Meeting up with Pedigree® Stage Stop Race Musher Rachel Courtney GarandLast year was my first time running the PSS and I finished 6th overall. I love the format going from town to town meeting so many new people in all the great communities.Also now that the Stages are shorter it is within the distance I run. The prestige off the race, the quality of the organization are part of the reason why I run the Pedigree® Stage Stop Race. But mainly it is always fun competing against some the best mushers out there.
What is your favorite Stage? Mhh ….that’s a tuff one the scenery is just breath taking at all the stages but I probably enjoyed Teton County the most , the last stage more rolling hills instead off mountains so you can really let the dogs open up. What do you think of the shorter format? I never ran it when it was father as it didn t fit in with all the other races I would run but now it is perfect millage to head off to run The Pas Trappers Festival Which is 3×35 miles and Cross Lake ,MB which is 3×33 mile heats.
What races are you running? I race races anything from 10-35 miles. I have 20 dogs in Training. I train up to 35miles .Generally a day on day off schedule unless I feel the team needs an extra rest day in between.
How has training been? Fall training was great but since November we have been dealing with lots off ice and very little snow.Still don t have much snow. It definitely has been a challenging year for training.Tell me a bit about your dogs: I will have 7dogs from last year on my team. All dogs are age 1-5. 5 leaders ,3 off them are veterans to the Stage Stop. Howard ,Monica ,Liam,Wade and Slim All dogs are intact except Liam. I will have 10males and 4 females on this years team.
What are you feeding? A mixture of Chicken,Beef ,live and Beef Fat plus some supplements. Main source off Diet is from Perfectly Raw -Pet Food ,who is our main Sponsor. What is your goal for this years Pedigree® Stage Stop Race?
Hoping to improve on last years placing. I really think I held the dogs back more than I needed to last year as I took a very conservative approach as it was my first time racing that many days in a row.
Hoping to improve on last years placing. I really think I held the dogs back more than I needed to last year as I took a very conservative approach as it was my first time racing that many days in a row.
Here a fun video of a training run and pass training. Dang my distance running seems slow Am not sure I would even make the first corner with a team like that:
