By Lynn Orbison

ADMA hosted the first of two races at Chena Lakes as a benefit for The

Shelter Fund, a nonprofit organization which supports the work of the FNSB

Animal Shelter.

A glorious day of fun was had by all. The race marshal posted the second

fastest time in the 10-dog class. (Hey, you wanna report the results, you

make up the lead!) But actually, I do believe that is unprecidented...in a

real race I would have probably had to DQ myself! But then, a lot of what

when on today was rather unique. Thanks to all for playing.

There were nine entries in the 4-dog class, 13 entries in the 6-dog class

and five entries in the 10-dog class. (Two of them double sledding.)

The Europeans discovered why one should never train from the Public Parking

Lot at Chena Lakes, but rather train from the holding area as every one of

Christian's teams, and Wolfs, and a few others, ran straight across the

start chute in an attempt to climb into the truck where the PA system was

set up...some time lost by all of them but our spectators and volunteers

learned to become more of a human wall to guide the teams to stay on the

trail. We moved the finish line to the crest of the hill for the 10-dog,

and shall keep it there tomorrow for all classes.

To make the tabs fit right I use the following abbreviations:

OFT = Official Finish Time

Pup = puppy division points

Mat = matched sets points

TE = time estimate points

S = shelter points

AARP = AARP division points

B = Bonus Points (for playing well with others)

L = Lead Dog Challenge points

Bonus points were awarded for such things as:

Passing or being passed

Helping with set-up or clean-up

Maximizing in any division

Impressive shows of strength, stamina or spirit (that would be Scott

Campbell RUNNING behind his team all the way over the finish line and half

way to the holding area)

Or convincing your second sledder to wear a matching orange hat.

We'll be doing another round of this chaos tomorrow at Chena Lakes. There

were no skijorers there today, but the fun race may have kept them away. If

there is enough interest we'll run a short 1 dog event (1 mile) in addition

to a 2-dog 4.5 mile tagged on after the sled teams and the regular 6.5 mile

2-dog after the sled teams.

There were also no passenger entries. If we get some, we'll do that. Those

who ran today can race again without the $30 entry fee...we'll do it on a

buy one day, get one free basis. Although you are all encourage to cough up

another $5 for the Lead Dog Challenge and soak up some bonus points for the

overall prizes! Remember, it's a REALLY good cause, and we have the BIG

prizes still to award.

4-dog class should start at Noon. Skijorers going short may run at 11:30 if

we have any. The rest, well, we'll just sort of play it by ear.

I haven't calculated how much money we took in, or the points by person,

I'll do that next. Thanks to all for coming. The trail was marvelous, the

company exceptional. These were your race officials:

Race Marshal/Announcer: Lynn Orbison

Turnaround Marshal: Chris Jenkins, FNSB Parks and Rec

Timers: Sally Zundel and Kathy Christman Shiler

TE guy: Roger Hocking

Matching gal: golly, I don't even know her name! Mary I think, one of the

Eielson volunteers.

Spotter/Chute Judge: Judy Cooper

Go-fer/Lead Dog Supervisors: Ray and Jacob Pulsifer

Tech Support: Ben the army guy and Brett the park guy, and Pete Van Nort

for sound advice.

Set-up and Take-down: Kelley Wemark

Hospitality: Ronnie Rosenberg, The Shelter Fund

Prizes donated by:

Dogtec, LLC

Williams Alaska Petroleum

Aurora Animal Clinic

Raven Veterinary

Chena Ridge Veterinary

Annamaet Petfoods/Grubstake Feeds

49er Feeds

Cold Spot Feeds

Alaska Feed Company

Tiaga Mushing Supply

Two Rivers Lodge

Jane Hocking

Rick Swenson

John Schandelmeier

Judy Cooper

KUAC-FM

...sorry if I forgot anyone, my mind is done for the day...

And rumor has it there are more prizes coming...so come out and play!