Now for the Thunder Bay Classic! This is an entirely new race and new venue added this year to the MUSH calendar. It was really neat as NOBODY had raced here before so there were no advantages to anyone. A large number of kudos go to the Alpena Michigan Sportsman Club for hosting this race and to the Alpena businesses who sponsered many of the events.
We arrived Friday evening and found our accomodations at the Best Western a bit cramped but otherwise outstanding with plenty of parking for the dog trailer and run room for the dogs to get out and stretch. Not to mention our musher found the indoor pool/jacuzzi to his liking as well. Right next door was Jimmy Chen's Hunan restaurant; a first class if a bit pricey buffet. Wal-Mart was right across the street and since our musher had forgotten to pack his swim trunks... :yelrotflmao:
Saturday morning dawned very overcast but a great day for sledding. The race course and parking were down at the huge rifle/muzzle loader/pistol ranges. Lots of room for everyone which is nice when you have large strings of dogs to put out.
We tucked ourselves up next to the muzzle loader range and settled in for the day.
While we were getting Ruhl ready for his Saturday run a friend of mine from college showed up to help us along. It was great seeing Mitch after 30 years. An afternoon (never long enough) of catch-up on lives and stories about school was FANTASTIC.
Ruhl got out of the chute with out difficulty and ran the course. Here he is coming in fifth in the juniors next to an adult who had started way ahead of him...
On Sunday the day was a bit nicer but the track was slower due to the chewing it had taken the day before. Still Ruhl managed to come in third in the juniors on the Sunday run (overall times left him in fifth for the race). He has learned to encourage the dogs and push them to the end. No mishaps or drama on the race course for the entire weekend. I can't express enough how proud I am of how he finished both days...
Here's the happy musher changing his perspective on things...
A great weekend in Alpena! We're hoping that this becomes a regular event on the schedule.
