Yukon Quest '09

Sportsmanship Award

2009-03-01T13:58:00.004-09:00

Well the Quest ended on a high note for me last night after receiving the Sportsmanship award at Finishers banquet. I was very excited to get the award, it really helps me close this years Quest out on positive note after our hold up in the last 40 miles of the race. on another positive note Iris Woods Sutton crossed the finish line yesterday with Jerry still barking and Banging the harness, just one more positive thing to take from this years race. Jerry is sure to be a force in Wild and Frees 2010 Quest.
I have spent allot of time thinking about what happened in this years Quest, and really have come to grips with it,. the experience didn't kill us it only made us stronger and smarter for future races. This years race was a true battle from day one, but we pulled through and learned more then we could of ever imagined. It is time to shift gears and start thinking about next season. thanks so much to all of you that have followed or progress throughout the entire season and also through the Quest. The support that you give me and the dogs is a very important part to the success of Wild and Free. This will be the final post on the Quest 09 Blog I will be going back to My blog for future updates. I am in the process of writing the story of this years race. it s going to be a while but there will be a very exciting story to read when it is complete. Thanks Again

Happy Trails

Brent and the Wild and Free Gang

THANK YOU

2009-02-25T14:56:00.002-09:00

Hello from the comforts of my Cabin. It is hard to believe that my Quest Journey is over it was defintly one hell of an adventure. Yesterday was tough there are no words describe the dissapointment of coming so far and being held up just 40 miles from the finish. I am still in shock. I woke up feeling pretty upset this morning and probably will for a while, but after reading through the blog and see all of the great support I have out there I really can appreciate all that we have accomplished. I owe alot to my dogs we ran a very aggressive race and stayed in the hunt the whole way. I took a few gambles towards the end and pushed the dogs a little too far. they just needed a little more rest. I am really at a loss of words right but needed to make sure that all of you know how important your support is too me. Thanks for following me along this Journey. After I get life in the real world sorted out I will post more about the race. Thanks to my Blog support crew for all their great work updating the blog, my handlers and of course my dogs without them none of this would be possible.

Brent

Wild and Free to the finish!

2009-02-25T00:05:00.002-09:00

Wild and Free pulled into the finish at about 11:15 pm. Great job Brent, Silver, Ling Ling, Rosie, Budget, Rocky, Maud, Walter, and The Dude. You guys are amazing!

update

2009-02-24T17:33:00.002-09:00

We have received word that Brent has been spotted a few miles from Two Rivers walking in front of the team to keep them going. They have been passed by Martin Buser. This is a huge bummer. Mark told me they wanted to stop at Chena Hot springs and after that slowed way down. Brent had to walk them out of Two Rivers and apparently they did not get going. We do not expect him to finish until late tonight or early in the morning. I will update more if I get any more info.

Ken and Danny update from the trail

2009-02-24T10:47:00.002-09:00

Monday night Wild & Free supporters Danny and Ken trekked out toward
Rosebud on skis under no moon. After not seeing anyone for 5 miles, they
saw a headlamp in the distance and caught a "hup" recognizable as Brent's.
Brent seemed a bit dazed, and responded to our cheers with "Is that really
you guys?!" The team looked great and quickly disappeared down the trail.
Danny and Ken skied back to Chena Hot Springs Road, noticing Brent's kick
marks and jogging footprints all the way down the trail. Danny and Ken
caught Brent at several more bridges as the night progressed. A bit past
midnight and 100 miles into the run Wild & Free appeared under the aurora.
Anyone guess what the bouncing headlamp in the photo is? Brent running!
The team had slowed and The Dude was in the sled, but spirits were high
and Brent was totally coherent. News that the team was about 12 miles
outta Twin Bears Checkpoint was uplifting.

Projected finish time

2009-02-24T09:59:00.002-09:00

Schnuelle and Neff passed the Nordale bridge, 20 miles from the finish line, just before 9 so they are expected in at 11. This would be a 6 hour run from Two Rivers. At that pace Brent will finish around 5 this evening, prime time for a huge gathering to welcome Wild and Free! If you are reading this and you are in Fairbanks then I expect to see you there!

