We are home from a whirlwind weekend in Ely for the Wolf Track Classic. We ran the dogs down to the truck  on Saturday morning around 11:00 and made it to Ely sometime around 2:00 for our vet check. Everyone checked out OK. The temperature on Saturday in Ely was pushing 50 degrees which meant snow was melting fast. The Ely area had been missed by a couple of the big snowfalls that we had here so their trails were deteriorating fast. Friday night at the pre-race banquet the organizers announced that the 6-dog teams were going to be leaving the starting chute on Sunday morning at 1-minute intervals instead of two. That was great news to Tara and me as we were bib numbers 31 and 32 which put on on (and more importantly) off the trail a half hour earlier.

Sunday morning found us up a 5:30 dropping and watering dogs in 25 degrees. Thankfully it had cooled off over night to preserve what little snow was left on the trail. We got to the staging around around 7:30 and after unloading the sleds off the top of the truck and getting them ready for our mandatory bag check, it started getting warm again. In the last hour or so before our start, we slowly took off layer after layer until we were down to what we were racing in. At the last minute on Saturday I packed three Hawaiian shirts so I threw one on to wear during the run. Tara found a pair of pink shorts on clearance at Wintergreen on Saturday so she donned her shorts, long underwear and tennis shoes for racing togs.

We had been told on Saturday that the first 15 miles (of the 28 mile) trail “were the worst” and after going through Bearhead State Park we’d have snow from there to the finish. Well, the first few miles of the trail could be described as icy/slushy and after that, there were stretches of maybe no more than a 1/2 mile that had good snowcover with the rest of the trail being either, mud, dirt, rock, or ice. Even though the trail conditions were less than ideal, the dogs did awesome. I had 10-year-old Tucson leading with Carstenz followed by Bree, Worf, Murphy and Mons. Worf, Murph and Mons had never been in the truck before so this was a big deal for them. With my old-lady lead dog and three youngsters, we were really happy with our 7th place finish (Click here for the full 2010 Wolf Track results) and we were only 33 seconds behind the 6th place team!

Tara and her team of Denali, Athena, Rose, Lily, Calvin and Spock (the last four had never been in the truck before) were having a great run too. They even passing me about a 1/2 hour after the start when I stopped to let the dogs cool off for a few seconds to bite snow. I stayed behind her for a while and passed her back before the 1/2-way point where she held with me for quite a while but when I passed a team I didn’t see her again. I was hoping all was going well, but it turns out she had to put Calvin in the sled about ten miles from the finish. Had she not had to carry him, I’m sure she would have beat my time handily, but she still managed to finish in 11th place. Tara did awesome for her first race on less-than-ideal trail conditions and we are sooooo happy she’s coming back in the fall. Since we are switching our focus away from the Beargrease Marathon, we’re planning on putting her young, athletic body on the runners of the Varsity Team in mid-distance races next year!

Unfortunately for the race, the trail conditions were derteriorating by the minute and they had to cancel the 10-dog event that was scheduled to start yesterday evening. It was a difficult decision for the organizers I’m sure, but the safety and welfare of the dogs was their first priority. This was an awesome race and the organization, communities, and volunteers involved in with the race are top-notch. We had a ton of fun so Joe and Barb, we’ll definately be back again! Hopefully next time though it will really be the Wolf Track Classic SLED dog race.

Daylight Watch: Tomorrow will be 3 mintues and 27 seconds longer than today!!!