MushHusky! News

The MushHusky! 2007 - 2008 mushing season started off right on schedule.

We began the season with ATV training on the dirt trails on September 1 as we had planned. Even though we had much more autumn rain than we would have liked, it did eventually turn to snow. It was not too long before we had enough snow to hold a hook and switch over to the sleds. Then, unexpectedly, the snow turned to long periods of heavy rain and washed away nearly every flake of snow that had accumulated. Our trails disappeared while the dirt trails turned to ice, making returning to the ATV too treacherous. These developments have changed some of the plans for our 2009 Iditarod attempt.

The late resumption of training prohibits entering the Knik 200, scheduled for the first weekend of January, which was the first qualifier that was planned for the '09 Iditarod. The late training will also make running the Bowers 300, scheduled for the last weekend of January, unlikely. The cancellation of these two qualifiers in our race schedule will now delay their completion until 2009. While it may still be possible to run the Iditarod in 2009, any failure to complete these qualifiers at this time will make an '09 run impossible. So, now we are contemplating re-scheduling our first Iditarod attempt for 2010.

There will be some benefits to delaying our first Iditarod attempt. Our youngest dogs will be one year older, increasing our pool of dogs from which to choose from. We will gain an extra year for our fund raising efforts. And we will gain an extra season for completing our qualifiers. In the end, it may be a better path. We will continue to aggressively pursue Rebekah's 2007 - 2008 junior race schedule as originally planned. So the 2007 - 2008 season will not be a loss at all, but will instead allow us to test the dog team as we participate in this season's junior circuit. So, continue to look for the MushHusky! team this season as we continue to chase that elusive Iditarod dream.

I ran my first Jr. Iditarod in the winter of 2007. I ran it because I wanted the experience and I wanted the satisfaction of knowing that I had done something very important to me.

Here is a little bit about my life, my family and how I came to run the Jr. Iditarod.

Both of my parents were born in Nebraska. My dad had a dream of moving up to Alaska and finally, in the fall of 1992, we did. Because of his dream we have lived here ever since.

Alaska is a very beautiful and mystic place. It gets lots of snow in the winter and lots of green in the summer. It has lots of wildlife and wilderness.

A few months after we moved up to Alaska I was born. I have five brothers and sisters and one nephew. When I was born, we lived in a trailer house in Kachemak City, Alaska. We then moved out to a small cabin on the Kenai Peninsula. In 2003 we moved to a new house that my family built next to the old cabin.

During all of these moves my dad raised and ran sled dogs. We have a small kennel of dogs. We have only a few that we have purchased from other mushers.

My dad started mushing in 1993, the year I was born. I always wanted to run the dogs just like my dad. I have been raised around sled dogs and animals all of my life.

I started training for the Jr. Iditarod, that was to take place on February 24-25, 2007, in July of 2006. As the race drew near, this was not the time to be inside drinking hot chocolate. It was the time to be out in the wilderness! I had to run 30, 40 and 50 mile runs in the light and the dark. These would be eight to ten hour days including my school work and chores.

Finally, it was time to take the three hundred mile trip up to Knik, Alaska, where the race was to take place. We loaded our ten dogs, sled and all of the gear onto the mushing truck and started the day long journey. On February 23, we took the dogs to the morning Vet Check. That night I went to the mushers meeting, where we drew our bib numbers and they told us about the trail. I drew bib number 25.

The next day we went to the starting line and the temperature was about five degrees. We unloaded our dogs, then put harnesses and booties on the dogs. When my number was called, I hit the trail to begin the 150 mile race.

On the way out the trail was hard packed, almost like a paved highway. The sun had a dazzling effect on the white snow. The team clipped down the trail at a nice pace, about nine, or ten miles an hour. Only an hour down the trail I came over a steep hill. Suddenly, I saw in the middle of the trail a musher who had stopped to untangle her dogs. She was in the middle of her team when I collided with her at a zooming speed. My sled caught her sled and we all went flying. Luckily, no one got hurt. Other than that the trip to Yetna, the halfway point, went very well and I had a lot of fun.

Just as it got dark I made it to the halfway point where all of the mushers had to rest for ten hours. I fed and watered my dogs by melting snow in my cooker. Then I bedded them down for the night. Now it was my turn to eat. I ate, then I sat with the other mushers around the big bonfire.

At 4:23 in the morning I hit the trail again, only to find trouble around every corner. First, my headlamp went dead when it was still dark. Then I hit a tree. I was about ten miles from the finish line, when I got lost. I was lost for three hours. I had broken my sled beyond repair, but my dogs and I wanted to get home, so we did not let that stop us.

When I saw the finish line I was very happy. That night at the banquet they handed out prizes and said how happy they were that so many kids ran the race this year.

What I learned is: no matter what happens, never give up. The outcome is definitely worth it. I am already training for 2008.

Another school year will be coming to an end next month. MushHusky! Assemblies conducted assemblies in Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin. We also expanded into Texas for the first time as well.
  We have had another wonderful school year sharing the Alaskan lifestyle with so many students and teachers. We are already making plans for next year, with the thought of heading back to Texas and then to the east coast for the first time.

IDITAROD 2009???

by Doug Ruzicka

I have never had a real desire to run the Iditarod sled dog race.  When I started mushing in 1992 I began with a small recreational team.  Having a small team was easy on the nerves as well as the pocketbook.  Good dogs were always easy to find from other mushers that were retiring their race veterans or other dogs that weren't fast enough to make the cut.  

But, over the years I started accumulating more and more dogs until I had a kennel of nearly thirty dogs.  Fortunately, I was able to put them to work helping a neighbor with her winter dogsled touring business.  At least the dogs were now earning their keep.

   After my neighbor moved on to other things I was faced with the problem of having more dogs than I needed.  It was at this time that my youngest son, Mark, decided that he wanted to attempt to do the Junior Iditarod.  He entered the race in 2005 and 2006.  His younger sister, Rebekah ran the race for the first time in 2007.

   Helping and watching them run their races has sparked an interest in trying dogsled racing for myself.  I have had a great deal of fun learning how to train dogs to run faster as well as figuring out race strategies.

   Running the Iditarod is no small matter.  Each musher must qualify by completing a 200 mile and 300 mile race sometime in the 30 months prior to the year a competitor wants to compete in the Iditarod.  And there is the expense of the race as well; estimated by most to be as high as $10,000 to $15,000 for race expenses alone.

   With those things in mind, I am considering running the Iditarod in March of 2009.  That would give me two seasons to complete my qualifiers and raise the funds for running the race.  It would be a long haul just to get to the starting line, but having seen my own kids do it inspires me to follow in their footsteps.

   So, the 2007 - 2008 mushing season could be a busy one indeed.  Wish us all luck as the Ruzicka family continues to pursue their Iditarod dreams.