Iditarod 2022- post by Ryne

Well… that sure didn’t go how I planned. I’d say there are a fair number of 2022 Iditarod mushers who would say the same thing. Mother Nature combined with luck (or lack thereof) threw some curve balls this race, and for the RK team, we called it at 300 miles in McGrath. The standard press releases always say- for the welfare of the team- and honestly that’s the exact reason. I entered the race confident and excited, accompanied by more or less the same team (if not better) as our 2021 Iditarod team when we finished in 18th with 12 dogs. The dogs were well-conditioned and healthy. I had a brand new sled built under the expert supervision of Allen Moore. We had new gear (leggings and fox tails) sewn by Kalyn. The team was fired up. We were ready to rock!

But unfortunately it was just one of those years. It started with Oryx tripping going down the infamous Happy River Steps and straining her tricep. Then Dracula developed a swollen wrist. The run between Rohn and Nikolai was filled with first 30 miles of no snow then 40 miles of extreme moguls, jerking the dogs backwards as my sled bobbed up and down the moguls like a boat in waves. By Nikolai, I knew that my only hope was putting in some serious time massaging and resting to see if the small issues would go away, so we opted to take an un-planned 24-hour rest in Nikolai. Yoshi’s sore feet and hamstrings weren’t 100% by the end of our 24-hour rest, so Yoshi stayed in Nikolai. After a very slow run through a blizzard to McGrath, Faff and Sherlock were added to the list of returned dogs. I’d like to mention that 4 of the 5 returned dogs had never been dropped before in a race, and all except Sherlock had finished at least one (and up to three) one-thousand mile races. It just didn’t make sense.

At 300-miles, we were already down to a team of nine dogs, and it wasn’t nine dogs without their own issues. In reality, only about seven of the team were 100%. I stayed 24 hours, thinking that maybe we could still move forward, but after another long break, it was apparent that a 1000-mile run just wasn’t in the cards for us this year. Why? I have no idea. I’m inclined to think heat and hard trail are the culprits. I never once put my parka on during the 300-miles, which is astonishing. The trail was also hard-packed, and we’ve only run in soft conditions all winter. Yet other teams ran through these same conditions and continued on, so I’m at a little bit of a loss as to the cause. We can’t blame lack of rest because over the 300 miles (not counting our time in Mcgrath), we took 45 hours of rest. For comparison, a normal Copper Basin 300 is 18 hours.

I honestly just don’t know. But what I do know, is that the decision to scratch was the right decision. All the dogs are happy and healthy. The injuries that cropped up on the race were not major, and each dog just needed a few days to re-coup. We’re all back and running and gearing up for the multi-day trips starting on Thursday. Honestly probably the only lingering effect is the damage to my pride, but well, I’m getting over that pretty quickly too. And actually, probably the hardest part is knowing that so many people have helped us get to the starting line- sponsors, family, friends. We’ve had a badass crew this year of Simon, Tucker, Mandy, Kalyn, Derek, and I all helping in some way to get this team to the starting line. Tyler and Kelsey were providing in-home, super care for the dropped dogs. So many people have supported us financially and by following along. So that decision to scratch didn’t just impact a team of 9 dogs and one musher. It was a team of 9 dogs and so many amazing people (all of you) who were scratching. But I guess that’s what makes the Ryno Kennel team special, is that I knew it’s a team of people who care about the dogs and know that even though it would be disappointing to call it quits at 300 miles, the decision wouldn’t be questioned. We’re in it for the dogs. So thank you to everyone for supporting us and our decision. I feel very lucky to be surrounded (both in person and virtually) by so many incredible people and dogs.

Some photos by Whitney McLaren. Yes that’s Wingman and Dolly playing. They were both 100% and wondering why we were resting so much.

Iditarod Update 8/11/22

Hard races are inevitable. While we don’t know all of the details of Ryne’s race, we do know that she’s an extremely respected musher within the world of sled dogs. That’s because her dogs’ physical and mental health take priority over competition, and yet, she’s still a contender. Ryne’s decision to scratch from the race at the McGrath checkpoint represents that truth. 

