2013 Stanley Sled Dog Rendezvous

This weekend we went over to Stanley ID with Nicki to race in Stanley Sled Dog Rendezvous. I had to leave Nora home because she didn't quite make it to my "A" team. So I ran Thor and Shilah, and borrowed two dogs from Aiyana and ran in the 4 dog, 8 mile class (4 miles/day). The course was VERY technical. All of the mushers, except Terry Adkins, :) were dumped and dragged multiple times. There were some points where we were running on solid dirt. (in normal races, usually only one musher gets dragged) I seriously thought I was going to die. Though in all, it was SO fun! My team ended up getting 2nd place out of three teams. I was just happy I didn't get last! We ran the first day with a time of 22:30 on the first day, and the second day in 20:06! I am SO proud of my team! 

                         

Since Shilah has had some problems with overheating lately, and we were going to be racing in 45+ degree weather, my mom, Nicki and I got creative and made some sun repelling coats for Thor and Shilah out of  old white T-shirts. Nicki tested them out on one of her dogs since she was racing before me. When she got back, she said it worked wonders! So I put them on Thor and Shilah and it did the same for them! They didn't dip as much, and their backs were actually cool when they finished. I just thought I should share that idea with any dog owners out there. :) 

Thor and Shilah ready to roll with their coats on! Thor says he wants a Superman symbol on his. :) 

One of the reasons mushers love this race is you usually have to drive to the race start from your hotel. This race, you walk out your door and can see the starting chute. Also the fact that there are hot springs there. :) Those two things were VERY nice. 

The starting chute is to the left of the hotel... trust me, it's there...

here, I put some arrows on it so you can see them better :)

The view from our hotel 

"If you don't let me run pretty soon I'll go crazy!"

One of Nicki's dogs has the coolest eyes!

The pups resting after a fun weekend :)

This weekend was SO much fun! I love going to this race so much. But the only thing I wasn't looking forward to this the whole weekend was the Tuesday after the race (yesterday), I got oral surgery. Yuck! So I'm sitting here with a purple mouth eating ice cream and popsicles. But I guess you can't feel too sorry for me once you heard my diet for the week :). Oh well, at least it's done. Though I can't seem to get enough dog sledding movies to watch...