we were not ready for this race, and no we did not have the team that was capable of finishing this race. However we learned a lot and plan to tackle it again, when timing is better, and we have a more seasoned team! First off the team was Wat, Bones, Roland, Kaltag, Nikolai, Hinder, Lumos, Rimbey, Dixie, Rimbey, Rosa, and Yoda. Problem number 1... No yearlings for this race, and if you do, only 1! We brought 3 into this race, and by the middle of the second leg they were fried. But the temps were very warm anyways so I am sure that was a big play in our situation, sense my guys run very hot! About 10 miles into the run, we were cruising right along, and most all of the team disappeared into this big whole going down hill, resulting in Dixie coming up out of it screaming in pain! I tried my best to stop the team as fast as I could, but snowhooks were not holding at all. I was able to get the team stopped but knew my time was very limited! I ran up and carried Dixie to the bag, went to put her in and the team takes off. I had to let go of Dixie and grab the sled and try to get Dixie to follow the team and I. She did follow us, but was limping the whole way, finally got the team stopped and put her in the bag and this time succeeded. But she is a very hard headed driven female and would not shut up the whole way to Portage in the bag. She didn't care that she was hurt all she wanted was to run and pull! Once arriving into Portage at a decent time considering carrying a 50 lb girl in the sled for 50 + miles, I had the vets check out Dixie. We gave her a Rimadyl, put on her therapeutic vest and signed her out of the race. She was not continuing on with us. Team rested and ate very well. Plan was to stay here for 5 hrs and than continue on to Rocky Brook. But I got a little ahead of myself and was faster at getting the team ready than I thought I would be and we pulled out a little before 5 hrs. Team really flew out of Portage, and I had all I could do to hold them back for the first 10-15 miles. At about 20 miles out Lumos was having a very hard time. Thought he was hot, kept stopping giving the team a break, and let them roll in the snow. After awhile Lumos would just drop and drag, I knew it was time to put the big boy in the bag. I had all I could do to lift him into the sled, because of course he was not going in the bag willingly! After fighting with him and finally winning he was in the bag and actually took to it for about 5 minutes. After that he started to bark his head off... Where was that Ibuprofen I packed...sure going to need it now! At this point the 3 yearlings were done. They were tired, mentally and physically. We were just moping along. By the time we got to one of the safety stations they said it was 20 more miles to the checkpoint. I said if we continue on like this I was going to have to put 3 dogs in the sled and one barely fit as it was. I decided to scratch at that point. Really did not want to, but as more and more pressure was being put onto the remaining dogs, I could see more and more injuries appearing. By the time we hit Rocky Brook I think I would of had to drop 4 more dogs. Trail was very punchy, and I think when Dixie went down in that hole, I am pretty sure that is where Lumos and Wat were injured there too. It took a whole 24 hrs to get my team to be back to their normal selves after this race. The warm temps and the hard going trail really took it out of them! And we only did 97 miles of the race. We can't wait to try this race again, but just not right off. We have some things we need to work on before and that will take some time to get there! But we will be back!! Here are some photos! Now onto some puppy training! Happy Spring everyone!! ~Fort Illio~

Odyssee Appalachienne 100 Miler Feb 16th

It was a last minute decision to go to Saint Pamphile and run this race. Over the years we had talked about it, but always chose to do Greenville race because it was closer and more practical. When Greenville got cancelled, we decided to drive to Canada and run one team in the 100 mile race. Team was, Wat, Bones, Roland, Kaltag, Dixie, Waylon, Rosa, Nikolai, Yoda, Rimbey, Hinder, and Lumos. Wallace had a sore shoulder, so Nikolai went in his place for this race. This was Nik's first time running a longer race, and he did awesome! He certainly has a bright future. The first 40-50 miles to the checkpoint went pretty fast and it was a nice clean run. Well for the most part, that was up until my sled hit a cement pillar that was hidden in the trail and broke my plastic runner off the sled. I had to run the remaining 30 miles on one runner. But thank a lot for Gino Roussell that helped me fix it and we were able to tape it back on and it held! The last 4-5 miles in Bones was acting a little funny, and sure enough once we got into the checkpoint he had a swollen wrist. He was dropped at the half way point. Wat and Bones led the first leg, and Wat and Roland led the second leg. On the way back we kind of went past one of the turns and had to turn the team around twice, resulting in a little tangle. Once we got that straightened around the rest of the run was pretty uneventful. Team clicked right a long and a nice pace and we finished with a time of 9 hours and 25 minutes, putting us in 7th place out of 10 teams. Here are the full results, http://www.odysseeappalachienne.ca/resultats/2013_100_milles.pdf Also some photos to enjoy of us resting at the halfway point. Next up... Can Am 250!

2013 KI 30 and Beyond

Last weekend we went to Brownville and put two teams in this race to help support the club and organization for putting this race on every year. This is one of our favorite races to go to because it is just a low key fun race! We both went into this race with just to have fun and use it as a training run for the yearlings. Trail was perfect, temperature was perfect, and the atmosphere of the race was perfect. What more could one ask for. Mom ran 9 dogs in the open class, she had Kaleeta, Cree, Sable, Yentna, Willow, Marocca, Kyat, Ruby, and Nikolai. She had a great run and came back smiling ear to ear! She came in 11 out of 13 teams with the yearling team. And a time of 3 hours and 27 minutes! I ran 10 dogs in the open class, those fabulous 10 are Wat and Bones in lead, Roland, Yoda, Waylon, Hinder, Kaltag, Dixie, Rimbey and Lumos. These guys cruised! I held them back the first 10 miles on the rail road bed, and than when we got in the hills, they loped up them! I was shocked to see them flying up the mountain! They would slow down to a trot for no more than a minute and than pick it right back up again to a lope! They had bigger plans than I did for this race apparently! We came in 3rd place out of 13 teams!! And was the fastest pure bred team! We did 30 miles in 2 hrs and 31 minutes. Here is the link to see the full results! http://www.mainesleddogclub.com/page5.php And some photos to enjoy! My team coming into the finish line

Again my team coming into the finish line

Mom's team coming in to finish line

3rd place!!!

Stay tuned for our next race on February 9th in Greenville another 100 miler!! ~Fort Illio~

2013 Eagle Lake Sled Dog Race

On January 19th we entered two teams in the Eagle Lake race. Mom took the yearling team in the 30 mile race, and that team consisted of Kaleeta, Cree, Willow, Yentna, Ruby, Kyat, Sable and Marocca. She had a good run and enjoyed just having a nice laid back run for the yearlings sense this was their first race. I took 12 strong dogs in the 100 mile race. Team was Wat, and Bones in lead, Roland, Yoda, Wallace, Kaltag, Rimbey, Hinder, Waylon, Lumos, Rosa, and Dixie. All 12 finished, but I had to carry Wallace in the sled bag for the last 18 miles due to him being too sore to continue. I believe he fell in a moose hole on the way back to the finish line. He is better now, but had a sore hind leg. Both teams came in strong and we are really proud of their performances! Here is where you can see our results http://www.eaglelakesleddograces.com/ Mom came in 10th out of 11, and I came in 6th out of 9. Mom finishing her first race at Eagle lake!

~Fort Illio~