Page 74

Here is a video of a fellow mushers run over eagle summit. Page 74 Paige went over in the dark so had no video to share.

5th Place Finish!

Paige is in! The team rolled in at 10:45 am AK time looking good! Cain came in around 9:30 so Paige has Clinched 5th place. Good job. Now it is time to get the team home and rest. Check back later for stories from Paige. thanks.

Circle City Chef fuels Paiges fire.

Here is a story about the chef at the Circle City Checkpoint. I don't think 5 minutes went by without her asking if I wanted another burger... for 7 hours straight.. She shoved a double cheeseburger in Paige's hands and well, she had to eat it.. The volunteers in these communities are amazing and make this race so much fun. Thanks to all of them. Read here about the circle city chef... Yukon Quest

Who will come in first?

Sean Williams came in to the finish in Central in 3rd. Congrats! Cain left Circle a few minutes before Paige around midnight. They both had a 9 hour run into Circle. If they both have a similar run back, then we will have 4th and 5th place finishers in around 9 am. Check the Yukon Quest Facebook Page for more up - to - date info than the actual website. If you like following this race but thought that the official quest website was poorly done, please let the Yukon Quest know so it will be better in the future.

Paige in Circle City Checkpoint .. for now anyway :)

What a run folks. Paige and the pups did a 74 mile run from Central to Circle and got in just at dark around 6 pm. The run took her approximately 9 hours and the dogs were super happy and waggy. This stretch of trail followed Birch Creek for the entire route and was a fast nice trail all the way in. A few miles outside Circle she had great head on Passes with Sven who was already headed back towards Central. She dropped her Ipod that keeps her boogieing somewhere on the river so she put Sven on the task to find it on his way into his first place finish. A couple more miles down the trail she had another great head on pass with Magnus and gave him a high five and told him to catch Sven. Paige said the dogs have stepped it up a level and at this point she wishes she was signed up for the 1000 mile race and continuing down the Yukon River. Instead she'll get the dogs up around midnight and head back the 74 miles to Central to the finish line. Sven has just finished in first place and Magnus is expected in second. Way to go guys. Sean Williams left about an hour ago and is likely to get third although he has a broken runner and has been suffering on it since mile 101. The race is now on for 4th place. Cain came in 1 hour and 25 minutes before Paige, putting him currently in 4th. Throughout this race they have been moving at the same pace.. If that trend continues the 4th place finish will go to whomever leaves first.... who will it be? Lets hope it is Paige.

The race has been going great. All 4 teams in front of her come from Large Iditarod Racing Kennels. If Squid Acres can hang right behind with this low level of experience than good things are to come.

As for the rest of the 300 mushers, Harvey is on his way and due in Circle soon and Mike King and Travis I believe are still in Central for their mandatory layover. Check back around 9 am alaska time tommorow to see if Paige has finished and find out what place.

Central Checkpoint

Hi all, Paige and the pups rolled in in 5th place to Central last night about midnight after a succesful run over Eagle Summit. Sounds like the trail over the summit was great. In past years some bad things have happened to folks up there, but this year the conditions on the down side were awesome and everyone had a good run. Trail was a bit rough from the base of Eagle to Central, but the dogs came in looking like they could have continued forever. Paige had to stay for a mandatory 6 hour layover and decided to give the dogs a little extra rest.

The dogs were camped out in the park in Central and Paige was able to catch some sleep in the tight little musher cabin... she was lucky as the truck was mighty cold for this handler.

She pulled out around 8 am for her 75 mile run to Circle. At Circle she will rest the dogs and head on back to Central for the finish. Paige should be into Circle sometime around 4 or 5 pm this afternoon. Check back to see how she is doing.

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