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Click here for more info...  Well, another successful racing season is over. The snow is melting now and spring is on its way. My first litter of puppies is due the first week of May and hopefully another couple litters later this summer. Spring is always a busy time to catch up on all the things that I got behind on during the winter. It is also a good time to look back and reflect on the racing season. I stayed in Alaska this winter instead of going south to Montana like I have in previous years. I was able to get more miles on the dogs this winter and we had a lot of fun running a couple new races that we had not done before, placing 3rd and 6th in the shorter races (200 miles & 300 miles). Iditarod this year certainly turned out to be an exciting race. With 95 teams from all over the world coming to compete, 6 past champions, and several top 20 contenders, this year's race proved to be one of the most competitive races ever. For an extra twist to the race 15 of the 95 teams were picked this year to carry a tracking device in our sleds. It was a trial year so that if all went well maybe next year every team would be carrying a tracking device. My team was one of the 15 teams picked to carry the tracker. It was very cool. Anyone could go online and see exactly were I was on the trail, how fast I was going, and even what the temperature was. It was great for the spectators. I drew bib # 3 this year so that meant I was the second team out of the starting line. Number 1 is always saved as an honorary position. The ceremonial start on Saturday went great. I had an awesome Iditarider this year. Her name was Tara and she was a disabled veteran from the Air Force. We had a lot of fun and I even let her drive the team the last couple miles to the finish. She jumped right in and helped out with what ever needed to be done. After we completed the 11 mile ceremonial run I loaded the dogs and headed out for Willow were the real start was going to take place the following day. I packed my sled that night so everything would be all ready and I could relax and even sleeping the next morning. The start was at 2 in the afternoon so the day was really heating up for the dogs. By the time we took off it was getting quite hot out. In fact that would be the norm for the next 10 days. My dogs were use to below zero temperatures (-20 to -40) in Fairbanks all winter long so now that the temps were +30 and 40 I had to be very careful to not overheat the dogs. I tried to take it pretty slow and easy starting the race. Even then Muncho, who is one of my wheel dogs, still over heated and I had to carry him in the sled so he could cool off. After about an hour in the sled he was feeling better so I put him back in the team and he never had another problem the whole race. I ran a much different race this year than I normally do. Typically, I take it pretty easy at the start and run about 30th position. I then start moving up as the race progresses. This year I was able to stay in the top 15 even top 10 most of the whole race. To do that I had to really stay on the ball and not make any mistakes. Well, at least not any major ones! : There was a lot of snow on the trail this year. My goal was to stay ahead of most of the teams so the trail would not be torn up by all the dog teams ahead of me. I did a lot of 8 hour runs with 6 hour rests. The dogs handled that schedule really well. There was so much snow this year that going through the Alaska Range was really nice. Places that can usually be very tricky to maneuver with the sled were no problem at all. Changing my schedule this year kept it fun and interesting for me. I really learned alot and these dogs never cease to amaze me how incredible an athlete they are. I made it to Takotna were I took my 24 hour layover in 8th place with 14 dogs still on the team. I had dropped Sawyer in Rohn and Cobra in Nikolai. Sawyer is 9 years old and this was her 7th Iditarod. She was just losing interest so I sent her home early. Cobra was one of my two year olds on the team and was doing a really great job - very tough headed little dog - but she started getting a sore shoulder so I sent her home from Nikolai. The weather continued to be very warm for the dogs. It was quite pleasant for the musher though. I didn't even wear my parka, just a light windstopper jacket. With the warm weather, the snow conditions were very sticky. It was almost impossible to keep booties on the dogs. The booties would get snowballs on them and come flying off. I ended up using alot more booties than normal. After my 24 hour layover, we headed out on the northern route to Ruby. I did this next 160 mile stretch in 2 long runs. The trail is mostly out in the open so there is very little shade for the dogs. We also go through several old mining operations. I tried to run more in the early mornings or evenings but I seemed to end up in the hot afternoon's alot anyway. By the time I got to Ruby which is the first checkpoint on the Yukon River I was in 11th place. My team was looking pretty good at this point. I decided to drop Shark here as he was getting a sore shoulder and was also a bit heat sensitive. Heading out of Ruby I left with 13 dogs. The next 150 miles would be down the mighty Yukon River. The trail was very soft and it was still way too warm out. That combination makes for very slow run times between checkpoints. It was taking us one to two hours longer than normal per run. The dogs were not going to over work in the heat. By the time I got to Galena my last two year old, Phoenix, was sick and not doing well so I sent her home from there. That left me with a pretty veteran team of 12 dogs. Kuling and Slurpy had been doing most of the leading up to this point. The trail to Nulato was very long and slow. I thought we were having a terrible run until I got to Nulato in 9th place and found out I had the fastest run time of any team yet. That made me feel better. The next couple runs to the coast I wish I would have done a little bit