Paige on the Quest Website

Here is a story about Paige on the Yukon Quest website.. enjoy.

Mile 101 Checkpoint

Paige rolled into Mile 101 at 1:24 pm today in 5th place with a strong and happy team. Turned out she didn't wake up to her alarm this morning and woke up to two teams passing her.. she would have been here earlier if she had, but no big deal. The run over from Twin bears was great with a good sunny run over rosebud summit. the only hitch was that she did have one little swim as all mushers have experienced before Rosebud, but she is smiling here now eating bacon with her clothes drying by a wood stove. The dogs will get some good rest here before heading over Eagle later this afternoon.. tune in later for more.

I just added a few photos from the checkpoint. sorry they were late.

5th into Twin Bears 4th out.

Paige did her first 54 miles and rolled into Twin Bears around 10 pm. She came in in 5th place behind Sean, Magnus, Sven, and Cain. The dogs were happy and ready to move on, so she pulled a few bags of dog snacks and meat for the next leg. Strapped on a big bale of straw and headed off into the darkness to find a camping spot somewhere closer to Rosebud summit. The team will attack that mighty mountain in the early morning on her way to the next checkpoint called "Mile 101" another 68 miles down the trail. I led the team off to the outrail, got a quick kiss from my lovely lady and she left in 4th place as someone who came in before her stayed at the checkpoint. I ran home to get more supplies, take a nap and then I will head up to Mile 101. She should be into Mile 101 around noon tommorow. Check back to see how it is going. I may not have internet until sometime Sunday night if at all.. so check the quest 300 site for updates.. it is currently not updated.

And Their Off!

Well folks, the race start went well without a hitch.. At 5:02 Paige started her first 300 mile race. Thanks to Tom Ruskowski, Natalie Monacci and Steve Martz who were Paige's extra special handler helpers at the start and thanks to all those who stopped by to wish her good luck.... and thanks to Lisa's extra good countdown.. ;) And I heard a rumor that there were nice folks on the trail handing off beverages and flashing humorous parts of their body.. these people are what make this all possible... thanks all. You can see some photos from the start from Tom's Picasa site. Link below.
Picasa Web Albums - Thomas - Yukon Quest 300 Paige Drobny

More soon from Twin Bears Checkpoint,

Handler Cody

YQ300 Home Page

Hey everyone here is the Yukon Quest 300 website.. You can get up to date race results here.. YQ300 Home Page

Happy Trails To Paige and the Pups! YQ300 Starts Saturday!

Training has conitinued this week and Paige had to make final decisions on the 12 dogs she would run in this race. It is a bummer for us to have to leave dogs home that have been training so hard all season, but they will get their turn later this spring in other races with Cody. All the dogs are so dialed in now and are like a well oiled machine. You can see how calm they are at hook up. They just sit and wait for all the dogs to get hooked up and bootied. Once We put on our coats, the dogs get the picture and go nuts like the video from the last posting.

This week was full of gear maintenance, careful packing, and dog care as always. Paige can be seen below changing her runner plastic and drying her harnesses out for the big day.

Thursday night was what they call "Meet the Mushers" where the public comes to meet all the mushers from the 300 and 1000 mile races. This is where Paige drew her starting position for the race. She drew the second starting position and will be leaving the starting block at 5:02 pm Alaskan time Saturday.

The final Roster and their positions for this race is as follows;

Lucy (leader)

Stout (leader)

Okie (leader)

Bleeker (leader)

Valley (swing, team, leader)

Poncho Ramirez (swing, team, leader)

TJ Maxx (Swing, team)

Donald (team)

Dozer (team, wheel)

Dundeer (team, wheel)

Berry (team, wheel)

Goober (team, wheel)

I will update with photos after the start and will attempt to update along the course of the race, but do not know if I will have internet access. For up to date race results please follow the Yukon Quest 300 website. Thanks for tuning in!

Squid Acres crew

Winner of Minto Flats 150 - If there was such a thing

Paige Drobny- winner of the Minto Flats 150 coming in at 22 hours total time...... Does it matter that she was the only racer in this mock training race? Nahh, the team did great!

With the Quest 300 one week away, we did one last big training run with the dogs Saturday from our house out to Minto Flats, near Nenana Alaska. Paige took the race team with a plan of running the dogs on a race schedule and covering around 150 miles in less than 24 hour period with 2 rests built in out at a mock checkpoint camp. To make it more like a race, Tom Ruskowski and Cody ran teams to the mock checkpoint and supplied doggy distractions like those at a real checkpoint. Tom and Cody also supplied a warm tent, warm pizza, warm cookies, and warm little smokies and eggs to the passing mushers... ah..Paige that is.

To the left is Tom's team learning to sleep on the line. No eaten harnesses or lines... good dogs!

Below, Checkpoint volunteer Tom, makes his famous little smoky, egg, and hasbrown burritos.... a very filling morning treat.

Paige did one long run, rested dogs at camp, ate dinner, then headed out for another run until the wee hours of the morning and came back, took a nap and ate breakfast and then saddled up for the last run home. Below is video of the dogs in the morning. 100 miles down, 50 to go on the way home.. Looking good.

The team looks amazing, check back for more info soon,

Squid acres