Races Over!

As your official race reporter, I declare the 2007 races are now officially closed. Happily all dogs and their humans returned safely and no one suffered any serious injuries (other than a few sprains or bruises). There were a lot of really young dogs that ran the races this year and they all learned a lot - you will see a lot of them in the coming years at the races.

Last night was an interesting evening. The last dogs to cross the U.P. 200 finish line were the youngest pups running the race with their musher called Krister. It was pretty late at night but there were about 50 people waiting outside at the finish line for their arrival in the Marquette Lower Harbor.

After the race, Krister and the other humans patted the dogs, rubbed them down (ohhhhh, that always feels sooo good) and then put them in the dog truck. All the humans looked tired, more tired than the dogs. The humans went inside the building to relax and I could see through the windows that they were gathered around a table, all talking and looking happy. I know they were tired - we dogs immediately curl up in a ball and sleep but the people seem to have trouble relaxing so fast. Anyway, after about four hours, as tired as they were, Krister and more of the mushers returned to the dog box and let out the dogs. The dogs were able to take a little potty break and move those muscles a little. Now isn't that something? I know it was hard for the mushers because they were sleepy. But they still took care of their dogs first. I liked that.

Know what? I can't wait for sled dog season to come around again. Congratulations to the dogs who pulled Tim Calhoun, Don Galloway and Darlene Leafgren in the races this weekend and congratulations to all the dogs who pulled any of the sleds. Now its time for me to get back to my normal lifestyle - I had a LOT of chicks contact me this year - bet they are all cute. I'm also glad football season is over.

See you next year -
Your Pal,



Breakaway

Most Teams Now In

Well pups,

All the Midnight Run dogs are in and so are the Jack Pine 3o. As for me, I'm just hanging out with some of my buds and talking about the race while we wait for the rest of the teams to finish the 200.

This was a pretty good race this year - many of the dog teams had to really race fast at the finish. I've got a picture of some of the Mals who raced in the JP 30 race that I'm going to put up for those of you who didn't get to see the race.

The weather is going to warm up tomorrow. I'm glad we didn't have the race in warm weather because us dogs get too hot to run when its warm out.

Bark at 'ya later,

Breakaway

Deep Snow

Race Update:

I just spoke with Mark & Mary Black's dogs from Black Magic Kennels. They said the snow was so deep going into Grand Marais that it was hard for them to get through. At their home in Minnesota, they are used to running on pretty icy, clear trails so when they had to plow through the deeper snow, they got pretty tired. One of the older female dogs is going to retire after this race. Their musher decided not to continue the race so they are going home.

You know us dogs live "in the moment", so even though the mushers and fans seem to be pretty disappointed about a team withdrawing from the races, for us dogs it just means what's next? Food? A truck ride? Its all good.

Tim Calhoun's dogs are leading the pack. They are running fast with about a 40 minute lead over the other teams.

Boy, this is exciting because there are a lot of teams very close to each other on the trail. I can't wait to see what happens today!

Breakaway

Hay Bales and Dogs

Hey pups,

Last night was a pretty exciting night for many of the teams on the Midnight Run. Congratulations to the dogs who own Don Galloway, they won the race! The dogs who own Sharon Nelson-Curtice came in second and the race times were very close.

I have a little story to tell you about another dog team that was in last place for awhile. You young humans will think this is very funny, but us dogs just see this as normal. You see, on the race course sometimes the humans will place hay bales to help the mushers understand the trail. Many times during the night, dog teams were approaching the hay bales and going around them on different sides. This seemed to frustrate the humans who were there trying to direct the dog teams to go around the bales in a certain way. The last team in the race approached the hay bales and all the humans who were there to help started bracing themselves in preparation for this team to take a wrong turn as so many others had before.

Well let me tell you, these humans were quite surprised when THIS team came up and decided instead of making a decision on which way to turn, they all simply marked the hay bales. When I say marking, I mean the dogs all whizzed on them. This makes perfect sense to us dogs because then we all understand perfectly well who has been there and which way to go. Unfortunately, this team did not finish the race, but the dogs were all happy.

