As of 01/15/10, race results from the White Oak Classic Sled Dog Race have now been posted on the following web site:
http://whiteoakclassicsleddograce.com/index.html
This year's race teams were quite fast!
Congratulations to all participants,
and thank you to all
race organizers, volunteers, sponsors and veterinary staff !!!
Here are some of the highlights from the Krystal Kennels perspective:
JOE OBERTON - It was interesting to note that Joe improved his race time by about 8 minutes over last year (2009 race time was 4:17:00), yet he still took last place this year and earned the "red lantern" award! He finished 38 miles in 4:08:56, but the rest of the field of mushers were even faster! He misses his lead dog Donnie very much. Donnie would have made a big difference in this race! Too bad Joe, but we are happy that you and your team finished safe and sound!
MIKE SQUIER - Our musher-trainee from the state of Virginia trained and raced VERY HARD and took 5th place out of 7 among the Big Dog teams. As many of you know, the Big Dog teams run in the same 18-mile Recreational race as the Alaskan Huskies (and sometimes in the 38-mile Trophy race). But this is like a race-within-a-race, because these larger breed dogs (which can be Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamute, Samoyed, or others) are not designed to race with as much speed as the Alaskan Huskies, but are built more for endurance, pulling weight, and generally just looking pretty on the trail. Mike used a team that consisted of almost the same dogs that both Joe and Robin had used during 2006 and 2008, and Mike's race time of 2:33:26 was faster than either of us! He did a lot of footwork and stayed off the sled runners quite a bit, which made it easier for the dogs but harder on Mike. His training served him well, and we are very proud of his performance and his care of the team. We enjoyed working with you Mike, and we hope you created some great mushing memories!
ROBIN OBERTON - Robin was pleased with the performance of her team, as she shaved 5 minutes off of last year's time. Her time this year was 2:06:04 for the 18-mile Rec race, placing her at 14th among a field of 25 teams that finished the race. Her goal had been to finish in the top 10, in less than 2 hours, but lessons were learned in this race that will help to reach that goal next year. Again, this was a very fast field of mushers, and even one of the Big Dog teams beat Robin! Congratulations to Julie Schmelzer who finished in 1:49:23 with her pretty Siberian Huskies!
Thank you to all of our friends and family who were able to attend and cheer us on at the races, and also to those of you who cheered us from afar and sent your greetings and encouragement! Keep your eyes peeled for race photos soon to appear at www.krystalkennels.com!
