Red Lantern

Red Lantern
Jan 31st 2009
wolfmoonsleddog
Midwest
Location: Finland, MN
Time - 9:58am
Temperature: 15 degrees F
Conditions: Foggy
Forecast: Cloudy with a chance of snow showers today and tomorrow. Highs in the 20s, lows in the single digits

Well, in case you haven’t heard already, I finished the Beargrease Mid-Distance sled dog race earning the Red Lantern for the last racer to finish. There will be a lot more about the race from me but I thought you would be interested in reading this article. Not all of it is entirely accurate (I’ve learned that newspaper articles rarely are) but it is still pretty good.

I would like to add, however, that it makes it sound like I spent my entire time at the Finland checkpoint hiding in a tent, which I did not. I took a nap in the tent after my dogs were taken care of and nested down in their straw and after I had eaten.

And I didn’t even know about the sauna and stuff.

Anyway, here is the piece.

From the “Lake County News-Chronicle”: http://www.twoharborsmn.com/articles/index.cfm?id=17920§ion=news

It was cold, it was dark, it was windy
Karin Smith, Lake County News Chronicle
Published Thursday, January 29, 2009
Even the pens were frozen.

Volunteers at the Finland Beargrease checkpoint Sunday night had to beg and borrow pencils to do their record keeping.

Monday morning, on about a half hour of sleep, they were still cracking jokes in the cook shack and using a variety of colorful adjectives to describe the temperatures. It got down to at least 19 below, not counting the wind chill–real eyelash-freezing cold.

They should be used to it though. Most are members of the Siberian Husky Club of the Twin Cities and some run sled dogs themselves. Melissa Bloom, Ed Heineman, Chris Wall and Jeff Anclam come up to volunteer every year.



Assistant race judge, Joe Zellner, Grand Marais, was wielding a pancake turner, whipping up eggs and veggie burgers to order on a toasted bun, as the last team was bootied up.

Mushers had the royal treatment at the Finland site–breakfast delivered to their tents, saunas, and massages for them and their dogs by Joanne Olson, who has been part of the race for 23 years, said Linda Nervick, site co-coordinator.

Alice White, a musher from Armuchee, Ga., spent her four-hour and 22-minute layover in Finland tucked in a small canvas tent with a wood stove.

Despite the lack of snow in Georgia, White’s not the only musher there. Here in the northland, mushers use wheeled dog carts in the summer to train the teams to pull sleds in the winter. Down south they use the carts in the winter, and in the summer, she said, all they do is complain about the heat.

White’s was the last team out of the checkpoint at 10:11 a.m. Monday. Four hours and 15 minutes later, she was at the finish line for the mid-distance racers in Tofte with all eight dogs. Coming in last is not bad for a southerner with a young team–even locals had dropped out of the race.

White was running a team of Jedeye Siberian huskies from Manitou Crossing Kennels, owned by Jennifer and Blake Freking of Finland, giving the youngsters some racing experience. She was backed up by three handlers who came down from the Range to help out.

Besides the 28 mid-distance teams that passed through on the way up the shore, there were two marathoners who got off the main trail and came into the checkpoint by mistake. Nervick said the veteran dogs know the trail and were accustomed to checking in there, but this year the route was changed so that marathoners only stopped in Finland on the way back down the shore.

The marathoners were down at the Beaver Bay checkpoint Sunday night, along with a few mid-distance teams. Volunteer fire chief Jenny Mattson, six of her fire crew and the other volunteers were running the checkpoint, watching the road crossings, keeping the two wood stoves in the big tent going and serving up chili and coffee. Mushers were dozing off in the chairs around the stoves, said Mattson, glad to finally be out of the wind.

Volunteers Robert Pout and Jessica Lacey, Beaver Bay, said the great part was the responses of the mushers who were so enthusiastic about the checkpoint. After a few years with not enough snow, the event was finally “back where it should be,” said Pout.

John Beargrease is buried in an Ojibwe cemetery nearby, and each of mushers was taken to the site by his great-grandson for a private ceremony in honor of the race namesake.