If you haven't had a chance to get out and see some of the dogs, you can catch the Jack Pine 30 mushers finishing here in Marquette early this afternoon. See you later -

Breakaway

RACE DAY!!!

Well, now is the BEST time of year for us sled dogs. We love winter, we love to get attention and we love to get out and run trails ! Yesterday I was in the Race HQ and I got a chance to meet Jay Feely and his children. I liked his children the best, but I've got to tell you that Mr. Feely was pretty impressive himself. His daughter really seemed to like me, and I really liked all of the kids. Kids rock!

Now for the race update: as you know, we've had many teams that withdrew and several changed races. There is one special dog that I must tell you about. Two years ago, a musher named Sara Weik was racing. She had a team of young dogs that didn't understand the rules very well. His name is Tom Tom. Tom Tom was running in lead and having no problems until they went past a man selling hot dogs on the side of the trail. Instead of staying on the trail, Tom Tom and the rest of the dogs went directly up to the hot dog stand, which made their musher pretty frustrated. That was two years ago.

Tonight, Tom Tom will be leading Matt Weik's team. He has learned not to go after hot dogs anymore, but just in case, I wouldn't bring any to the start of the race if I were you guys. More later -

Your bud,

Breakaway

Finally...a Sympathizer

Hello and welcome to the U.P. 200 & Midnight Run Sled Dog Races!

Allow me to officially begin the welcoming process! I am Breakaway, your race reporter for this year. I maintain this Dog Blog to keep my smaller humans informed on race updates. I also like to impress the chicks.

I received a message from a friend who has been reading my Blog, particularly my trials and tribulations with my brother Blueline who is responsible for my head injury. Tim had some encouraging words for me and I want to share them with you:

I feel your pain Breakaway. I also have experienced the humiliation of no hair - at least on my head. It makes winter a challenge as you can see from the the attached picture. Of course the kilt doesn't help either.

Your friend Tim Eichinger.

Well, Tim even sent in a picture. Here it is:

I must admit that I seem to attract some of the most original people who email me.

Now let me make sure that I remind you to keep your fingers crossed that all the dogs who are even now making their way across the country in dog trucks heading up here for the races all arrive safe and sound. Their mushers, too. The Race HQ opened today and Ikey, the HQ Coordinator is on duty now. Things are really going to start heating up now!

I'll keep you posted -

Breakaway

My Grandpaw

WoooHooooo!

Got an email from Grandpaw, here it is:

Dear Breakaway, This is your grandpaw from North Carolina. I really like your comments about Blueline. I only believed half of it. Have a good time. Grandpaw

It is a good thing that on the day Blueline and I played ball, our friend Paulita was there with her camera. Paulita is the race photographer. She takes very good pictures of dogs. Here are several (all of me of course) that show you how we dogs can play ball too.

This is me making a touchdown. (See the look on Blueline's face!) . Of course several of my fans were there to congratulate me (high-five) on making this fabulous run. Paulita did take several pictures that should prove to Grandpaw that my reporting is strictly professional. Us reporters can get in a lot of trouble if we happen to write something that didn't happen or isn't true. Here's another picture of me waiting to catch the ball. This game is all right, but I still don't know how Feely manages to do it all the time. Maybe during the races he can explain that to me.

Well, time is getting close to the races and we've had some changes in the lineup for the Midnight Run. Several of our dog teams have had to drop out of that race. Not sure why. We still have 48 teams registered in the race - that's 384 dogs pulling sleds. If you get a chance to make it to Gwinn on Friday night, be sure and get down there about 5:30 pm to see all the dog trucks and teams anxiously awaiting their turn at the start. For more information on Gwinn, contact the Chamber of Commerce out that way. They have a website (but not a blog) at www.gwinnmi.com.

I think Ikey still has some more of those plush puppies if you still don't have one. You can order them right on line or pick them up at the HQ during the race. I'm looking forward to meeting each of you - see you soon!

Here's a picture of my shaved head. I was just minding my own business and holding the ball something like this when this accident happened. From now on I won't hold the ball for Blueline to try kicking anymore.

