February 3rd, 2004

COUNTDOWN TO IDITAROD BEGINS

EDITOR'S NOTE: Read more about this kennel on the USA Today website. 

NEWBERRY -   With the start of the 2005 Iditarod less than one month away, preparations for the “Last Great Race” are underway for two Iditarod mushers at one Upper Peninsula sled dog kennel. Over 3,500 pounds of gear left the small town of Newberry this week and is in the process of being transported by truck to Seattle, Washington, where it will be sent by barge to Anchorage, Alaska, and then distributed along the Iditarod trail to 20 checkpoints along the 1,100 mile route.

    “We use a complex system comprised of the U.S. Postal Service, several commercial air carriers and the Iditarod Air Force to get everything out to the checkpoints along with snow machines, pick-up trucks, and lots of manpower. We make every effort to keep it frozen and secure but with 75 tons of supplies scattered across more than a thousand miles of Alaska for up to a month it’s often a challenge. It would take me longer to explain it, than it does to actually ship it but it’s a good system that’s worked for many years.” says Iditarod Race Manager Jack Niggemyer.

    Mushers are required to send in at least 60 pounds of gear per checkpoint. For Ed Stielstra and Andrew Letzring, both mushers from Nature’s Kennel in McMillan MI, that gear consists of things for both dogs and mushers, such as: 90 pair of gloves, 26 sets of lithium batteries, 80 Capri-Sun drinks, 40 glove liners, 160 hand warmers, 40 neck gaiters, 38 pounds of "people food", 12 pair of underwear, 40 packages of Kleenex, 8 pair of sunglasses, 20 disposable cameras, 24 pairs of socks, and 12 containers of chap stick, 1300 pounds of beef, 1100 pounds of dry dog food, 2500 dog booties, 70 pounds of pork, and 88 pounds of lamb.

     “Me and my dogs are both rookies and will be learning as we go.  I’m not concerned about being one of the youngest mushers in the field because I have a good dog team and I’m up for the challenge,” says Letzring.

    Ed and Andrew both train from the Stielstra’s home near Newberry in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.  The dogs are on a rigorous training schedule which includes both running and resting days. 

     “Anything we may need for the 10 to 13 day race is put into those bags. If we don’t have it packed now, we won’t be able to use it,” says Stielstra.

     “I’m most concerned about the frozen items staying cold in transit. The boxes that the supplies are shipped in are insulated, but the warm weather forecasted for the next few days is making me nervous. It’d be pretty discouraging to open meat along the trail and find that it has spoiled.”

    Stielstra and Letzring, along with 3 of their handlers and 32 dogs will not begin their drive to Alaska until the end of February. For the remainder of February, the men will continue to train their dog teams by doing a series of campouts and extended training runs. In addition, Nature’s Kennel will field three teams in Marquette’s UP 200 race to begin on February 18th. “It’s the last, and most exciting training run of the year,” says Stielstra’s wife, Tasha, “it like a mini-Iditarod with two campouts during the race instead of twenty!”

The 18th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race begins March 5 th in downtown Anchorage, where Ed and Andrew will be two of over eighty teams embarking on the journey of a lifetime…and looking for all those precious supply bags that are waiting for them on the trail to Nome!

To follow the Iditarod adventures of Ed Stielstra and Andrew Letzring of Nature’s Kennel Sled Dog Racing, contact www.natureskennel.com or www.iditarod.com.

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