Two Rivers to Fairbanks

2009-02-24T09:02:00.003-09:00

Wild and Free made it to Two Rivers overnight at 3 am. This is the final checkpoint and a mandatory 8 hour layover. Brent will leave at 11 for the last 45 miles to the finish, expect him to come in around 3:30-4:30. The top 3, little, schnuelle, and neff are expected anytime now in a tight race for 1st. I will be at the finish to see Wild and Free come in, this may be my last post, I am sure Brent will take over when he arrives.

More pics and stories in the news miner,
http://newsminer.com/news/yukon_quest2009/
http://newsminer.com/news/2009/feb/24/troubles-eagle-summit-dropp-william-kleedehn-yukon/

On KUAC' site,
http://www.kuac.org/day11.html
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuac/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1473479

Brent as Kleeden's lead dog

2009-02-23T15:41:00.001-09:00

http://www.yukonquest.com/site/view-yukon-quest-slideshow/2009-mile101/#showMedia

101 pics

2009-02-23T13:39:00.003-09:00

Wild and Free arrives at 101 amid a swarm of media.Ling Ling and Silver, Rosie and Budget, Maud and Rocky, Walter and The Dude.

Ling Ling and Silver

Rosie and Budget

Maud and Rocky

Walter and The Dude

Brent to 101

2009-02-23T13:32:00.003-09:00

Brent made it in to 101 just after noon and left shortly there after. He ran into Kleeden at Eagle Summit, drove Wild and Free over the top, parked the dogs, then walked down to Kleeden and lead his team over the top. Way to go Brent, he is the man for his time and place.
Pictures to come..

From 101

2009-02-23T11:40:00.004-09:00

Mark says the top 3, Kleeden, Little, and Neff were all struggling to get their dogs up Eagle Summit and it was only after Schnuelle arrived that Little and Neff got over. Sebastian tried to help Kleeden but his team would not go and he was just resting there. I am sure if Brent finds him there he will do what he can to get Kleeden's team going. The others took 10 hours to run from Central but they did not rest at Central like Brent did. So it should take Brent 5-6 hours or so which would put him in to 101 at around 1:00 pm.

Correction

2009-02-23T11:02:00.003-09:00

Brent did not pass Schnuelle. yukonquest.com has Schnuelle running the 74 miles from Circle to Central in 47 minutes, roughly 100 mph, and passing through the 101 dog drop at 10 this morning. So Schnuelle is ahead of Brent, but probably not running 100 mph.

In and out of Central

2009-02-23T09:14:00.003-09:00

Brent took an 11 hour rest at the Central checkpoint. He passed Schnuelle on the trail moving into 4th place. The top 3 left Central just as Brent arrived. Somewhere between Circle and Central Brent had a collision with tree and took the brunt of it in the face so apparently he looks a bit rough but has shaken it off. He had to drop steady, reliable wheel dog Taco due to soreness in his shoulder. Taco finished the race in the previous 2 years and I am sure he will be missed on the run up Eagle Summit.

Heckel and Molly

2009-02-22T15:44:00.003-09:00

Molly and Heckel are resting comfortably in the truck on their way back home to Fairbanks.Molly

Heckel

Out of Circle

2009-02-22T15:23:00.004-09:00

Wild and Free headed out of Circle after a 5.5 hour rest. Holding strong at 5th place, well ahead of Martin Buser who has yet to reach Circle, and behind Schnuelle but still in it for 4th place if Schnuelle is resting down the trail. Brent dropped Heckel here due to a sore shoulder resulting from a misstep into a crack in the trail. Next checkpoint is the village of Central, 74 miles away, then its up Eagle Summit and Rosebud and down to Fairbanks. Go Wild and Free!Meat snacks for the dogs.

Get 'em going.

Check out.

Back on the trail. Silver and Rosie in lead, Ling Ling and The Dude in swing, Rocky behind Ling Ling.

From the sled forward, Walter and Taco in wheel, Maud, Rocky and Budget, Ling Ling and The Dude, Silver and Rosie in lead.

More from Circle

2009-02-22T13:18:00.003-09:00

Parking the team for rest.

In to Circle

2009-02-22T12:50:00.004-09:00

Wild and Free pulling into Circle and 10:02 this morning. Mark says all the dogs were eating voraciously, which is great. Brent was eating great as well, he gobbled down 2 burgers. The team is cruising along at a slower pace now, as is to be expected after 750 miles. It appears Brent and Sebastian Schnuelle are leapfrogging past each other with alternate run and rest schedules. Schnuelle blew through Circle but is no doubt resting down the trail, Brent will take his rest in Circle.Front to back and left to right, Silver and Ling Ling, Rosie and The Dude, Heckel and Budget, Rocky and Maud.