Your pal and injured football player,

Breakaway
P.S. You can email me anytime at Breakaway@up200.org.

Bad for me....

Dear Kids,

You aren't going to believe this. I can hardly believe it myself. Of all the luck, just before the race. My brother, who has gotten really carried away with this Jay Feely visit, decided he wanted to try his luck at kicking a football. I know, I know, dogs don't play football, right? Well somebody should tell Blueline that! We were out in the back yard and he was bugging me (like always) to hold onto a football so he could kick it. Now picture this: here I am, trying my best to hold a football between my front paws, and Blueline turns around facing the opposite direction. He backs up to where I'm holding the ball, and with one of his hind legs, lets loose as hard as he can.

He missed the ball. He kicked me right in the head. I had to go to the vet and get a couple of stitches and you aren't going to believe it, but the vet shaved my hair so now I have a little bald spot on the top of my head!!! I'm so mad at that Blueline!

Well at least you won't have any trouble recognizing me at the races - just look for the funny looking Mal with a bald spot. Hmmm, I wonder if the chicks will feel sorry for me?

I got another email that I want to share with you. Here it is:

Hey Breakaway , Did you see the team from New Jersey? Also tell your little brother that Jay Feely may play for the New York Giants but he kicks in New Jersey . New Jersey is representin! See you soon . Your pal from New Jersey

I'll pass that along to the only kicking Malamute in the world. By the way, did you know we have teams coming in from New Jersey for the races? We do. Sled Dog excitement has taken over the U.P. and we are very very excited about the races. See you at the races! I may be wearing a hat, you never know!






Your bud,
Breakaway

Tennessee Mals

WooOooo,

Remember that dog team from Tennessee I was telling you about? Well they sent in a photo of them during their Christmas Parade in Franklin, Tennessee! Take a look for yourselves!

Blueline has been pestering me with facts about Jay Feely's NFL career. Seems Feely has a six year history in the NFL and that he has played for both the Atlanta Falcons and the NY Giants. (Ho-Hum. I'd like to see him pull a fully loaded sled for about 30 miles).

It's snowing here again. I love the snow! There are only 20 MORE DAYS until the start of the U.P. 200 & Midnight Run Sled Dog Races! Hope you're ready! I want to see all of you there!

Your pal and favorite race reporter,

Breakaway

BIG trouble

Hello young humans,

Now that I have posted pictures of Blueline, he is busy studying up on Jay Feely's pro kicking statistics. That leaves me time to work on my Blog. As the race gets closer, I get a lot more mail these days. Lots more people from ALL OVER look at the website and my dog blog. I hope many of them are cute chicks.

You just won't believe the letter I got today. I want you all to see what I have to deal with being a race reporter. Here it is:

Dear Breakaway,

First let me say that I have the Utt-er moooo-st respect for those dogs that try to race and report on the race. With that said, I would like to have the opportunity to BEEF up the race reporting and also enter a team of BEEFed. I think it's time to have a team with some real mooooomeat on their bones pulling first acrossed the finish line instead of those scrawny little mutts that have been. You'll find pictures of moooooo-meeeee and moooooooooo-my team attached. Feel free to include them as possible entries on your web site. Of course, the First place prize would have to change for us to enter along with the senior reporter. You should also know that I pictured alone would be leading the rest of the pictured team. You may not want to let them dogs see our pictures because we are very intimidating to them scrawning little guys, hahaha-Moooooooo.

Browny & the Gang

As if that wasn't bad enough, here is a picture of Browny's team:

If any of you own a herding dog like a collie or an australian shepherd, I wish you would have them email me. Some of these letters are just plain ridiculous! What do you think he means, "the race reporter would have to change!?!"

Ahem, now back to the important stuff: As you know, all the races are full. We have LOTS of new dog teams (not bovine either) coming in for the races for the first time this year. These dogs will be nervous and trying their best to please their mushers. As a reminder, DO NOT bring your pets to the races. Racing dogs need to concentrate on their job, just like you have to concentrate when you are in school.

