March Pooper Scoop - Part 1

March 7 Icy Water Ltd. Race Day 12 km Twister

Check out Nicholas Dory's superb photos of the March 7 meet because this month's Lesson from the Trail is:
If you're going to take pictures, make sure the battery's charged! Oh yeah, and try not to stand where the dog drivers have to dodge you or dump you!

Fourteen teams turned out for the day's sun-run. A five-minute flurry the night before put a light dusting of snow over a concrete-hard trail, making things slick for everyone. Tony Radford, who volunteered at the far end of the trail, had three teams crash in front of him. Pictured here is Darryl Sheepway and his Smokin' Paws, fully recovered from the Road Runner 100 a week before. Jim Hajash's puppy team had a great training run. And Cynthia Corriveau's comment as she whizzed past was "Lots of passing!"

Eighteen seconds separated meet champion Chrystal Bartzcak and second place finisher Jonathan Lucas. Two and a half minutes later, Crispin Studer pulled in with his team of cleaning products - Vim, Ajax, Bleach. Who knew so many good dog names are lurking under the sink.

"The moguls were tough," said Crispin of the bumpy hard-pack. "There's no rhythm for me or the dogs."

5 km Kids' League
Four teams came out to give Erin Spicer a run for her money. Unfortunately, a Yukon bush driver chose to take a short cut and carved up our course. Volunteers were forced to stop the teams and turn them around, thereby cutting out the mish-mash of gouges at the return loop.

Most effected by the manoeuver was team Dogged Pursuit who were completely confused by backtracking, especially when they knew the "real" trail goes that-a-way, not this way. The hiccup cost musher Erin Spicer precious seconds, allowing Alan Mark's four-dog team and Seth Carey with three dogs to slip ahead into first and second place. Thea Carey's two-dog team brought up the rear with a finish time of 12 minutes flat.

5 km Pet League
Asha pulling Jonathan Lucas and Pippa Lawson with Tiramisu were neck and neck with Jonathan edging out Pippa by a nine slim seconds. New to the league was third place finisher Elisabeth Weigand with Stella, a dog that once ran with Bob Fink.

Thanks to all our sponsors for the Icy Waters Ltd Race Day. Please support the following businesses:
Midnight Sun Alpaca, Yukon Grain Farm, Yukon Elk Antler, First Mate Dog Food, Aurora Booties, C&D Feeds
and
Yukon Brewing
who support all of us in our pursuit of dog sports.

posted by Jessica Simon
yukonwriter@lycos.com

March Pooper Scoop - Redux

opens March 21 on a screen near you!

Twister - The Movie
sponsored by Optimum Pet Products

Watch Laura chase Jon! Find out what's puzzling Darryl! Untangle the teams! Hear the Bandit break away! Catch Jessie's shoulder check! Any more crazy fast mushers back there? Only Crystal and Gunter, nose to tail!
That's 2010 league champ Tony Radford shouting, over all the banging, "Sled's gonna break I think!"

The snow might have been minus 5, but the air felt like 20 above and the combination made for some of the fastest times of the season. Among the 15 teams entered for the season finale was Jeff Diment with Granpa Campbell's dogs.





Fabian Schmitz represented Team Schweiz. At the bottom of the long hill, coach and trail volunteer Crispin Studer yelled "Run, run!" and "No! Keep running!" when Fabian jumped on the runners too soon.





















Maren Bradley took her puppy team out for a training run.
Go puppies!

Kid's 5 K:
Congratulations to former kid's league champs and current Arctic Winter Games champions Rachel and Ben Kinvig. Way to show 'em how it's done!

Following in your footsteps is Erin Spicer, left, readying her team.

Erin won $125 purse and top honours in the 2010 kids' league. Kids interested in a share of the prize can come out next year and get your folks to volunteer for one meet.

Above, our first kid's skijorer, Caelon Pangman, glides into the return loop.



5 k Pet League
Without Asha's stiff competition, Tiramisu took Pippa Lawson on a casual farewell tour for her season finale. Tiramisu finished at the top of the league in the 2010 Pet Class.

