Being Canadian and having been raised with Hockey Night in Canada I decided along the way that I need to recognize some of these outstanding dogs so I decided to do a '3 Stars of the Game' and 'Rookie of the Year' awards for the team.
I discussed prizes with the dogs and what the overwhelming vote was for was steak. So steak it was....
And the recipients?? Well the 'Rookie of the Year' award was a close call but ended up going to a young man who pulled his heart out the entire race.
Yup, Turtle - otherwise known as 'The Turd'. He was terrific and definitely never acted like a rookie. I was so very proud of him.
His sister, Smartie, who was one of the 2 leaders to bring me under the arch in Nome, gave Turtle a close run for the Rookie of the Year title. She received a small steak for her efforts!!
Okay, onto the '3 stars' awards....
The Third Star of the Race award goes to..............
Jinx!!!
Jinx has been the 'go to' race leader in the kennel for the last few years. In training she can drive me insane but in a race and especially in tough conditions, she rarely lets me down. She is one of the best storm leaders I've ever driven and was key in getting me across Norton Sound in a horrible storm this year.
The 'Second Star' of the Race goes to none other then .....
...Crunchie!!
Most of you should know his story by now - 10 1/2 years old, never dropped or injured on any race he has run, as solid and dependable as they come. This race was no different for him. He was always the first on his feet in checkpoints, worked like a trooper the entire way and in no way showed his age.
Crunchie owns a serious piece of my heart. I am so very proud of him.
And the 'First Star' of the Race???
Well, I had signs throughout the season that this girl was coming into 'her own'. She was already an Iditarod veteran and a decent leader, but this year she started really stepping up in lead and taking on more responsibility.
By the mid point of Iditarod this year she was running single lead for me alot.
Thank you Tess. A steak is the least I owe you for your great job!!!!
9 comments:
What a nice way to reward your PCTs.
I can see it now- Bet deciding she needs one of those too because of her MVP computer skills, her blogging efforts, and her ability to sell all those stuffies in the summer.
You and the Pretty Curly Tails finished the race. No small acomplishment. All Siberian owners are proud of you and your wonderful dogs.
I've really enjoyed getting to know your dogs, especially Crunchie - my favorite :-).
We're all so proud of all of team, musher and dogs. I thought picking 3 stars and a rookie was great. Congratulations to them all. Congratulations Smartie for pushing your brother, almost to a tie. That'll keep him on his toes and pushing a little harder to stay in front of you. Crunchie, you are truly an amazing dog and have a piece of everyone's heart I know. Jinx and [my] Tess wish I were there to give you hugs and belly scratches. Great job girls.
And waffles for Bet!
Having been a volunteer for a lot of years just want to say CONGRATULATIONS to a gret group of dogs and musher as well. Give an extra pat on the head to Crunchie and Astro for me.Take care and see you down the trail.
Congratulations Karen to you and the dogs for a race well done and sending love to Crunchie. Great dog in my opinion. That is a very long race you should be proud of yourself for finishing and all the dogs.
I just loved it!.
So nice to see and hear what roles, key and otherwise, these dogs played in the Iditarod game.
Congratulations all, including of course the head of the team, Karen.
Karen, you are the best at writing about your team. Your pride just jumps off the screen into my heart. I can't help but get lumps in my throat thinking about the bond you have with all these great dogs. I loved the photos of those beautiful pups w/their steaks.
Such a fine reward, and tribute to the "Stars" of the race. Everyone of your team members should get lots of steaks and you should get an entire cow for your great accomplishment. BTW you need to stop losing weight or we will not be able to see you behind your curly tails. Lots of hugs from Sitka & his Mom, Lisa (Cols OH)
Post a Comment