The Final Stretch

Looking back through pictures, I am flabbergasted to find that the winter has carried forward like a steam engine, and our race is almost here. WOW.

You may have noticed that I have cut back my presence on social media. As the year winds down, I am focusing more on training, keeping my mental health at some sort of level, and of course, keeping those doggos happy! We’ve had a few things crop up. I’ll share a bit more soon, but we have a couple minor vet things we’re making sure are nothing. We’re getting Todd the Truck fixed up before the race, so that he’s actually drivable. He’s an old truck so you can imagine there’s quite a bit to do… However they say “steering” and “braking” are important details when driving… I dunno… Anyway, suffice to say, in mushing (and life!) unexpected expenses will crop up!

We could not have made it to where we are AT ALL without all of the amazing support so many have already given. This is part of what drives me forward, even when it’s mentally hard. I always knew but I never fully understood how much dog racing is not at all a solo sport. The ATAO team is huge and you are part of it, whether you’ve just read along, or liked a few posts, or supported us as a Sponsor, Buddy, or Founder. The team stretches around the world. These athletes give smiles to people far and wide, and I’m lucky enough to get to be the steward of those good dogs. Now we have to go do a big step on the way to running Iditarod. The Copper Basin!

We have some things to accomplish to make the final push to the Copper Basin. Though the CB300 is a smaller race, there’s a couple things we need to have ready to run. The biggest of these are:

Gas, food, and gear! We need diesel to get the old truck Todd around the track, and we need food to get the humans (especially the handlers– more about them soon!) around the track. We have almost everything we need to keep the canines happy… Next we gotta feed the truck and two leggers. Also, we really want to grab some extra items for the doggos. We need a couple more harnesses (these yearlings keep growing!), and some newer gangline! Here’s the breakdown.

• Todd guzzles diesel and costs about $100+ to fill up. We’ll be driving about 1,000 miles for this adventure! You can imagine a giant F350 with a LOT of weight on the back doesn’t get great mileage. If you are so inclined, you can sponsor a tank of gas for Todd!
• It would be grand to be able to feed the human crew a couple of square meals. We will have a handler + musher crew of 3 for about a week. The handlers will working hard and will need a hot dish of food now and then. If you want to keep the people going, you can sponsor a people meal!
• The mushers and handlers will all be awake for about 3 days solid. Want to spring for a Cup o Joe or a Bag o Chips? Sponsor coffee or snacks!
• Finally, there are a ton of odds and ends we need to finalize before the race for the dogs gear wise. Thanks to all of your amazing sponsorship, we have food, booties, and the other basics all ready for the crew. We’d love to make sure we have a few other things, like good camp bowls, a new section of gangline or two, and a couple new harnesses! If you want to spot the dogs some gear, you can sponsor some backup gear!

The holiday season is busy and pretty overwhelming, and we totally get it if an extra sponsorship is not in the cards for you. If you are so inclined, give this post a share or like on your favorite social media platform. Again, hell or high water is not going to stop us from getting to this race– we’re going to make it and do our very best. Your love is felt from way up here in all its many forms. Thank you for being a huge part of why we continue to go–

Onward.

Happy winter, all.

-ATAO