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| Bismarck Tribune Talks With Heather | Mon, Mar. 17th, 2008 | |
Bismarck`s Heather Siirtola finishes Iditarod
Mar 17, 2008 - 04:05:05 CDT
By GORDON WEIXEL
Bismarck Tribune
After 14 days, 1 hour and 49 minutes, Heather Siirtola and the Hardcore Husky Team arrived in Nome, Alaska, at 7:49 p.m. CST Sunday, finishing 74th out of the 79 teams remaining in the world`s most famous dog sled race, The Iditarod Trail.
To read the rest of the story CLICK HERE.
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| Heather Talks with KXMB TV Following Iditiarod | Mon, Mar. 17th, 2008 | |
Heather talked with KXMB TV Anchor/Reporter Tracy Fugure in Bismarck, ND shortly after her finish of the 2008 Iditarod. CLICK HERE to see the story.
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| UPDATED- THE HARDCORE TEAM ARRIVES IN NOME! | Sun, Mar. 16th, 2008 | |
Greeted by friends, fellow mushers and well wishers, Heather Siirtola and her team of the mighty eight Hardcore Huskies arrived at the burled arch this evening after 14 days 1 hours and 49 minutes in 74th position; two full days faster than what she completed the race during her inaugural run last year.
“I’m glad to finally get here,” said Heather shortly after her arrival.
Heather said she did not feel the same sense of excitement as she did last year when she completed the race.
“I don’t really know how to explain it, but rather than feeling excited I feel a sense of relief,” Heather says. “This is my job; this is what I want to do. I love it!”
SnoGo, Piggy, Kitty, Dolly, Wyatt, Chewy, Colvin, and of course Fast Eddy! These are the mighty eight who carried Heather the final 500 miles of their journey. These are the true hero’s of the Hardcore Team!
In a bit of irony, some of these dogs were not expected to make it all the way to Nome. SnoGo for example, was someone’s pet that Heather acquired. Last year, while Kitty made it to Nome, she made the last 250 miles by airplane. Chewy is a dog Heather borrowed from a fellow musher near Talkeetna.
“It is surprising to me the dogs that made it and the ones who didn’t,” Heather said. “I learned that I need to get more competitive dogs if I plan to do this again. I ran these about as fast as I could but other teams had much faster dogs.”
But, while not the fastest, these dogs did made it all the way to the end. These mighty eight slogged through snow and ice, up and down hills, over Norton Sound and all the way to the burled arch in Nome.
Heather has now taken her team to the dog yard in Nome, a place where they can get a well deserved rest until they head home to Talkeetna sometime on Tuesday.
Heather and the Hardcore Tem averaged 3.08 mph for the 1122 mile race which is a vast improvement over last years 2.91 mpg.
June 28, 2008 presents the next Hardcore challenge. Will Heather sign up for the 2009 race? We’ll all just have to wait and see.
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| HEATHER & HARDCORE TEAM IN NOME | Sun, Mar. 16th, 2008 | |
After 14 days, 1 hour and 49 minutes, Heather and the Hardcore Husky Team have arrived in Nome this afternoon at 4:49 PM AKDT (8:49 PM EDT). The Hardcore Team finished the 2008 Iditarod two full days faster tahn last year. They finished in 74th position.
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| Next stop…NOME! | Sun, Mar. 16th, 2008 | |
Twenty-two more miles. There’re almost there. Heather can begin to see a vision of the burled arch at the finish line. Friends are waiting for her. But Heather knows, her real friends are the mighty eight who have carried her a long ways; the mighty eight have slogged through snow and ice, up and down hills, over Norton Sound and now to the burled arch in Nome. It was one week ago today Heather’s Team was reduced to the might eight when she left the checkpoint at Ruby. And yet they continued; more than 500 miles they have trudged. And today they arrive at their goal; today the conquer the 2008 Iditarod!
But before we get ahead of ourselves, the Team has one last hurdle; the 22 mile run from Safety to Nome. The Hardcore Team arrived at the Safety checkpoint at 1:06 PM AKED (5:06 EDT). They stayed only 20 minutes and left the Safety Roadhouse for Nome at 1:26 PM AKDT (5:26 PM EDT). This run should take three to four hours, which means Heather and the Hardcore Team should arrive at the finish line around 5 PM AKDT (9 PM EDT), provided Heather doesn’t get lost like she did last year.
When they leave the Safety Roadhouse, The Hardcore Team will run along the Nome-to-Council road for ten miles. The road is not normally plowed, but vehicles may drive on it. In any case it is a major snowmachine route and will be packed flat and wide. There is some apparently permanent road construction as you round Cape Nome, so Heather will need to watch for ditches, berms, and other obstacles. The wind can blow on this stretch, but it will usually be more or less at her back.
Cape Nome is a 675-foot hill on the shoreline. The road hugs its south side at sea level for a mile and then slowly climbs a couple of hundred feet on the west side. A small herd of wild musk oxen forages on top of the cape all winter; if they wander down toward the road Heather’s dogs will certainly let her know.
Depending on snow conditions, Heather may cut off the road a few miles from Safety, angle northwest across the tidal flats west of Safety Sound, and swing around the north side of Cape Nome. This involves a long, slow climb to a 400-foot saddle between Cape Nome and Reindeer Hill; just to the north Heather will have a better chance to see the musk oxen and maybe some caribou if she goes this way. After the saddle they’ll descend back to the road, cutting it a mile or so past the summit of the cape. Whether she takes the road or the back way, they’ll head for the beach just past Cape Nome. From here on the Team’s progress will be closely monitored by the KNOM radio spotter car. Then the trail will angle inland to cross the road twice briefly before heading back to the shore.
In another mile they’ll dip down to cross the Nome River just south of the road bridge. The Nome River is a little more than three miles from the arch. Past the river they’ll be running underneath a sometimes-steep bank. On Heather’s right she’ll see some tall radio towers as well; you’re just about to Fort Davis. Fort Davis Roadhouse on the far side of the road is the beginning of No Man’s Land if you want to start racing with somebody.
The road will be just above the Team on the embankment the rest of the way to Front Street. Finally Heather will swing sharply up the bank and find herself and the Team at the east end of Front Street. The arch is at the far end of the street, half a mile away. Heather will usually have a police escort; hopefully the flashing red and blue lights won’t spook her dogs.
There is usually enough snow to run down the middle of the street, otherwise she’ll have to pick her way along the sidewalk or else just scrape up the asphalt as best you can (but who cares by now anyway?). Finally Heather will pull into the fenced-in chute for the last couple of hundred feet. She will stop your team when her leaders pass under the arch!
CONGRATUALTIONS HEATHER, YOU AND THE MIGHTY EIGHT MEMBERS OF THE HARDCORE TEAM MADE IT!!
Amid congratulations from everyone, the checker will inventory her sled. Then she’ll sign the official race log and Leo Rasmussen will declare her official time!
After she finishes, Heather gets one last run with her team—one block from the arch to the big dog lot at the west end of Front Street, where her dogs will be bedded down and cared for by the volunteer staff until Heather is ready to take them home, which will be sometime tomorrow.
Heather will have to hustle and shower up because the awards banquet at the Nome Civic Center where all the mushers are honored began at 3 PM. At the banquet, in addition to the prize money, some special awards are presented.
Finally, after the banquet, Heather will get some much earned and desired SLEEP!
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