Pasviktrail 2018

I was seriously considering to withdraw a couple of days before the start. Jenna was injured and not fit to race, Loke had a rough time after the last race with this unpleasent infection and some frostbite in a place were no man want this to happen. The mood was not at its best after lots of new snow and lots of trailbreaking. It looked like tired only in their heads, not in their bodies, so we did start. Best decision ever.

The mood was good, the speed during the first leg quite high and Loke was performing above average. He was the biggest surprise, because he kept his attitude until the end. He was the dog that made the difference in the end. With his input he helped a lot pulling us over the finishline as team number 2. I'm so proud of the dogs, especially the old man. A worthy last race before retirement.

The trails were slow and heavy, at least the temperatures were fitting, cold during the nights and not too warm during the days.

Isbjørn couldn't keep up with the rest of the team. She wasn't working so much at all and towards the end she couldn't concentrate anymore and git tipsy and clumsy. Fell off the trail sometimes into the deep snow. So I dropped her before we went out for the last leg. The risk having her in the sled was too high. But her behaviour in the checkpoints was very good. She was very hungry and rested well.

Lava, the second rookie in the team, was surprisingly good. He is not the heavy worker as his father is, but he contributed from beginning til the end and I have never seen a dog with such a good appetite in the checkpoints. He was almost eating his foodbowl as well as the food inside.

Emil and Schwester were leading most of the race. Schwester is just born to be a race dog. Only things she has to improve are appetite and better resting. But I guess for the shorter races it's not so much of a problem.

Milka was in her race-mode in the beginning and in the end. That's just to enjoy.

Marabou was leading the first leg and doing a very good job. But for the maountains I needed his power in the back and after a while he offered a deal: Taking it a bit easy on the easy parts and working his ass off uphill. I'm more than ok with that.

So we did a good job during the training, no one was injured or bad in the stomach. At the end of the season the dogs showed what they're capable of. Especially considering that I'm using the same runners on the sled for years now and they are definitely rubbish. Note to myself... I have to fix that!

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