A teacher in the Iditarod?  How do you afford that? 

This is a question that I receive a lot from other kennel owners.

Very generous sponsors.  I could never do this without all of those that help out.  From gear to cash, this thing is expensive.   I pitch in a lot myself, but it took over $25,000 to organize and run the puppy team this year.   I always tell my wife Candida (when our bank statement comes in and we are overdrawn from my last desperate purchase of lithium batteries before the race), “Hey, it could be worse.  I could have gone out and bought another $500 vehicle to add to the yard.”

Thanks to everyone who made it possible this year….  Windy City Arts, Nature's Kennel, Howling Husky Homestead Tours, Clark Gerhardt Family, Tim Semones Family, Jake Peters Family, Jerry Flynt Family, Tom Swift Family, Jim McDermott, Dick York Auto & Towing, Dennis Stitt and the Camas County Mushers, Shannon McLimmons, Sturgeon Bay Model Shop, The Herbst family, Janet Shelfer (author of TAKU), Sue Morgan, Dr. Richard MacAuley, Parents and Students at school, The Polk family!

Next year we have an even more ambitious program in mind, stay tuned. 

Newton Marshall may be onto something.  Newton as many of you know, was the first Iditarod finisher from Jamaica, he ran this year’s race.  He is a great guy and I had the chance to travel down the trail with him.  Newton is sponsored by Jimmy Buffet.  This is a marriage made in heaven for both of them.  If anything, they both had a great laugh and a lot of fun over the entire project that they both embarked on.  I have a lot of respect for that.

Jamaican musher Newton Marshall

Thus my brain is ticking.  I’m thinking that ZZ TOP is in the need to sponsor a dogsled team and I know just the musher with the beard to fit the brand.  So if ZZ TOP is out there reading this very popular blog, please contact us and let’s talk.…………..I do have a lot of legs in my team.

Twin sons separated at birth?

Hard to believe it’s been over for a month now.   My 2010 race is finished and this is the time of year where if I let myself, I can go into a slump.  Project over, dogs are home and off the trail, back to a somewhat “normal” life if there is any degree of that in our household.

That lasts for about 8 hours as we are now at the start of Iditarod 2011.

There was a clean house and organized basement for the last month that I wasn’t home.  That has drastically changed.  We are busily unpacking gear……bags of used booties, clothing, assorted gear that need to be washed, sorted, and then organized so that I can find it when I need it without tearing the house apart.  My daughter helps me unpack until she catches the whiff of liniment stained bibs or the oily parka.  I took out the fleece “buffalo suit” that I have worn for the past two races. ….straw and foot ointment still sticking to it.   Did I really smell like that?

The kennel is melting.  Equipment needs upgrading and repair.  Dog houses mended or upgraded.  Not that much different than your basic spring cleaning for a normal family….except that the family housing includes 18 houses. 

Straw raked, compost pile sorted, utility barn cleaned out.  My front yard the prior 7 months was full of dog carts, ATV’s, assorted vehicles in assorted running conditions, dogsleds, fencing, lines, dishes, training gear.  Now it looks like a hurricane came through Sun Valley as I have 2000 booties drying on lines, 50 pairs of gloves waving in the breeze, dog jackets drying on the fence, and enough clothing drying in the sun to clothe an entire team of Everest climbers.  (assorted vehicles remain in assorted running conditions.)

Plus there is all that duct tape that I have to peel off semi-repaired items and actually make all the repairs.

Picture during race from Anchorage newspaper, caption was “Trent Herbst checks MapQuest for closest barber”!

TRENT’S 4^th IDITAROD SYNOPSIS

I ran, I rested a lot.  Dogs ran faster.  We rested more.  Dogs ate more.  We continued to run fast.  I got a lot of sleep and got to Nome in 12 ½ days as planned.  We really finished fast. 

This is fun.

I was running a group of inexperienced youngsters from Ed Stielstra’s Natureskennel.  This was my 4^th Iditarod running young and inexperienced dogs.  I like the yearling schedule for many reasons.  Those at the front who are burning out, need to come and join the “puppy” team drivers in the back and actually enjoy the race.  Heck, LET’S TRADE TEAMS FOR NEXT YEAR and let me become sleep deprived.