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Kennel Info
I am running as part of Team Racing Beringia for our non-profit organization, GoNorth! Adventure Learning and its 10-year-old program, "Racing Beringia." Beringia is the ancient Arctic region spanning from Chukotka in Russia across Alaska where we live to the Yukon in Canada. It was here people came across what was then a land bridge between Asia and North America some 10,000 years ago during the last Ice Age!
Musher Q & A
I started out being part of the International Polar Expedition. The first year I ran my team as part of a 2,000-mile training trip from around Winnipeg to Yellowknife in Canada; it was about three months on the trail with the polar huskies and my three teammates.
If it's up to me, I like to give the dogs meaningful names - whatever that means. Fenix, one of my super leaders, is named after the mythical phoenix bird - the bird that rises out of its ashes when it goes up in flames, rekindling its magnificent strength and power in eternity. That pretty much describes Fenix the dog.
The Yukon Quest trail in Canada is known for being a really great trail - perfectly set up for the dogs to run smoothly - and for its terrific checkpoints. I like the format of this year's race, thinking it is very optimal for the dogs. I hope to come to the race with a group of the less experienced dogs in my team and have a really positive race for them!
I love everything about running dogs - it is what I have done with my life - my entire adult life - since I was 18 years old. It's my life and I love that; I love and treasure my companionship with the dogs.
I own polar huskies that are like the military tank of the dogsledding world. But of the Formula-1 sled dogs - which is what I consider the Alaskan husky - I only own a few of the 21 dogs training with me this season, and every season I have raced my team come from working with different kennels and getting to work with phenomenal characters - some for many years now - from DeeDee, Jon Rowe, Dean Osmar, Cim Smyth, Jessie Holmes, Kristin Knight-Pace and Jeff King.
There would be no races without volunteers, plain and simple. And there are no words to cover or express my gratitude to the many, many incredible personalities I have encountered on the trail, at registration, before, during and even after races over the years.
I like pretty much all styles and genres of music so it's a pretty broad variety, though I do like quite a bit of Danish lyrics when I get more sleep deprived - I like to sing along! I am not a good singer, but the dogs don't care as long as I sound happy I guess.
Every person that supports a musher in getting to the start line of a race and its finish line is indispensable. Mushers, our team of dogs, it takes a village! The person that has worked with me as an actual handler the longest and to whom I owe the world as such is Miriam Osredkar. My chief handler of both me and the dogs in this year's race is my sweetheart Spencer.
2022 Iditarod - 14th
2021 Iditarod - 5th
2020 Iditarod - 15th
Awards
Sponsors
Canelana, kennel and dog sponsors