Below, Jane Whiteman and Kip enjoyed a beautiful day for a ski. They crossed the finish line smiling and sunburnt.


Thanks to all our sponsors:
Midnight Sun Alpacas, Yukon Elk Antler, Icy Waters, Yukon Honda, Aurora Booties, Yukon Grain Farm, C&D Feeds, First Mate Dog Food and Yukon Agricultural Association

and our mainstay sponsors Yukon Brewing Company

for all the fun we had at your expense.

See you next season!

Video, pictures and words posted by Jessica Simon
yukonwriter@lycos.com

Optimum Pet Products - Season Finale - Results

A clear blue sky, sun, slight north breeze and -17'C greeted the 21 teams for this year's Season Finale. Overnight temps had dropped to -21'C firming up the well packed trail. The moguls again caused some upsets, but they appear to be training the teams how to handle them - now we can forget all that til next season!

A great change this race saw the turnout of 3 Kid's Skijor teams, great to see, and obviously fast as they beat the 4 dog Kid's team into 3rd.

Tiramasu again dominated the Pet Dog race, beating 2 new challengers, with Asha on the bench with a pulled muscle.

Results:

Kids 5km

1)...Caelon...2 dog skis...10.58

2)...Pelly Braun...2 dog skis...13.32

3)...Erin Spicer...4 dogs sled...15.00

4)...Nora Braun...1 dog skis...27.20

1 Pet Dog 5km

1)...Pippa Lawson...Tiramasu...skis...17.17

2)...Cynthia Corriveau...skis...19.00

3)...Jane Whiteman...skis...30.50

8 mile Twister

(all 5 dog sled unless otherwise stated)

1)...Tony Radford...Drag n Fly...26.12

2)...Jon Lucas...Snowpigs...3 dog skis...29.49

3)...Chrystal Bjartzack...Drag n Fly...31.43

4)...Cynthia Corriveau...2 dog skis...31.44

5)...Trevor Braun...My Dog...3 dog skis...32.14

6)...Darryl Sheepway...Smokin' Paws...3 dog skis...32.24

7)...Laura Jane Lucas...Akeno...35.12

8)...Fabian Schmitz...37.42

9)...Jesse Doherty...Pursuit...39.48

10)...Jeff Diment...Granpa Campbell's...40.20

11)...Claudia Wickert...43.18

12)...Maren Bradley...Pursuit...43.53

13)...Gunter Glaser...Drag n Fly...44.41

14)...Janet Keller...Grizzly Blizzard..56.05

Optimum Pet Products - Race on!

10 am Sunday at Icy Waters Ltd - Race trail packed this evening, after another inch+ of snow. All looking good.

Optimum Pet Products - Race Trail Looking Good

An inch of snow fell on the trail today, and was promptly packed down by Jon. This nicely covered up the two recent repair jobs needed when for some unknown reason people decided to drive their cars onto private property, off the ploughed trail, and onto (or very quickly into) the packed trail. D'oh, one driver got a little more response than expected when he asked Jon to "tow him out" (of the CHT Race Trail), a witness described it as a "very choice use of fine words by Mr. Lucas".

It's all good now though, and nicely packed down, all snow and no ice; more packing during the week.

Optimum Pet Products is our new sponsor this Sunday, found at 501 Alexander Street (across 5th from Alpine Bakery, but they don't support us so don't go there, go to the Chocolate Claim instead, who support us winter and summer!), and are purveyors of Akela's Den Supreme Mushing Kibble (55lb bags); NRG, Nupro, Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild. Horizon, and Northern Biscuit products - contact Dave Mockford at 633 3600, or opp@northwestel.net for more info

See you all Sunday, for the season finale!!