Before I came to the Ryno Kennel, I’d been talked at by men with experience running and racing dogs. Talk based around a big question: “How do you get a dog to pull a sled when it doesn’t feel like it?” The answers to this question are why there is so much controversy surrounding the sport of mushing. 

As I’ve mentioned before on the blog, my first job at the Ryno Kennel was to take dogs on a walk — untethered, joyful dogs, running off-trail through the woods. This was Ryne’s indirect answer to that controversial question. If a dog doesn’t feel like pulling a sled, then it’s just a dog, and we should do our best to make sure it’s a happy one. 

From what Ryne’s told us about the race, the dogs were more than ready to keep moving down the trail at every checkpoint, regardless of any aches or pains they felt. If you’ve ever been around sled dogs that want to get going, you know how hard it is to keep them waiting. When Ryne decided to scratch, she was looking at a team of happy dogs, but what was best for their physical health was for them to come home. With responsible racing, that’s just the way it goes.

Happy dogs: Sherlock, Dracula, Oryx, and Faff all enjoying their well earned rest at Tyler and Kelsey’s house. Belle has rights to the couch as an old Ryno Kennel retiree.

Good girl, Faffers.

Iditarod Update: Day 4

Ryne decided to take her 24hr rest in Nikolai, which is where we signed off in yesterday’s blog update. We’ve heard that the trail out of Rohn was some of the worst mushers have seen — jarring ruts and moguls in the trail from all of the freeze-thaw cycles this season. 

With less trail news, we’ll take the opportunity to extend a big Thank You to everyone who is tuning in and cheering for Ryne and the dogs. 

We’d like to give a special shout-out to the people and businesses that have helped make running the race possible.

Feniks and Company LLC

Bema Electronics

Two Rivers Outpost 

AlaSkins @alaskins907 

Chena Valley Development

Orion’s Belt School of Self Defense

Tailspin Media

Big Dans Trucking

Chena Outdoor Collective @chenaoutdoorco

Rick and Sue Patton

All of the individual dog sponsors!

We definitely need to thank Tyler and Kelsey in Anchorage for taking care of any of the Ryno crew dogs who have to leave the race early. Right now Oryx is enjoying a well deserved vacation with them. We’ll let you know about Dracula’s arrival as soon as we get word.

Oryx enjoying her time with Tyler.

All of the encouragement we’re receiving as a kennel is being used well, from the motivation Ryne feels on the trail to the work back home, even to these social media updates. So thank you everyone for reaching out!

Back home at the kennel in Two Rivers we’ve all taken a day off from tours. Yet another layer of gentle snow is settling in, odd-jobs are getting tinkered with, dogs are having their walks, naps are being had.

When Dwight comes back from a walk he will wait at the cabin door and refuse to be lured near the dog yard. For a big doofus, he’s frustratingly smart. He gets a lot of cabin naps.

Iditarod Update: Day 3

It’s day 3 on the Iditarod trail!

Here’s a look at Ryne’s latest statistics:

I’ll narrate this graph as best as I can with what we know. As a reminder for those like myself who are terrible at understanding graphic representations: When the green line  (moving speed) goes flat, Ryne-and-team are resting. That dark blue line, that’s the elevation. We can see the time and date by looking at the top of the graph but it’s in military time so that might as well be hieroglyphics or worse, math. 

After resting from 3-8pm on the 7th, Ryne left the Rainy Pass checkpoint. The dark blue line that peaks near midnight (00:00hrs) of March 7th represents Ryne’s climb up the actual Pass. 

Ryne messaged us last night saying that Oryx slipped going down the Happy River Steps and needed a bit more time to recover. So she left Oryx in the care of the vet team at the Rainy Pass checkpoint.
Having climbed the Pass, the team arrived in Rohn around 12:30am, 8/8. After a 4 hour rest they headed down the trail.

Ryne left Dracula with the vet team in Rohn. We’re not sure exactly why, but we’ll update you if we get anymore information. Likely a sore wrist that she couldn’t work out. 

It wouldn’t be the “Last Great Race” if there weren’t some godawful parts to it. After Rohn, the team ran through what’s called “The Burn”, which is notorious for having little to no snow. We know that Ryne had to fight with some runner plastic after making it through. 