The last musher in the Beaver Bay parking lot Monday morning was Linus Meyer of Meyer Grove Trotters, near Melrose. Sunday, he had missed the turn down to Beaver Bay when his glasses fogged up, and he ended up going all the way to Highway 1. He then had to double back to the mandatory checkpoint, going an extra 20 miles.

The next morning, with eight dogs laid up with stiff shoulders and other strains and pains, and only six that could pull, he decided to scratch. Although the race does allow sleds to be pulled by as few as five dogs at the finish line, he decided it was too much to expect of his team. He consulted with the vet onsite and opted out, in favor of a rest in preparation for a shorter race coming up in a few weeks.

Meyer was one of four marathoners to scratch at Beaver Bay. Another five dropped out at Sawbill, one at Pike Lake, and five more at Trail Center–leaving just six of the original 21 racers to complete the race.

The secret to a good race isn’t going full bore the whole distance. Expert mushers say they need to know when to pull back. As the Frekings, who have run marathons and the Iditarod, advised in a radio interview Saturday on A Prairie Home Companion, “Run hard, rest hard.”

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9 Comments »

9 Responses to “Red Lantern”
Dave Lukosik on 31 Jan 2009 at 11:13 pm # edit this

Thanks for the update! Read the article,you would think they would give an accurate accounting of your activities involving dog care but I guess at -19 degrees more than their ink pens became frozen, like grey matter between their ears! Too bad the Siberian Husky Club volunteers did not inform you of the sauna, massages, etc when you were at the Finland checkpoint. I guess I’m spoiled by the Iditarod Race coverage. The Beargrease race coverage was very limited on their website and the newspaper. You did a great job of taking care of your team! Jen and Blake did a super job with their teams also! The Beargrease is one tough sled dog race!

Handler Dave on 01 Feb 2009 at 4:30 pm # edit this

Don’t let Alice fool ya. Right when her team approached Finland we heard someone yell “LOOSE TEAM!!” and we all rushed up and grabbed the driverless sled just as the dogs climbed the sauna ramp. Everyone wondered and worried for only a moment until we heard a muffled snore from inside the sled bag. After a quick dog count Erin slowly unzipped the bag and sure enough…there was Alice seemingly still in full REM sleep. We zipped the bag closed and quietly led the dogs back to the truck where we de-bootied, fed, and as quick and handler-possible had the dogs snoring in harmony with their still sawing musher. I was about to wake Alice when Jim whispered “WAIT, maybe sleep sledding is like sleep walking and it might be dangerous to wake her up”. Being sleep deprived myself, I thought Jim might have a point. So I unhooked the gangline and knelt down and grabbed the right runner with both hands. Jim aped my actions and followed suit with the left runner and we slowly lifted the Alice-laden sled off the ground and carefully carried her to the tent. As Erin held the tent flap, Jim and I slid the sled into its warmth. Then as if we had the same idea at the same time, Jim worked his way to the brush bow as I worked my way the the runner ends. We then slowly turned the sled upside down hanging the now drooping bag inches above the cot. Almost telepathically Erin smiled and slowly unzipped the sled bag and Alice emerged from it, like a butterfly from its chrysalis, and softly dropped on the cot. We all then left to stand guard over both dogs and tent. About 4 hours later, Jim went and rousted Alice… having her guzzle a quart of water and a “Rockstar” and walked her slowly from the tent over to the dogs as her friend Peter spoon fed her Chicken and Dumplings…pausing every so often to wipe gravy off her chin. Once at the truck Jim handed Alice a bundle of booties, suggesting her starting point by pointing to the only dog on that side of the truck not already bootied… lead-dog, Inga…and then he joined me on the other side of the truck to bootie “da barbarians”. When finished, I grabbed a couple leashes an clipped then on Hagar and Genghis. Handing one leash to Jim we proceeded to walk them around the truck for a little stretching out…only to see Alice also stretched out…sleeping in the straw. I handed my leash to Jim, put the remaining three booties on Inga and finished walking all the dogs around finishing by hooking them up to the sled. Ed, the Timer, yelled “5 minutes” about the same time we again lifted Alice to her feet while shaking her with far less gentleness than the situation called for. We put her on the runners with her head still bobbing at about the 3 minute point. Erin then whispered something in her ear and Alice’s eyes suddenly opened wide. I thought, “Ahhhh ROCKSTAR kickin in” while suddenly Alice jumped off the runners and ran to the porta-potty about as fast as anyone can, wearing that many clothes. Minutes later she burst out of the biffy like Superman out of a phone booth and jumped on the runners just as the 10-second countdown began. When in unison we yelled 3,2,..Alice reached down for her hook and looked back at us saying “Wow…seems like I just got her”. ..”1″ and whoooshhh she was gone.

