Grand Rapids 10 dog race report----1st day i rolled off the line and found myself running 3rd losing ground to Kevin Cook and Jerry Mersaty.Was totally suprized to realize i forgot to pin one runner on my right side and didnt evan know it was 1/2 way off till i got told by spectators.After the loop pointed back i stopped and had help to slide it back forweard a lil and taped.I then started to reel the front 2 back in a lilttle.Kevin was leaving Jerry and i was catching him.I closed the gap to 12 seconds on Jerry for day time and was 1.16 down on Kevin.9 of my 10 dogs finished strong and i was happy with that.DAY 2 i figured Kevin would prob run away again but i wanted to beat Jerry for day and total time if i could.I changed out one leader and put a much smaller female upfront who i figured could handle and run thru the very soft trail easier then the big male i used the first day upfront.In the mass start while we were all bumping and grinding right out of the chutes i noticed Kevin had to hook down and mega teams rolled past him.Jerry was outfront again driving Big Jim Custers team,he was closly followed by Racheal,i was much closer to the front then the first day at this time.I reeled in Racheal and rolled past her and set my sites ion Jerry.Got past him as i could see his dogs were running out of gas a lil.I passed him and quickly got the 12 seconds i needed for overall adn continued to leave him.I looked way back and the next group of teams were at least a minute or more behind us and thats when i desided to make a run for the win.I called up the team and kept pushing them on into the finish line.9 of the 10 again finished strong,many spectators that followed the rd side race said my dogs were looking and running faster then anyone elses.I won the heat and the total time and was glad i used booties on my point dogs who already had fischers(lil splits in the bottom of their feet) and didnt make their feet any worse.A few others also got fischers that we will now work to heal.My race partner Big Jake got 11th the first day in the 10 dog and we opted for him not to go day 2 for fear of doing too much foot damage to a team just out of the payout.It was great to see many good friends that we only see at the races and hadnt seen for 10 mnths.;o)
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 12:04:44 +0000