Follow Blake In The Iditarod

Follow Blake In The Iditarod
Mar 6th 2010
wolfmoonsleddog
Midwest
Location: Finland, MN
Time - 12:51pm Central Standard Time
Temperature: 45 degrees F (7C)
Conditions: Clear, warm
Forecast: Sunny today and tomorrow. Highs in the 40s, lows in the teens.

Blake Freking with Nick following a training run a couple of months ago.

Well, as you probably know, the ceremonial start of the 2010 Iditarod is today (the real start is tomorrow). We are very excited to see how Blake’s team of Siberians is going to do this year!

Fox21 in Duluth did a very good piece on Blake, which I have included below.

From: http://www.fox21online.com/greatoutdoors/blake-freking-prepares-last-great-race-earth

Blake Freking prepares for the last great race on earth
Tue, 03/02/2010 - 9:00pm

Tue, 03/02/2010 - 9:00pm
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Submitted by Carrie Kohlmeier
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By photojournalist Carrie Kohlmeier, FOX 21 News


FINLAND, Minn. - Just a month after running the Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, Blake Freking, a well–known northland musher, is in Alaska. He’ll take off on the Iditarod in just a few days.

“The team looks great,” said Freking. “We changed our training quite a bit this year. We’ve been training a lot slower. Much more like an iditarod type pace. We’ve got a lot of miles on this year. These guys are in great shape and really looking to see how they do.”

This will be Blake’s third time racing in the Iditarod, a race that traverses more than 1,000 miles of Alaska’s frontier from Anchorage to Nome. It takes anywhere from nine to 17 days to complete the journey.

“It’s totally different from anything else. So much varied terrain. We spend a lot of time on the Yukon River. We spend a lot of time on the Alaska range, and we spend a lot of time on the Bering Sea coast. On the Bering Sea, we get huge winds and cold temps. On the Yukon River, we’ll get some really cold temps and winds as well.”

Seventy-one teams will compete in this year’s Iditarod. Blake is the sole musher from Minnesota and one of only 13 teams that participate from the lower 48. Traveling the 3500 miles to Alaska with 20 sled dogs is a marathon in itself.

“We always say we’ve run several Iditarods before we get to the Iditarod starting line. We’ve got a truck and trailer and everybody has their own box and they have their own bunk that they stay in throughout the trip and it’s quite comfortable for them. During the trip, we stop every four hours and let the dogs out to exercise, loosen up, get a little snack.”

The logistics involved in preparing for the iditarod are extensive.

“It’s a big commitment, yeah, i had to take six weeks off of work to go up there and run it all, between travel and the logistics. We have drop bags that we put together prior to the race and that’s a huge logistical step, getting all our gear supplied and bagged and from there it goes out to the check points on the race. That has to take place down here and then it goes by truck up to Tacoma, Washington, and it goes by barge up to Anchorage, and then it goes by bush plane from anchorage to the individual check points,”

Blake relies on a team of people year-round to help him and the dogs get ready for the challenging race.

“I’m pretty fortunate that I’m the one on the runners, but there’s so many people that help out. My wife jennifer is just instrumental in everything, especially dog care. We have handlers here, we have Kim, Alice, and Phil who have been here since the summer and have been a huge help to us,”

The Iditarod is known to many as the last great race on earth… A prestigious pursuit that Blake Freking and his elite athletes can’t wait to be a part of.

“The biggest thing for me is just getting out on the trail with 16 of my buddies and just spending some great time, traveling through some fascinating country. Alaska really is the last frontier, as far as america is concerned. It’s hard to imagine going over 1,000 miles and never crossing a road. It’s just fascinating country to travel to and see and what better way to do it than with a dog team,”

Be sure to visit the link (http://www.fox21online.com/greatoutdoors/blake-freking-prepares-last-great-race-earth) which includes a video with footage of the team bounding around the free-run yard (and there’s even a very short clip of me saying hello to Khan).

Also - http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/161924/

Follow the Iditarod on http://www.iditarod.com/

Follow Blake on http://www.racingsiberians.com/