Silver and Ling Ling in lead.

Rocky and Maud, Taco and Walter in wheel.

Heckel and Budget.

Rosie and The Dude.

Good buddies Silver and Ling Ling.

Circle

2009-02-22T09:44:00.002-09:00

So Brent is enroute from Slaven's Cabin, which is 60 miles from Circle. Since he rested at Slaven's he shold do this run in 6-8 hours, putting him into Circle around 9-10 (any minute now) this morning. Schnuelle rested between Slavens and Circle and blew through Circle but will have to rest shortly after Circle. So if Brent rests in Circle he will still be not far behind Schnuelle.

Update from Mark in Circle

2009-02-22T09:39:00.001-09:00

Hello Everyone,
We made the long drive from Dawson to Fairbanks,stopped for 2 hours sleep and came to Circle in afternoon. Today was a sunny day. Picking up here.
Molly is resting in truck. She was flew in. Appears a sore shoulder but otherwise resting good.
Just waiting for Brent who resting somewhere or on way .Weather and conditions are good with fresh snow. Saw the northern lights little while ago. Later
Mark

iphone update

2009-02-21T22:53:00.002-09:00

molly is the dog that was dropped in Eagle.

More from Thom

2009-02-21T15:08:00.000-09:00

While Brent is cruising his way to Circle City, I thought I would chime in one more time to reassure everyone that Brent is running right on schedule. It was his intention to be on the heels of Sebastian all the way into Circle if possible and then hopefully they would both be within striking distance to Hugh Neff and Jon Little. We'll see if that's the case, but it's good to see that Brent is sticking to his plan and not changing things up to try and gain on William Kleedehn.
It's a sunny and beautiful day here in Dawson. Josh Horst was up this morning to watch Iris Wood Sutton leave Dawson. She has Jerry of the Wild and Free Kennel in her team, and from all reports, Jerry was overly enthusiastic as she is known to be leaving today. We all hope to hear only good things when Iris makes it into Circle.
I'll be in Dawson until Sunday or Monday, so if anyone has anymore questions please feel free to ask.
Thom

Made it to Eagle

2009-02-20T23:02:00.002-09:00

Wild and Free made it to Eagle, in 5th position, still chasing Schnuelle. There is no road access to Eagle so we will hear no more information other than that. Mark and Kyla left Dawson this morning and I have not heard that they made it to Fairbanks yet, I don't know their plans, they may just cruise on through and head to Circle.

on to Eagle

2009-02-20T16:04:00.003-09:00

So Brent was on the radio again this morning,
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuac/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1472328
And in some pics at KUAC also,
http://www.kuac.org/day7.html
He is on his way to Eagle, perhaps there already. There is a mandatory 4 hour layover there. William Kleeden has passed through already. Brent made up ground on Schnuelle en route to the 40 mile river stop! So he must be hauling. It is warm here and I heard it was in the 20s at Eagle this morning so that could slow things down as the dogs may overheat.