differently. I ended up doing 3 shorter runs and wished I would have just done 2 longer runs. One of my stops was at a cabin between Kaltag and Unalakleet called Old Woman. There were so many people and snowmachines there that the dogs and I did not get any rest. I ended up cutting our rest short and left for Unalakleet. All the dogs were eating very well but I still had a few dogs in the team that had a stomach bug and were a little sick. Everything they were eating was going right through them. The competition was getting as fierce as ever. It was amazing that after 800 miles of races the teams were still so close. I would stop to snack my dogs on the trail and one or two teams would be coming up behind me. Within a half an hour after I came into a checkpoint it seemed like 6 more teams would be pulling in. No room for mistakes! My dogs were still doing very well but they had now gotten into a slow pace from all the soft trail and did not want to go any faster. The heat was not helping either. I still had not worn my heavy parka and only had light glove liners on my hands. Once the teams hit the coast there is always a big push to get to the finish line. Teams can really pick up several places or fall behind several places depending on the shape of the team. My normal schedule up the coast can usually pick off half a dozen teams or so. This year I still had the largest number of dogs I have ever had on the coast but we were moving slower than normal. It seems I always go faster with just 8 dogs and I kept 12 most of the way along the coast. You might be wondering why I would go faster with less dogs and it does seem strange but it is true. You are only as fast as your slowest dog. Every year it seems like the more dogs I drop the faster I go. This year, however, because of the soft, sticky trail conditions and all the warm weather the dogs were not too interested in going very fast. A few of my dogs were still getting over a stomach bug so I was able to maintain a good pace but not able to push as much as I would have liked and what I have been able to do in the past. I really enjoyed the last 250 mile run up the coast. I was traveling with a great group of mushers. We were all very competitive yet kept things friendly and fun. I traveled a lot with Dee Dee Jonrowe and Ed Iten - you can't get much better traveling companions then that. Both are just really neat people and lead very inspirational lives. The coast is fun too because it is always a beautiful stretch of landscape with some of the friendliest villages you will ever run across. As we traveled up the coast I had 12 dogs all the way to Elim where I dropped Bower due to a swollen back toe. He had an infected toe nail that did not want to get better. Bower is such a good boy and finished the race with me the last two years so I was bummed to have to drop him so close to the finish this year. Elim is only about 120 miles from the finish line so he still made it to Nome but he just got a plane ride that last stretch. I think the rest of the team and I even beat him there! Anyway the last checkpoint is White Mountain where we are required to take our mandatory 8hr layover and I still had 11 great dogs on the team. All the dogs were eating great and resting comfortably so I was even able to get a 3 hour nap! I had not had a nap that long since my 8hr. mandatory back in Ruby 4 days earlier. I think I had been averaging only two 30 min. naps a day. I of course had been stopping the dogs and resting longer but while we are stopped I am so busy taking care of them that I don't get much for sleep myself. Nome was going to be a welcome sight. I was definitely looking forward to my first full nights sleep in 10 days! Just 77 miles to go from White Mountain, over the Topkok Hills, through the Blow Hole, and over Cape Nome and finally after 10 days of racing Nome was in sight! Kuling was in single lead with 10 of my best dogs trotting behind. We pulled off of the sea ice onto Front Street in Nome to a very large cheering crowd. The dogs and I ran right down the street and under the burled arch to finish our 7th Iditarod in 14th place with a time of 10 days and 1 hour. There is nothing quite like the feeling and sense of accomplishment of finishing this great race. It is kind of a bittersweet feeling. I am always proud of the dogs and glad to be finished but at the same time I don't want it to end. The first thing I do when I cross the finish line before I do anything else is go down the line and praise and pet each dog. I just spent 10 days and nights with these dogs traveling some of most rugged and harsh country around all while battling what ever Mother Nature throws at us for wind, storms, cold, and heat. It is a bond and trust that is beyond comprehension and one that I feel privileged and honored to be apart of. These Alaskan Huskies truly are some of the world's greatest athletes! I don't know any other athlete in the world that travels these distances over snow, through storms and -40 degrees all while pulling a sled in such a short time. As the saying goes around the Iditarod world "You could combine the Boston Marathon, the Ironman, and the Indy 500 and you would still be 455 miles short!" Now that Iditarod 2008 is over and summer is fast approaching the dogs and I can only dream and plan for next year and wait for the snow to come again. Robert Service sums it all up in one of his poems - "The freshness, the freedom, the farness - O God! How I'm stuck on it all…… It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder, It's the forests where silence was lease; It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder, It's the stillness that fills me with peace." A very big thank you to all who have made this season so successful! Everyone's support is so greatly appreciated! I would not be able to do this without the help and support of so many wonderful friends and family. I feel so blessed! Thank you! Pictures coming soon. Happy Trails and God Bless! Jessie and the J Team
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