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Mark & Karen
Ramstead
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North Wapiti Siberian Husky Kennels
Iditarod 2003 - Tales from the Trail

April 10, 2003

Some of you were interested in my reply to the Strathcona-Tweedsmuir class - so here it is.

Dear 6B Class,

Thank you for your wonderful letter. Boy, you guys did a lot of work in analyzing the data from the race. I would like to see the calculations you did, as some may come in handy for my next year's race planning. 

I'm going to answer some of your question here, but Chester and I would like to come down and answer most of them in person (and dog) for you. I will be working with Ms. Duncan-Moore to see when we can arrange that. 

I did plan out my strategies for the Race, but with so many changes to the trail, it was very hard. I ended up having to change them a lot as we went along. For example, I planned my 24 break for something like 4 different spots and ended up taking it somewhere that I hadn't really planned on! But in the end I thought it worked very well to take it in Galena and was happy with my decision.

The dogs and I are doing fine. I was sick for quite awhile after getting home, but am feeling pretty much back to normal now. The dogs got back running yesterday and, boy, are they happy about that! 

The dogs did wonderful on the trail. I was very, very pleased with them. And, no, they were so strong this year that I couldn't have kept up running with them this year. Although I did 'pedal' some to help out.

Other then the burns on my hand (which are all healed now) and the illness, I didn't have much trouble on the trail at all. It was a fun Race!

The dogs that I dropped this year were due to injuries. Kaylinn was dropped in Tanana because of a sore shoulder; Nik was dropped in Ruby because of a sore shoulder; Olena was dropped in Nulato because she hurt her bicep muscle; Loki was dropped in Grayling because of sore feet; and Squeaky in Anvik because of sore shoulder muscles after he slipped on some ice. 
All are fine now and back running! 

Thanks again for taking the time to follow our Race and for writing. Chester and I look forward to visiting with you all some day soon! 

Your friend,
Karen Ramstead

Karen's Diary


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