First Race = First Place!

Uphill approach to the finish line...

Max, Zorro & I entered Breckenridge DogTerra on Sunday.

Our First Race - Our first First Place!!!!!


I was convinced we did not place first for 3 reasons:

(1) First draw - we were first out of the starting gates (the race runs as a staggered start). Any musher knows you do not want "first draw" on your first rookie race. Instead of shooting out of the starting gate, Zorro did a "sideways start" - looking back at the crowd behind.
(2) Where's the race trail? Once we got going, nobody was going to pass us... But, the route was not well marked; we had to slow down to clarify directions with one of the race officials - then everyone behind us knew the route by following us without any slowdown.
(3) No "Zorro carrot" - I really wanted a fast racer to be the draw in front of us. Put another team in front of us and Zorro will focus on nothing but catching the team ahead - nobody can out run us from the front! But, we were the front...

Despite all these concerns... our First Race was our first First Place!!!!! Max & Zorro did exceptional, especially for a first race - we are ready to take on the professional skijor circuit in the 2011/2012 winter (there are no Colorado skijor races left in this 2010/2011 season :-(

Additions for our season stats: 5.4 miles (short warmup lap, actual race lap, short victory lap). Winning race time: 6 minutes, 24 seconds. Fun, Fun, Fun!

Zoomed out view of our uphill approach to the finish line.