Thom's life story, er update from Dawson

2009-02-20T16:01:00.001-09:00

A delayed update from Dawson.
Sorry that I didn't write anymore updates last night after Brent left Dawson, but I was sleep and food deprived. Kyla and I went back to Brent's camp at 10:00am after getting back to bed from the 4am feeding around 5:30. If you schedule in time to drop the dogs in the truck, and maybe some time to brush your teeth, we didn't get more than two hours or so. We were at Brent's camp from 10:00am until he left at 3:15. From there we scooped all the poop in the driveway to the restart shoot. Since we had walked all of Brent's dogs and stretched them out, none of the Wild and Free kennel pooped on the road, but as Mark and I are both Eagle Scouts, we feel the need to leave things cleaner than what we found it. On our way back to Brent's camp some 300 yards of poo filled road, one local woman and her husband stopped to talk to us, and she wanted us to tell Brent that she thought he should win the most hospitable award for always stopping to talk to people and sharing his thoughts on the trail. I know this is something that Brent cares about as we left his camp for the start line 15 minutes before he was scheduled to leave just so he could chat with people there and still get out on time. Something this woman said none of the previous departees had time to do. It was a very nice thing to hear, and I'm sure it will make Brent happy to know that people recognize his willingness despite being cold, feeling rushed, desperately hungry and tired beyond compare that he still has something to say to everyone. Maybe he's more like his Dad than he thinks:)
After scooping the poop we started taking down the camp with the help of Laura Brosius, a friend of ours from Fairbanks who had volunteered along the trail from Whitehorse. She left today with Mark and Kyla and another person wearing a UAF sweatshirt trying to get back to Fairbanks. Looks like a Wild and Free taxi back home.
By the time we had everything taken down and cleaned up it was about 6:00pm and we all came across the ice bridge back into Dawson in seek of food and rest. I tried to write a short update then, but the wireless at the hotel wasn't working for me, and I was too tired and hungry to figure it out. Our jam packed day helping massage the dogs and get Brent ready to leave didn't give us anytime to get more information out to you guys and so I apologize to everyone who was refreshing every five minutes not able to understand why we couldn't say something about what was going on.
After a short nap and some food at the only place still serving anything besides soup at 9:00pm I wandered into Diamond Tooth Gerties the local gambling dance hall that is only open thurs'Fri/Sat in the winter to find much to my surprise that Mark Sass, was not only having a beer at a gambling table but also engaging in a little reckless fun. My money would have been on him drinking a coke and watching others loose their money, but it seems the sleep deprivation got the best of him too, and let to some wreckless gambling one would never imagine out of Mark Sass. I'm sure he didn't loose more than $5.00, in fact with his luck he probably came out ahead. Either way it was good to see him out having fun.
I stumbled home from the bar around 2:00am and slept until noon. Mark, Kyla and the taxi left around 10:00am for Whitehorse. Hopefully they will have a safe trip back to Fairbanks and then up to Circle. For me, I am destined to stay here in Dawson for a few more days. While I am no longer working with the Japanese film crew that I was assisting in Whitehorse, they will remain in Dawson until Yuka Honda leaves tomorrow, and then I and Steven Stoller will drive back the rental as they and Josh Horst fly to Eagle and then into Fairbanks. The road to Whitehorse is extremely icy since it rained about a month ago, so I'm not looking forward to driving back with a snowmachine trailer and two snowmachines in tow. If I can think of anything else to report before I go, I will write another long and drawn out blogging. If anyone has any questions please ask and I will do my best to answer them for you. There is no reason to wonder when you can know.
So to answer Joel Mercier's question about whether or not Brent likes his sled. Brent is using a Prairie Built sled in this years Quest the same as he used last year. While he finds it adequate, he has mentioned that it is wider than he would like and he often finds himself widening the trail and making his dogs work harder. I believe it is his intention to try and have Cody Strathe of Dogpaddle sleds build him a custom sled for next years Quest and other shorter races.
Currently I am having Cody build me a freight sled that I will be able to use for back country trips using some of Brent's retired or yearling dogs.
To add additional comment to Greg's mention of trying to pass Sebastian and his giant mess of hair: During the mushers meeting in Dawson, Sebastian was sitting next to Brent on one side and Martin Buser on the other. When Sebastian sat down, it was his first time seeing Brent since arriving about 25 minutes in front of him into Dawson. When Sebastian arrived he looked tired and declined to give a media interview and just wanted to bed down his dogs. I thought it interesting, but didn't think too much of it. The reason that Sebastian was so tired was because Brent was unknowingly on Sebastians heels all the way into Dawson. Seeing Brent right behind (five minutes or so) Sebastian had to turn off his giant headlamp so Brent couldn't see him and wouldn't (hopefully) be motivated to catch him. So when Sebastian got his seat next to Brent he friendly grumbled something of "you son of a gun, making me kick and pole for 40 miles, damn youngster" to paraphrase him. Brent found it hilarious, and vowed to be doing more of the same as he would be taking off out of Dawson a little more than 40 minutes behind Sebastian because of start time differential. I think Brent is really looking forward to trying to catch and run with Sebastian into Eagle and maybe all the way into Circle.
He seemed a little bummed that Hans Gatt scratched from the race, as I know he really wanted to see how he stacked up to Hans and Lance, and it's somewhat disappointing to not have those guys running. Either way, that won't change his desire, and determination to help bring the Wild and Free kennel to a fantastic finish in hometown Fairbanks.

Leaving Dawson

2009-02-20T09:17:00.002-09:00