Handler Dave on 01 Feb 2009 at 7:50 pm # edit this

Ok, Ok, maybe that isn’t exactly the way it went down.

;o)

In reality, to really appreciate what a musher goes through when running this race you almost have to run it yourself. I have. It is brutal.

In this race, Alice was a pro. As a pro, the dogs always came first. Her own comfort was always secondary. She made it easy on us handlers by being positive. That works magic with dogs too. She was also never cold, never thirsty, never hungry, and never all that tired. Of course that did not stop us from warming, quenching, feeding, and making her get some sleep.

The red lantern is kind of misleading in most cases. Sure it designates that last legitimate fininsher, but in reality you are seldom really last. This race was no exception. 3 racers scratched behind her. 2 of those 3 finished in the top 10 last year in this same race. This year they did something or didn’t do something that caused them to fail. Even as a rookie, Alice did not make those mistakes. Another fact not known by some who just look at standings was the game plan and race goals. When Blake and Jen put a young team in a race like this I am pretty sure their goal is not placement. They are looking for a positive race experience for their dogs. They were looking for Alice to provide that and she did.

Bottom line is I had a really good time and Alice made it a pleasure. Thanks Alice. Many happy returns.

p.s. it was colder than -19. It may have read that in the reporters car when she showed up at 10am Monday morning…Let me assure you it was colder than that on the Beargrease trail in the middle of the night.

p.s.s. another little correction…Possibly unfortunately, both Jim and I now live near the Twin Cities. Yes, we did grow up on the Iron Range but you can’t really say that defines who we are!!…

Ok, Ok, I guess you can…never mind.

wolfmoonsleddog on 02 Feb 2009 at 7:19 pm # edit this

Did I mention that I had the world’s most awesome handler crew?

Joan Sheppard on 02 Feb 2009 at 11:10 pm # edit this

Great race Alice - and as one who has had the opportunity to ride with her (neatly tucked into said basket) she is a pro. Steady on course and with Inga the Left Handed Honey at the helm it could not have been easy. Should I mention her age? No? Well wise beyond her earthly years. And a great sense of humor. Which will serve her well with the mushing community, the dogs and life in general.
Thanks for the ride Alice - I had a great time!
Joan

Dave Lukosik on 03 Feb 2009 at 12:03 am # edit this

Handlers Dave and Jim that was a great story! You had me believing ever word of it! Better to get in that sled bag and be safe than falling off that sled while you are asleep! There is nothing wrong with being the red lantern winner. As you mentioned this was one tough sled dog race and Alice gave herself and the young barbarians a great learning experience from it all! Cheers to you all.

Deer Creek Sleddogs on 01 Mar 2009 at 11:41 pm # edit this

Alice,
We are very proud of you. We definitely thought about you during the Canines for Charity Race.

Allan and Tabby

wolfmoonsleddog on 03 Mar 2009 at 9:29 pm # edit this

Hey Allan and Tabby! Great to hear from you! I have to say - I was thinking about you guys too while the Casper races were going on! I did miss being there, even though I’ve been having a good time in MN.

Hope all is well at Deer Creek.

Take care,

Alice

Wolf Moon Dogsledding » 2009 Beargrease 150 Finish Photos on 06 Jul 2009 at 8:24 pm # edit this

[...] you haven’t before, check out my original post on the 2009 Beargrease 150 at http://sleddoggin.com/blogs/wolfmoonsleddog/2009/01/31/red-lantern/ Be sure to read Dave’s comments at the bottom of that [...]