So far this season we have only covered nine miles in three training runs. This race involves a pair of mushers doing two legs each. I teamed up with my partner, Em, who went out first and put the team into the third spot in our class. I went out at 10:10 in the number two leg, by which time the temperature had risen to 12 degrees celsius, fairly close to our limit of 15 degrees celsius. We had a good, uneventful, race and crossed the finish line with a time of 15 minutes 30 second which put us in fourth place. The Sunday race was cancelled due to the heat and humidity.
The Polaris team came fourth out of our class. I was the only person to run three dogs, when all the other teams were made up of four dogs. I was very proud of my team’s effort and look forward to the next race in November.
Mike the musher and his team of dogs.
The above race took place in the Forest of Dean starting on Friday night 25 and finishing on Sunday 27 February. We entered the Open Class and on Friday night the first stage, around Mallards Pike Lake, was over 4 miles where we encountered 6 inches of mud, rain, mist and strong winds. As we left the start line the rain came down with a vengeance, we quickly became covered in mud, and uppermost in my mind was to get us home safely but I missed a marker for a left turn and the team pulled us into a very enclosed wood path and a huge mist bank which immediately put out my helmet light just leaving me with the main rig lighting. We continue through the misty wood section onto the open trails and are heading for home. We recorded a time of 25:15:096 minutes as we crossed the finishing line.
On Saturday the dogs are given a small feed of Burgess Supadog Active early after which I carry out a pad check on each dog. This next stage of 3.8 miles is run twice – once in the morning and again at night. We were off at 08.34 in dry conditions but still very muddy underfoot but we have a good run keeping up a good speed, both uphill and on the flat, and cross the line recording a time of 25:36:156 minutes Our next run is at 18:04 so I feed the dogs early to allow this to be digested in time for the start. After checking the dogs pads and a warm up we left the start well, heading up a hill onto the flat and then down a slight hill and when we are about 1 mile from home I can hear the team behind calling the turns. We continue on and get to a very muddy hairpin left turn where my team grind to a halt – Diesel and Rusky are trying to pull a bit but Shanta is up to her belly in mud. The rig sticks in the mud and I have to lift it out of the mud and try to walk it with the team pulling us out of the mud as best we can. The following team catch us up just as we get out of the mud and we race hammer-and-tongs to the finish, crossing the line in second place at 28:30:228 minutes. Once we are all cleaned up I check the pads again only to find that Diesel has got a sore left rear paw which could have been caused anywhere on the trail. At this point we all need some well earned sleep to prepare us for the Sunday morning run.
On Sunday morning I check Diesel’s paw again but it still seems very tender so I decide to drop him and run the rig on two dogs only which will be the first time they have ever raced side-by-side. We do a few short runs to see how this is going to work and everything seems fine with Shanta on the left and Rusky on the right. The Sunday morning stage is a re-run of Friday night and we set off in dry conditions but still with mud everywhere. We fly off the starting line at 08:34 hours and get into a cracking fast pace. I see 2 people on the trail with 2 lost dogs so I shout ‘trail’ to allow them to clear to the edge and we fly past. For a new team we are travelling very well with all turns being executed well. We hear the team in front calling a turn so we quicken our pace, closing up on the team in front with three more turns and the final run for home. We came in second at 20:43:624 minutes but what a run with the new team!! Despite the fact we had to drop Diesel off the team we still did a very fast time and were the fastest team in the Open class at this stage.
We finished the Wyedean Quest Open Class in 1 hour 40:05:104 giving us second place in a class of nine!!
We ran 16 competitive miles over some very tough, demanding and technical trails in three days and I couldn’t ask for more from the team of Diesel, Rusky and Shanta with Musher Mike.
We completed the ABSA Forest of Dean Ian Hutchinson Memorial Sled Dog race during the week-end of the 15 and 16 January. 60 teams entered the night and day race over the fast but wet 2.65 miles trail. We completed the night race well, were second off the start in our class and were lying in third place over night with a time of 16.16 minutes at an average speed of 9.9 mph. This was Shanta’s first night race and she was a real star, never putting a paw wrong. In the morning we were third out in class and had a much slower run due to the very wet, muddy and humid conditions. We kept our third place and finished third in class. with a time of 17.11 minutes at an average speed of 9.2 mph. The performance of the dogs was just amazing, especially as we hadn’t done any training for nearly two weeks due to illness.
