2011 Beargrease Mid-Distance Champions! Beargrease 2011, our second win out of 4 races, was one of my greatest sled dog racing experiences. Everything leading up to and through the race was wonderful. Thad and I spent the weekend before training the dogs in Lincoln, MT working out final configurations of our teams, hanging out with Doug and Greg strategizing about running the race. Picked up Jeremy Gebauer on the way to Duluth on Monday (somehow I convinced him to take a week vacation to help us run the race). Did a couple training runs and camped overnight in Iron River, WI. Hung out with friends and drank beer at Lake Superior Brewery, and ate several breakfasts at the Duluth Grill. The race went smooth with very few minor mistakes. The dogs ran great and managing the team seemed effortless. Very proud to have 4 Beargrease finishes with zero injuries and zero dropped dogs! Its incredible to have all of the work that you put into your team over the past 6-9 months pay off and make it look easy. The old guard on my team - Fosters (7), Kryptonite (6), and Carter (5) - were the top dogs on the team along with rookie racer Bigwig (2). * Fosters - 6th season on the team, led 2nd leg with Hondo. * Kryptonite - 5th season on the team, led 1st and 3rd legs with Bigwig. * Carter - 4th season on the team, ran in swing and team. * Bigwig - 2 year old and first race ever, ran lead 1st and 3rd legs and wheel in the 2nd leg. * Slider - Kryptonite's brother ran swing and wheel. Awesome accomplished sled dog! * Hondo - Ran team, lead, and wheel. Hondo and Fosters set the pace leading the second leg to put the competition away. Led the team to a 15 minute lead leaving the last checkpoint. * Phantom - Ran wheel and swing. He was fired up and cheerleading for most of the last leg. * Houlihan - The only female on the team, she ran wheel, swing, and team. Solid contributor throughout the race. Special thanks to Jeremy, Luke, Thad, Doug, Melanie, Greg, Troy, Ross, Joann and Larry and everybody else who contributed to making this a great time!