ATAO has officially been around for a year and some change now. We have a great team ready and raring to go, and we’re excited to be aiming for one of my favorite races, the Copper Basin 300. We have a lot to do but we are super ready to dive in.
Also, you may have noticed some big changes (honestly how could you not???). We bought a house! We are building ATAO and home from the ground up. We’re getting married next summer! Life is super exciting and full right now. We owe all of this to the community and families who support us and back us… And of course to all of you who follow along and are willing to throw your hats in the ring with us as we make ONWARD a thing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We are so lucky to be here.
Here’s some updates about what to expect in the next couple of weeks!
I extended my stay in Minneapolis to spend time with some folks who are super important to me. I’ll be back at ATAO early in the morning of September 7th, and I’ll be jumping onto a fourwheeler at 5 or 6 am, behind the best 14 dogs in the world, to start the training season! On about a weekly basis, I’ll be broadcasting both live tracking of my training runs and live videos via Patreon— If you want to check out our runs and the livestreams, to get a real inside look at how training works, you can become a Patron and follow along there!
Shawn is returning to ATAO ahead of me, and they’ll be filming our August Buddy Bonanza– Where we draw from our roster of Buddies (The Buddy Brigade!!!)(All the Alliteration!), and the human + dog Buddy combo who wins gets a prize and a treat on camera. So look for that video– It’ll come out probably next week! You can Be a Buddy to follow along with your very favorite ATAO teammate(s) and, be entered in the Buddy Bonanza monthly drawing!
We’ll be filming the August Dress a Dog Day (where Rogue will be dressed as ME???) once I get back. We’ll do a quick turnaround for the next Dress a Dog Day suggestion and voting period for September! Start cooking up those ideas!
We’ll keep up our pictures, videos, and updates on our social media platforms per usual as the training season kicks off. If you haven’t checked out our other platforms, make sure to go have a look. We do fun and different stuff on each. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat! Whoa!!! Such trendsetters…
Finally, as we dig into training, we’ll be digging into the fundraising. YAY FUNDRAISING. Actually, I so hate fundraising. Asking for money sucks, especially when you are doing something so ultimately selfish-seeming. Here’s the thing– We’re gonna get to the Copper Basin, if that means cutting off my hair and selling it (okay that might not work). ATAO– and going Onward– means following a goal and completing it. And that’s challenging and tricky and a lot of things, especially juggling against the whole mindgame of mental health issues. But we are heading that way with determination and conviction and belief in our ability to do it. The money thing… Yeah it is what it is. We’re really privileged and lucky to be doing this at all– And incredibly grateful for all the support we are getting already. What we hope is that we bring a little joy and possibly some epic-ness into your lives in return. If we don’t raise another dime, so be it, and we’ll make it happen. We’re doing this. But! If you do wanna back us on our way, you can throw a couple bucks towards our Copper Basin 300 fund. It’ll go towards expenses like super high calorie meat and kibble to power the dogs, funds to repair and prep the truck to get to the race and around the course, our entry fee, equipment needs (like sled repairs), and all the other tiny (and not so tiny) expenses that pop up along the way. Here’s where you can contribute if you wanna be part of this effort!
Mostly, and always, we need to just extend our deep gratitude. That we get to live a life in the woods, with dogs. We are beyond lucky to do this– and we are really happy to share it with you. We hope you like following along as much as we love living it.
The road goes ever onward, and so do we.
Here we go.
(You know what to say.)
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