Season Finale - OPTIMUM PET PRODUCTS Race Day

Sunday March 21st - new sponsor OPTIMUM PET PRODUCTS, purveyors of feeds such as Akela's Den dog food, and Nupro electrolyte formula and Glucosamine products for dogs - amongst many others, joins the CHT for this season's finale. With three possible winners of the Twister Copper Trophy in the 8 mile, and neither the Kid's nor the Pet Dog League a certainty and a lot of YUKON BREWING's money to give out on the results , there's everything to race for! As well as Optimum Pet Products' race day $$ and the great merchandise prizes from Midnightsun Alpacas, Yukon Elk Antler, Icy Waters Ltd, Yukon Honda, Aurora Booties, Yukon Grain Farm, C&D Feeds, First Mate Dog Food and Yukon Agriculture Association.

Icy Waters Ltd Race Day - Photos by Nicolas Dory

Cynthia Corriveau skating to 4th

Alexandra Rochat approaches the final descent with a confident smile...

Looping Kennel's guest monkey Stephanie Routlay working hard

Darryl Sheepway "ahh, not another mogulled downhill?"

Sebastien Tallent, Looping's other guest monkey, charging the final downhill

Jon Lucas "easy fellas, it's that 'orrible downhill"; Tutshi, Bluto, Zamboni "CHARGE!!!"

Jim Hajash, with Skeeter and Sand being sensible

Crispin Studer's poster pack

Icy Waters Ltd Race Day - Results!!

An unpredicted temp drop to -19'C at 7.45am, led to a -14'C start about 11am this morning for the 21 team turn-out. However a blustery breeze and glorious sunshine soon brought the temperature up. A little snow overnight allowed for at least controlled edging round the corners but the moguls caused everyone trouble, the best way to treat them seemed to be to simply hang on!

Saturday night saw another 4 x4 truck enthusiast drive past and ignore the "No Wheeled Vehicles" City By-law sign and proceed to chew the Kids and Pet Dog 5km loop to pieces. Those races were shortened to 4 km and went off without a further hitch. Why does the City bother making By-laws it won't enforce?

To the Results:

4 km 1Pet Dog, all skijoring

1...Asha the Rottie and Jon Lucas ...14.40

2...Tiramasu and Pippa Lawson...14.49

3...Big Hairy dog and Elizabeth Weigand...15.05

4km Kids Race

1...Alan Mark...4 dog sled...9.59

2...Seth Carey...2 dog sled...10.04

3...Erin Spicer...3 dog sled...11.20

4...Thea Carey...2 dog sled...12.00

8 Mile Twister (all 4 dog sleds unless otherwise noted)

1...Christal Bartczak...Drag 'n' Fly 30.05

2...Jon Lucas...Snowpigs...3 dog skis...30.23

3...Crispin Studer...33.07

4...Cynthia Corriveau...2 dog skis...34.07

5...Ali Pakula...Drag 'n' Fly...36.30

6...Sebastian Tallent...Looping...37.04

7...Alexandra Rochat...37.15

8...Jim Hajash...Drag 'n' Fly...39.03

9...Dave Desmarais...Akeno...39.08

10...Stephanie Routlay...Looping...39.24

11...Amil Dupuis-Rossi...Smokin' Paws...39.53

12...Darryl Sheepway...Smokin' Paws...3 dog skis...40.07

13...Debbie Last...Windy Ridge...42.27

14...Martine Lelevier...Looping...48.45

Thanks to all the volunteers, and sponsors - Midnightsun Alpacas, Yukon Grain Farm, Yukon Elk Antler, Yukon Brewing, Icy Waters Ltd, First Mate Dog Food, Aurora Booties, and C&D Feeds - we couldn't do this without you - so buy their stuff!!

Next race, Mar 21st, same place, same time!!

League Tables with 1 Race to Go!!! (V=Volunteered on 8 mile)

1 Pet Dog

1...Tiramasu & Pippa Lawson...36...V

2...Asha & Jon Lucas...32...V

Kid' Race

1...Erin Spicer...24...V

2...Seth Carey...18...(must get parent to Volunteer and himself race next race)

8 Mile

1...Tony Radford...30...V

2...Jon Lucas...26...V

3...Crispin Studer...20...(must volunteer next race to qualify for league prize)

4...Chrystal Bartczak...18...V

5...Trevor Braun...12...V (presently faster time than Darryl)

6...Darryl Sheepway...12...V

League Prizes from YUKON BREWING

Pet dog and Kid's League: 1st $125, declining in $25 steps to 5th @ $25

8 Mile: 1st $250 + Trophy, declining in $50 steps to 5th @ $50

RACE ON! Icy Waters Ltd Race Day, Sunday March 7th, 10am

Trail skijored this afternoon - hard packed snow, no ice. Many moguls along the landfill fence; final descent to Haekel Hill road on the way back steep, hard and mogulled - approach with pad down (sled), or with caution on skis (or if you're Jon, with top speed, trust the body armour and bounce down the hill).

