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| Racing for My Mom | Sun, Jan. 23rd, 2011 | |
On January 13th Heather lost her mother after a twenty year battle with cancer. Heather has decided that she will dedicate this year’s race to her mom, Deb.
“I will run the race with my mother in my heart, knowing that she tirelessly fought her illness, to stay with us as long as she could,” said Heather. “When I feel the urge to rest a bit longer than I should I will use my mother’s spirit to help me move down the trail.”
In addition to carrying the spirit of her mother Heather will also have one of her dogs Lyra wearing a special patch in honor of Dawn Wilson’s beloved dog Dakota.
The economy is having a negative impact on donations this year. However in recent months I have received donations from the following people: Michael Vauhgn, Carolyn Reitter, Carol Bloodworth, John and Gail Zidalis, and my grandmother Dorothy Phillips.
Heather says she has also been getting a lot of support from my neighbor, Jason Stewart with feeding and folding booties and chopping meat.
The Hardcore Team has a new dog handler who recently arrived at the kennel. His name is Blake, so the Hardcore Team is hitting a higher gear here. Heather reports the dogs are doing awesome!
Training is consistent. They ran the other night for 5 hours in 20 below weather and then rested for 3 hours and then ran home, which took another 3 hours. The dogs ate well, and rested well.
“They all were wagging their tails after the eight hour run, so it looks like things might be shaping up for us,” said Heather.
Heather’s two helpers, Blake and Jason have been a huge help to the Hardcore Team and very dedicated. Jason took Earp down to Susan Whiton to get chiropractive therapy, along with acupuncture, to relieve some back tension. Heather says it definitely has loosened him up.
Blake and Jason have been cutting up the lamb meat that the Hardcore Team will be using for the Iditarod. They take the meat to Al Werenberg`s house to use his band saw, and cut up beaver, fish, and turkey skins. Beef will be the final cut. Once the meat is done Heather says they move onto booties, powdering them with Gold Bond, to keep the dogs feet nice and dry.
“There are over a 1,000 pair of booties to powder and fold,” says Heather. “Anyone want to come Alaska and help?”
Heather says the hardcore Team is still hoping for donations. The Team still needs to purchase the dog kibble and the beef for the race along with two tubs of human grade lard, which keeps fat on the dogs in cold temps; human grade chicken, which will keep in warmer temps better than the dog grade of chicken, which could be prone to salmonella. Finally they also need to purchase lithium batteries for Heather’s headlamp, and five new dog harnesses.
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| Thanks to our recent sponsors | Thu, Nov. 18th, 2010 | |
I finally made it to the post office and found that Jason Siirtola, Ann Vollmer, and Jan Weismantel had sent donations. We really appreciate your generous contributions to our 2011 Iditarod race.Thank you.
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| Waiting for colder weather | Thu, Nov. 18th, 2010 | |
It has snowed more, we are just waiting for the swamps and lakes to "set up." It has been warm and snowing for a couple of weeks now, so it hasn`t been cold enough for the water to freeze consistantly to run the dogs on....yet. Good news though, I just heard from a close pal that he put a nice trail in on one lakes, it looks like sledding season is here!!
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| Siirtola to return to Iditarod | Mon, Nov. 8th, 2010 | |
By BRIAN GEHRING Bismarck Tribune | Posted: Monday, November 8, 2010 2:00 am
Bismarck native Heather Siirtola will be be in the running in next year’s Iditarod sled dog race after sitting it out this year.
The 1,150-mile trek gets under way March 5 and Siirtola will have something new in her arsenal.
`This year is really exciting, because my first litter I raised from birth is on the team,” Siirtola said.
“I have been having fun with them and can`t wait to see how they do this year. I will definitely be doing a couple of races before the Iditarod to prep them.”
She said so far they have been doing training with a four-wheel because of the lack of snow and have been working on extending mileage as part of the training.
The 33-year-old did not compete this year for a number of reasons after running the three previous races.
Siirtola moved her kennel, Hardcore Huskies, to her new home near Talkeetna, Alaska.
She said the year off also helped her reflect on her previous efforts.
“I’m happy with finishing all three races ... but I would like to finish in few days and in a higher ranking,” she said.
In her last Iditarod, Siirtola finished 37th in a field of 67 teams in 15 days, 11 hours and 35 minutes.
“I have my own home now so this has helped make things a lot more efficient for training,” Siirtola said.
“So far things are feeling good for our race season.”
You can follow Siirtola and her team by visiting www.hardcorehuskies.com
(Reach reporter Brian Gehring 701-250-8254 or brian.gehring@bismarcktribune.com.)
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| SNOW!! | Thu, Oct. 28th, 2010 | |
Greetings from Alaska! We have gotten a few inches of snow! Not quite enough for training on sleds, but it`s getting us excited for the winter to come.
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