We are keeping a Journal so our many friends and sponsors can see what's happening as Tom prepares for, and then competes in the 2008 Iditarod. We'll update this page often, so please come back.
| Sunday, March 16, 2008 | |
| It is good to be home! We pulled in the driveway around 10:30 p.m. This afternoon our niece Melinda had put all of the dog barrels in place and gave each one fresh straw to welcome them home. She also returned when we arrived to help get all of the dogs situated. Our 7 day drive home was less eventful than the trip there. I thank the Lord that we are all home safely. We did run into some bad weather and road conditions a couple of days on the Alaska highway. Our second day on the road we stopped about 40 miles short of our planned destination due to heavy snow fall and bad road conditions. It was like someone had drawn a line and as we crossed it we were driving into a big white blanket of snow. I know 40 miles does not sound like a whole lot, but it is when you a driving thru the mountains. We were fortunate to get a room at the Northern Rockies Lodge. After leaving the Alaska highway and getting into the flat prairies, we had dry roads and good weather for the most part of the drive. We did not see as much wildlife on our drive home, but was excited to catch a glimpse of a wolf in Canada. After crossing the border and heading south to Duluth, we had a close call with a deer in the middle of the road. Luckily we were able to avoid hitting it. The first 3 nights we were able to stop and get a hotel room and get a good nights rest. The next night we drove until 4:00 in the morning and got a couple hours of sleep in the truck and was able to drop dogs when we woke up. On Friday night we stopped around midnight and got our sleeping bags out and slept in between the dogs in the aisle of the dog trailer. I have always wanted to do that! We arrived at the training camp on Saturday night. We stayed in the main cabin with the owner and left the next morning around 8:00. After meeting our friends Rick and Geri in Newberry for breakfast we were on the road for home. The only disappointing thing about our last day was that we had both vehicles to drive home. I do believe we woke up the whole neighborhood. The dogs at home went crazy when we pulled into the driveway. They were very excited to see us and the other dogs! | |
| Monday, March 10, 2008 | |
| This will be our last dog drop at the hotel. Up to this point on our trip we have done 67 dog drops with an average of one hour per. We are leaving Anchorage this morning to head home. I cannot say enough to express how great the people have been here in Alaska and at the hotel. Between the manager and the staff it is one big family. Have you ever stayed at a hotel where the manager took you to the store to get some supplies because your husband was sick in bed and she didn't want you to unhook the trailer from the truck to drive yourself - took you out to lunch - took you and your husband out to supper and spends time with you because you just heard that your husband scratched from the Iditarod due to health issues and you have not heard from him. We will be out of cell phone range for a few days, so I will not be able to update the journal. Thanks again for all of your thoughts, prayers and support! Without you all it would not have been possible! What a great adventure and experience it has been! | |
| Sunday, March 9, 2008 | |
| It is now Sunday afternoon and we are finalizing plans and packing for our trip back home as we will leave early Monday morning. It is always tough to leave Alaska! Especially this year when I thought completing the Iditarod should not have been a problem. Brenda is typing this as I convey my thoughts. First off we would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and support that they have shown us thru this project. Without the support of family, friends and fans these kind of adventures would rarely happen. I am sure a lot of you are wondering how an Iditarod can come to such a quick end after all of the hard work and training that goes into something of this magnitude. Years ago as I started researching the Iditarod I myself would question the early scratches and would say how does that happen? Let me explain... Leaving the training camp on Monday, February 18th from Michigan, all seemed well and good. We did leave in a snow storm and traveling was slow and as we crossed the Canadian border we had our accident which put us behind a whole day and of course more financial expense with repairs. Whether it was the long exposure to the brutal weather as I worked on the truck and trailer, but by the 21st I could feel an upper resporitory infection coming on. Because of last springs bout with pneumonia I immediately started on antibiotics. By the time we arrived in Anchorage not only was I fighting that, but also a head cold and the flu and was in bed for two days. Thank goodness for Brenda who was also suffering from a cold and bruised ribs from a fall and my sister Gayle who flew in from Florida with nursing and dog handling