After leaving Rohn we can see that the team ran for about 4 hours, rested on trail for 4 hours, and then took off again until around 6pm tonight when they reached the Nikolai checkpoint. 

Right now they’re resting in Nikolai. They’re 263 miles into the race. With the amount of time Ryne has dedicated to taking care of the dogs, the team has been getting a lot of relative rest, and so when they’ve been moving, they move fast! 

Everyone at the RynoKennel is getting telegraphic updates from Ryne throughout the night and day when she has time to message us during her rests. The best one in the last 24 hours is simple and sweet: “Otis and Sherlock are really happy.”

Iditarod Update: Day 2

After seeing Ryne off from the start line yesterday, we packed up and were already on the road by 4pm. The sky was clear, roads were good, and we boogied on home with a view of Denali that Derek said is one of the best he’s seen. When we made it back to Fairbanks around 9pm, we checked on Ryne’s GPS tracker to see that she was resting the dogs at the 67 mile mark. 

This morning, 20hrs into the race, Ryne sent us some updates from her Garmin InReach before taking off from her second rest:

“Dogs all looking good. A few minor issues but hoping we can work through them. Trail was very hard and fast.

Trail is softer now which is nice. Perfect weather. Dogs did well in the heat surprisingly.

They did pop my hook at the first camp and my parka fell off my sled. I couldn't stop them and had to unhook tugs to go back get it.”

Knowing the dogs that she has with her, and knowing that they’re still looking good, we’re assuming that the “minor issues” are a sore wrist or two — meaning that Ryne is having to spend some extra time wrapping and tending to the dogs. Like Ryne says, sore wrists are something that dogs can work through as long as they’re being taken good care of and watched closely by their musher. We all know they are!

We can also assume that Sherlock is to blame for popping Ryne’s hook. This is Sherlock’s first 1000 mile race. Here’s to hoping that he keeps that hook-popping energy through the whole thing. Knowing Sherlock, that’s a very real possibility.

Almost 24 hrs into the race, Ryne is at mile 140 in 27th place and climbing up to the next checkpoint at Rainy Pass. 

Here’s a visual lay-out of her statistics:

Translating the graph into its basics: When the green line (speed in mph) goes flat, the team is resting. When the team has been moving they’ve been averaging around 8mph (light blue line). As they keep climbing up to Rainy Pass (the highest elevation of the race, indicated by the dark blue elevation line) that average moving speed will decrease a little, but with all the dogs being fresh, it might not be by too much. The purple line is her average speed overall.

Kalyn and I (Tucker) will be keeping the blog and Facebook updated every day with race news as it comes in, so stay tuned!

And they're off!

Well, it’s official.

The 50th running of the Iditarod has started. Welcome to the 2022 race trail!!

Ryno team left the starting chute in Willow at 3:06pm March 6th, 2022. Here’s our starting lineup for the Ryno crew. 

Etta Thresher

Dolly Elmer

Tobin Faff

Dracula Smoky 

Oryx Wingman 

Otis Sherlock

Mario Yoshi

It was a balmy 36 degrees and sunny in Willow at the start today! We hope it cools down a bit for our pals on the trail.  The sled dogs tend to enjoy temps hovering around -10 to -20 degrees, so Ryne will likely be keeping the dogs a bit slower until temps begin to cool down. 

The team is on their way to Yentna Station Roadhouse - mile 53 of 1000 miles!

We’ll update with blog posts as often as we can. If you’re interested in following along on the gps tracker, head on over to Iditarod.com to snag your Insider pass. 

Go bib #35! Safe travels. 

IDITAROD TIME IS HERE!

And just like that I blinked and the Iditarod is just a few days away! This morning is my last normal morning for several weeks. Tomorrow I’ll be headed to Anchorage for a Covid-test and the virtual musher meeting. Fifteen athletes (yes I can’t decide yet), Derek, Tucker, Simon, Jezzy, and Sasha will be leaving Friday morning to drive down to Anchorage. Mandy and Kalyn will be staying at the kennel to take care of all the critters left home and to keep running tours at Chena Outdoor Collective.

So who are the final 15?! There are a couple who just might surprise you!