2025-2026 Race Season
FALL
Twin Cities Lake Byllesby Dryland Derby 2nd place- 6 Dog Rig Pro, 4th place- 4 Dog Rig Pro, 2 Dog Bike Rec- 3rd Place
IFSS Dryland World Championships: Alternate for 6 Dog Rig- Didn’t compete. Sucheth competed in 1 Dog Bike and Men’s Canix.
Run the Ritter- 5K Canicross
WINTER
Klondike Dog Derby-Canceled
Wolftrack Classic 30
Copper Dog 30
RECAP:
Twin Cities Lake Byllesby Dryland Derby:
We ran 4 dogs in the 6 dog class and we were sitting in 1st place on Day 1. (Grumbles, Remus, Zorro, and Friday) Clean run- although Remus popped his collar off right before we got to the starting chute so we needed help fixing that! Day 2 was even faster, but we lost the 1st place podium by 1 second. Lesson learned, next time I put all my power into 1 class.
In 4 dog rig I ran 3 dogs, and had Remus and Zorro run a second time with Payne… 4th place Day 1 and Day 2, Zorro got tangled right at the start, but quickly recovered. If they were all fresh I think we would’ve done better, but who knows? Clean run.
Sucheth did 2 dog bike sport and earned 3rd place, with Sirius and Grumbles. Grum was on his second run for the day, and on Day 2 Sirius didn’t seem up for a run so he competed solo. A few weeks later we found out that Sirius had cancer, so it explains his lack of enthusiasm. He received treatment over the winter for Lymphoma, and although not cured, he will have a little bit longer with us.
IFSS Dryland World Championships:
I sold gear at the event since we were alternates, and helped Sucheth compete! It was a bittersweet race for me; I was very bummed I wasn’t selected to race, but happy to help Sucheth and see lots of familiar faces. We also met many new mushers from 23 countries. Great to also meet Littlefoot’s family.
1 Dog Bike- Sucheth and Grumbles gave it 100%, clean runs! This year, with the high temperatures well into October, we only trained about 2 weeks, so while last year Grumbles at sub-3 min miles, this year was closer to 4. Can’t blame him though, he just functions much better with the cold temperatures. Sucheth was catching him a few times on the downhills, so while he may have been able to bike slightly faster, it wouldn’t have helped the team. Also, Grumbles is an Alaskan husky, and really one of the only Alaskans at the race; 99% of dogs were Eurohounds or Greysters, which are made for more heat tolerance and better sprint speeds. They weren’t last against the world’s best, so that’s amazing.
Men’s Canix- Remus decided he would only run if it was with the full team, and Sucheth ran 85% of the race with no dog pulling, whoops. Sucheth trained hard leading up to the race and still ran 6:40 min miles on very hilly ski trails, so I think if we had swapped for a dog that loves mono sports, they would have killed it! Alas, canicross is not his favorite, and it’s not as fun when it’s not with your own dog, so Remus had a training run, and that was that.
Run the Ritter 5k Canicross Race
AJ & Sucheth competed in the 5k fall race this year. AJ with Zorro, and Sucheth with Sirius. Accidentally started several minutes behind the rest of the canicross mass start, since they missed the email that said the canix started 10 minutes before the human 5k racers. Whoops! This race is full of twists and small hills, definitely a good leg day, and not far from our home. As mentioned earlier, Sirius had been acting off and not really feeling up for running after about a mile, so we took him to the vet and found out he had Lymphoma. Luckily, there were some treatment options to buy him some more time. They still finished the race ahead of AJ and Zorro haha…
Wolftrack Classic Sled Dog Race
A little nervous for the 30-mile race this year, since we had only been on a sled one time this season. The dogs definitely weren’t as conditioned with the higher-than-average temps and then lack of snow. Many training days were icy and less than ideal for long runs due to issues with paws. We then had to leave the country for 2 weeks in January to attend our second wedding. Their training definitely faltered a bit with the extended break, but luckily the dogs got a few runs in with our friends Ashley and TJ. Race day went smoothly, and Remus mentally got a bit tired on the run out, so I let Zorro lead the way back since we weren’t really maintaining our normal speeds. A good way for him to practice and get some experience. Ended up 18th out of 32 racers.
Copper Dog Sled Race:
Finally made it out to Copper Harbor Michigan! As expected, with a little bit less training and no snow to speak of in the Twin Cities, we placed 12th out of 16 mushers. It was a gorgeous race though- and besides the starting chute, serene. Every few miles we’d have an intersection crossing with several volunteers cheering us on, then it was the black night, guided by the moon. Record snow fall for Calumet and Copper Harbor this winter, the snow was over 5ft when we arrived! Dogs had a blast, all dogs crossed the finish line feeling tired, but Remus ended the race with a paw pad tear. He healed up soon after, and since we were done for the season, could just be a dog the rest of the spring and summer. Here’s to next year, hopefully some more snow…
