4 Mar 2023

Episode 10: Ski Pole

It’s Iditarod time! A mere two years after I started this project, the next installment is in. We’re almost to the halfway point! In this episode I talk about where I rested (in the last episode the debate was between … Read More

Shawn, wearing a headlamp, takes a selfie with a team of excited sled dogs in harness barking and ready to run
7 Dec 2022

Solstice Shawn!

Happy (Soon to be) Solstice from ATAO Kennel! Once upon a 2017 December Mr. Billy Tro ran ATAO’s first Solstice race with the kennel’s OG team of 7! Well kind of. Bonnie, Egret, Ophelia, Annie, Nala, and a friend’s pair … Read More
21 Mar 2021

Success

In the summer of the year 2000, I sat nervously in the passenger seat of Martin Buser’s dog truck. The boxes in the back were new, and my brother and Martin’s two sons wanted to ride in the boxes. Test … Read More
15 Jan 2021

Copper Basin 2021 Race Recap

Somehow, Christmas passed, 2020 passed, and January was upon us. I did not feel ready, but in this training season, I had come to accept that I would never actually feel ready for much of anything. Shawn, Sam, and I … Read More
6 Sep 2020

Mr. R2

We have some important news about Mr. R2: he’s heading to a life of couchy goodness. I thought I better get that out of the way first off, so no one thought the worst. You probably know that R2 was … Read More
22 Jun 2020

Let’s Go

My road to Iditarod has involved a lot of false starts. I was given options to run with various teams– But I always declined, because I knew it would break my heart to run a team that I’d have to … Read More
7 Jan 2020

Evaluation

I will not be running the Copper Basin 300 this year. I am heartbroken about it. On Sunday and Sunday evening, I took the dogs out for an evaluative run. We did a short first leg. It was cold, and … Read More
2 Jan 2020

Obstacles and Goals

We’ve had a hell of a season so far. Some of it great, some of it not so great. I know it’s old news, but it does still boggle me how much of a wrench that porcupine threw in things. … Read More
25 Dec 2019

The Longest Night – Solstice 2019 Recap

A few days before the start of the Solstice, a friend mentioned that it didn’t look like I was signed up to race. “Yes I am!” I said indignantly. “They must have made a mistake.” I was, of course, supremely … Read More
4 Oct 2019

Quilliam

Here’s a follow up to the misadventures of the last few days. Yesterday, the ten remaining dogs who were on the Sept 30th team went to the vet. Huge shout out to North Pole Veterinary Hospital for being thorough and … Read More

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