Dream Big Kennel
2018
Races
KNIK 200 Joe Redington Senior Memorial Race (Bib #7)
This was the first race with solid dogs (no puppies!) and a chance to do well! We ended up scratching at the half way point due to me having severe back and muscle spasms!! Ugh. Dogs looked amazing, ran amazing and if they could have driven the sled would have done well. Full race recap is HERE
2017
Races
2016
Races
2017 was a good year! I learned a lot and even moved the team full time to Willow, Alaska, which is the self named capital of dog sledding! It was an amazing, horrifying and eye opening experience but totally worth it! We signed up and ran parts of the Willow 300 Inaugural race (we finished 150 miles of it before I scratched) and the Tug 150 (in which I got horribly lost and ended up running more than 150 miles, but learned a lot none the less).
2016
Races
I ran the 2016 John Beargrease as my first 300 mile Iditarod qualifer as a rookie. I had been a volunteer for the Beargrease since 2003 and this was my first year on the runners. It is just as amazing as I was expecting. The volunteers, the media, the trail, the atmosphere was just amazing. I finished which was my first goal, I did pass my qualifier and got a trophy to take home by being the red lantern! This was a mental and a physically tough race as I was injured about 70 miles into the race and had to pretty much do the entire race with one arm! A poorly landed crash severely brusied my left shoulder and left me one handed (thank goodness it was my right I was able to use!) but with the help of my handlers and ibuprofen I made it through!
This was the first race of the 2016 season which was postponed 2 weeks because of the lack of snow in the UP of Michigan!! This is basically unheard of but apparently happens! This is a small local race that I use as a nice training run and also this year it was the first race for my yearlings! They did great and had fun!! Which was the point for this race. Getting them geared up for bigger and better things to come!!
2015
Races
This was my first distance race and my first Iditarod qualifier. Can you say nervous? The weather was less than ideal but also very appropriate for a dog race! Blizzard warning... Well bring it on! I actually feel safer running dogs than driving on a road in that type of weather! Conditions were pretty brutal and when my 12 dog team was blown completely off the trail I knew there was some serious weather out there! We finished on Sunday in beautiful weather and with a happy crew of 11 dogs (out of 12) I couldn't have been more happy.