expertise. As the two of them put on their management hats they took charge and cared for the team and myself. The banquet on Thursday the 28th was great as my flu symptons were pretty much gone, but my chest cold continued to hang on. We still thought it was best not to do any dog training, but to get as much rest as possible. The ceremonial start on March 1st was only a 11 mile run. But I realized I was in trouble even at that point. The dogs did not run well and I am assuming the 16 day layoff may have hurt them. I myself struggled on a short uphill run as I got off the sled to help the dogs. The tightness in my chest confirmed how I was feeling and I was afraid of pneumonia rearing its ugly head again. Sunday March 2nd - the real start at Willow. Everything looked good and we got out of the starting chute around 5:10. The first run to Yentna took me approximately 4.5 hours and was open river running with only a few technical areas to be concerned about, but the temperature was mild. I did have one dog (Arrow) showing signs of struggling three quarters of the way into the run, as his tug line went slack and his gait noticably changed. I stopped off to let him bite snow and to try to get rehydrated thinking that was the problem. Not yet realizing it was the Alaskan virus that would really show up at Fingerlakes. With a six hour rest and a feeding/brothing at Yentna and no sleep for myself, we were back on the river by 3:00 heading for Skwentna. Another fairly flat run, but with a poorly marked trail always causes a stressful situation for rookie mushers. During this run Arrow seemed to do fine, but I had one other dog (Only) that had the same symptons. I arrived at Skwentna in the light of the early morning and immediately asked for a vet to check my team for dehydration. Also Sunny was suffering from a sore wrist. I decided to stay for a 7 hour rest trying to make sure I could get plenty of liquids into the dogs. By this time my nose was running full tilt and my chest was getting tighter. I am sure sucking in the cold air and the physical work of driving the sled was not helping my condition. The dogs rested well and I did not and again no sleep for me. Had a minor dog fight that left a puncture wound in Only's wrist. A final check by the vets gave my dogs the okay to move ahead. I left Skwentna at 2:45 p.m. knowing a 7 hour run may be in store. A gradual climb and tough trail conditions lie ahead for the next 45 miles. I would only see one other musher during this run and the steady hard snowfall the last 3 hours made for an interesting journey. Half way into the run 007 was also showing signs of faultering, he ran with a very loose tug and I could tell he was struggling. I was hoping very much not to bag a dog as my sled already seemed to be at its limits, but was prepared to do so if necessary. We as mushers are prepared and are required to carry a sick or injured dog. It is just not fun. I slowed the team down to check on him and gave him a pep talk and watched him carefully as he toughed out the next 3 hours. The virus would should up in him at Fingerlakes. Approaching Fingerlakes checkpoint there was a question in the trail marking. My dogs could sense the checkpoint across the lake and there were signs of other mushers had taken that trail. I knew the trail ran to the left around the lake, which was a long ways and was going to be a struggle getting my team back to the right trail thru over 3 feet of deep snow. That struggle of getting the dogs back on trail seemed to be the final straw. As my breathing became quite labored and coughing was almost nonstop. I arrived at the checkpoint around 9:30 p.m. not a happy camper as the snow continued to poor down I went about doing my dog chores and not feeling very confident about moving on. But I knew I should sleep on it and make a decision in the a.m. My plan was to leave early dawn and run the steps in the daylight. This should have given me a good 8 to 9 hours of rest. After caring for the dogs I was hoping to get some sleep in the mushers tent, but that was full so I threw some straw down next to my sled laid down and put a tarp over me to shelter me from the heavy snow fall. Sleep would not come as mushers around me were bringing their dogs up for a night run. I finally found space in the mushers tent around 2:00 a.m. - I was now pushing 50 hours without any sleep and was pretty sure that this was the final checkpoint for me. I was able to get 3 hours of sleep, woke up feeling terrible and made the decision to scratch. Checking on my dogs before the making the final call I found I would have had to drop 5 dogs - Sunny & Only for wrist injuries, Arrow, 007 and Muldar for dehydration due to the virus. That still would have given me 9 good dogs to move ahead, but it was my health that was the biggest concern for scratching, not the dogs. Due to a snow storm of 18 inches we were stranded at the checkpoint for 2 1/2 days before being flown out. | |
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Tom & Brenda Roig; 9705 Valley
Road; Shreve, Ohio 44676 USA