I want to especially welcome all the new dog teams to the races this year. Do you know that we have a team coming up here from Tennessee to run in the Jack Pine 30? They are malamutes also and their musher said everyone will know they are coming when he yells "gee-y'all, haw-y'all". Reminds me of the movie about the Jamaican Bobsled Team in the Olympics. Be sure and look this team up if you get to watch the Jack Pine 30 this year and welcome them.

Best of luck to all the new teams and see you soon at race headquarters in the Holiday Inn of Marquette.

Love,

Breakaway

My brother

I really didn't want to have to do this, but my brother Blueline has been bugging me to talk about him on my Blog. You see, he is a HUGE football fan and he really thinks Jay Feely from the NY Giants is cool. Matter of fact, when he heard Jay was coming to the races, he wanted me to get his autograph! Anyway, just so I don't have to listen to Blueline whine any more, here are some pictures of him for you to see. As you can tell, we are not exactly alike. I am a race reporter, he is a football fan. I have long hair, he has short hair. My ears stand up straight, his flop over. I am good looking, he is.....well here he is.
Sometimes we get into little disagreements. I usually win though.
We are also expecting the lady who is in charge of the Department of Natural Resources for the whole state to come up for the races as well. I bet she likes dogs.
Gotta run, time for supper. See you at the races!

Snow

Dear kids:

It's snowing here. The weather is starting to feel like winter (at last). I hope it is snowing where you are too!

Love,
Breakaway

Winter is coming...

Dear Kids,

I've been receiving many questions about the weather and if there will be enough snow for the races. The sled dogs have been pulling four-wheelers and all sorts of contraptions to stay in shape, building muscles for the races.

Us Malamutes don't have to work out too much, we're just naturally muscular and "built".

This year we have a full complement of competitors - both races are full with waiting lists for both. My friend the musher Dr. Hunt told me the other day they had cancelled the La Grande Odyssee European sled dog race due to a lack of snow in the French Alps. He's taking his dogs over to the Stage Stop Races in Wyoming, now that's a race where speed counts! I hope my friend Kiwi (Dr. Hunt's lead dog) pulls hard.

GRRRRR! BLUELINE! STOP IT! Sometimes I get into little arguments with my brother, Blueline. He just doesn't understand the responsibility I have working on the races.

I heard from Rory recently too. He's glad I'm still doing a good job. I don't know yet if he will be coming to the races this year or not, but I'll keep you posted.

Us dogs don't worry about the weather, so I'll leave that to you guys, especially you kids. Here in the U.P. they do a little thing called a Heikki Lunta dance. They think this helps it snow. I just don't know. But I'll be here at the races, so leave your pets at home but bring your plush sled dogs if you have been lucky enough to adopt one. Write more later -


Breakaway

Breakaway's Blog!

Hello and welcome to my new supercool DOGBLOG! All us cool dogs have one. I'm the race reporter for the U.P. 200 & Midnight Run Sled Dog Races.

My name is Breakaway, and I'm an Alaskan Malamute with a special feature. My fur is longer than normal so I'm known as a "Wooly" Malamute. This longer fur is very soft and warm so I really like cold weather. I was born in Midland, Michigan but have lived all my 4 years in Marquette, Michigan. My favorite time of year is winter. My owners named me "Breakaway" and my brother "Blueline" because they are big hockey fans. Like most Malamutes, I'm very proud and quite the 'chick magnet'. I also LOVE kids.

Us Malamutes or "Mals" as we are often called, are not fast running race dogs, like the Alaskan and Siberian huskies are. We tend to go slow so people can admire how good we look. My ancesters were used for hauling heavy loads in sleds and they were definitely hard workers.
Can't wait to meet everyone at the Race Headquarters in the Holiday Inn this February! I'll tell you all about the sled dogs who are entered in the U.P. 200 and the Midnight Run sled dog races. But PLEASE - Don't bring your pets to the races. Sled Dogs are very nervous before the race and they need to focus on the race. They even get attitudes!

Uh-oh, I hear another female dog barking for me (told you I was a chick magnet). If you want to leave me a comment or ask me a question, please send me an email at breakaway@up200.org. See you at the races!



Your new Bud,
Breakaway