2003 Daily Results

DAY 5

Shirilla Has Fastest Time in Day Five of International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race: The Montana Musher Continues to Hold Overall Lead

January 29, 2003—Kemmerer, Wyoming— Melanie Shirilla from Lincoln, Montana, had the fastest time during stage five of the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race (IPSSSDR), finishing the 53-mile stage in 4:16:27.  Jacques Philip from Nenana, Alaska came in second with 4:26:38; followed by Dan Carter from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, third with 4:29:00.

Shirilla retains her overall lead for the race with 16:32:15; Holdman is second with 16:48:17; and Philip is third with 16:52:57.

Following today's 53-mile Kemmerer/Lake Viva Naughton stage, teams drove to Alpine for the 6:00 Finger Food Function.  Stage six—60 miles and the longest stage of the race—begins Thurday at 9:00 a.m., and travels from Alpine to Box Y.  Following stage six, teams will drive to Pinedale for the Pinedale Reception at the Community Center, 5:00 p.m.,  followed by a calcutta.

Twenty teams are competing in the 2003 IPSSSDR—the largest sled dog race in the lower 48 states. With its unique “Stage Stop” racing format, the race stops in a different Wyoming community each night from January 25 through February 1, 2003, beginning with Jackson, then on to Dubois, Lander, Evanston, Mountain View, Lyman, Kemmerer/Diamondville, Alpine, and Pinedale before finishing at Teton Village in Jackson Hole. Each town hosts festivities for mushers and spectators ranging from junior dog sled races for children, dog parades and ice sculpture contests, to banquets, carnivals and fishing derbies.

The International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race was founded in 1996 by Frank Teasley, an Iditarod veteran who lives and works in Jackson Hole. Teasley’s goal was to make sled dog racing more accessible to the general public as well as to showcase the beautiful state of Wyoming. During the 2003 IPSSSDR, title sponsor Pedigree will host “Postcards from the Trail” with photographs posted on its web site, pedigree.com. Pedigree will make a donation to animal shelters for each visitor to the site during the race through its Homeward Bound program. For more information, visit the race website at  www.wyomingstagestop.org, or contact the race via e-mail at wystagestop@blissnet.com