Volunteers always welcome and needed - Artic Charr and draw prizes for all volunteers

Many thanks to ICY WATERS LTD for the Cash$$, amd Aurora Booties, C&D Feeds, Yukon Agriculture Association, Yukon Brewing, Yukon Grain Farm, Yukon Elk Antler and Midnightsun Alpacas for the merchandise prizes!

8 mile Twister - sleds 2-4 dogs, skis 2-3 dogs

5 km 1 Pet dog

5 km Kids - 2-4 sleds, 2-3 skis

See you there, Icy Waters Ltd, km 4.2 Fish Lake Rd, 10 am Sunday

Icy Waters Ltd Race day - Sunday March 7th, 10am

Trail holding up well, all looks good for Sunday; more trail reports to follow in the week as the crash test dummy skijorer checks it out.

Official ROAD RUNNER 100 skijor results in full!

1...Gaetan Pierrard...5.55 + 3.16 = 9.11

2...Jonathan Lucas...6.27 + 3.18 = 9.45

3...Darryl Sheepway..6.58 + 3.34 = 10.32

Sled results at www.DPSAY.wordpress.com

Thanks to all the volunteers, and sponsors, and cash sponsors Whitehorse Motors, Arctic Backhoe, Icy Waters Ltd., Klondike Dental Clinic; Race Judges Al Pope and Steve Tufford; Race Vets Carolynne Fujda and Helen Eddy.

Next year 200 miles!!

DPSAY RR100 - Unofficial SKIJOR RESULTS!!

Due to very intelligent people driving wide wheeled vehicles all over the trail (what super fun!!) beyond the Aiseak Bridge the race finished a the Aiseak Bridge parking lot. This was GPS'd at 98.8 miles - "so quite near enough to 100 miles for me" said Jon Lucas.

In the skijoring (or "suicidal crazies" as a number of mushers dubbed them after the fun of the "happy hillock" trail section - aka: is this a cliff I am descending?) class, results as follows:

1st - hard training (and it showed) Gaetan Pierrard, in style in about 9 hours 36 mins; 4 dogs leg 1, 4 dogs leg 2; not really that closely followed by

2nd - Jon Lucas, slightly moist from all the luverly overflow he slipped into, in about 10 hours 12 mins; 4 dogs leg 1; 3 dogs leg 2; and some way off in the distance

3rd - Darryl Sheepway, encrusted in salt from a lot of hard ski-ing, in about 10 hours 52 mins; 4 dogs leg 1, 4 dogs leg2.

Hey, the positions are important (to those three) but the big picture is that a 100 mile skijor race can be a race, and it can be done at speed, those three's overall speeds varied from 9 to 10.2 mph for the whole 98.8 mile race. Well Done!

A huge thanks to the sponsors - Cash!! from Arctic Backhoe, Icy Waters Ltd, Whitehorse Motors, Klondike Dental Clinic, Radio from CKRW, and all the merchandise and food sponsors - thank you for believing in the race, and the DPSAY Board.

Massive thanks to all you volunteers, giving up your time to make this a safe, successful race and letting 21 dogsports enthusiasts show this race works, that skijorers and sleds can mix in mid-distance, and putting a mid-distance race back in Whitehorse. It can't happen without the volunteers - thank you again.

and finally, the DPSAY Board - strained, frayed, tired, but you did it! DPSAY's on the dogsports map! We hope we get some new Board members to add to the "blooded veterans" (that's how it feels!) and do it all again, for 200 miles, next year!