Off to Nome!

Monday March 6, 510P AKST

At 1:10 AKST the team pulled the hook, romped down the starting chute through the crowds of Fairbanks and on to the Tanana River.  First checkpoint is 60 miles down the river at Nenana.  Trent has bib 67 this year and had 75 in 2015.  So he's in a similar start order this year.  In 2015 he stopped and camped in Nenana showing up at dusk.

Ayn and Scott led the team out.  Looks like on the tracker Trent is at mile 54, running strong at plan at an average speed of 8.5 mph.  Nenan is at mile 71 (add the 11 miles from Ceremonial Start) and Trent has about 17 miles, 2 hours to Nenana.  

Here are a few shots from live TV coverage of the Fairbanks Start.

Here is the shot of Trent on the tracker at the moment.  Highly recommend a Iditarod Insider GPS Tracker subscription to all you Iditarod and Trent fans out there.  You never know when you are going to wake up at 3 in the morning and wonder how he's doing?

Tim

Race is about to start!

Monday March 6

Expect Trent and the team to head out of the starting chute in Fairbanks a little after noon Alaska time (AKST) today.  The team is mainly veterans of the past two years rookie teams.  Eleven have raced in the Iditarod and ten have made it to Nome.  Reports are that the 3 feet of new snow along the Tanana River have been well broken by snowmobiles in the past day and conditions are good.

Picture below from the Iditarod Insider article at Iditarod.com on the Ceremonial Start.  Trent is the first musher shown in the article.


Next picture was taken by our handler Carlleen Brehmer on the Ceremonial Start trail.   Trent has a fan who has a "I love you. Trent Herbst's Beard" poster each year she brings to the course.  


Make sure to update you Iditarod Insider to watch the GPS tracker for the race.

Safe journey and happy trails to Trent and the Team!

Tim

Off at the Ceremonial Start

Saturday March 4

Trent and the team took off from downtown Anchorage for the Ceremonial Strart this afternoon.  Blue bird, perfect day. There were "Fear the Beard" fans along the route, we hope to have some pictures to share.

Team trailer heads to Fairbanks Saturday night for the real start of race Monday.  Supposed to be 36 inches of new snow and cold conditions on the Tanana River for he first part of the race.

Here are a few at the starting gate.

One Time Call for Help

February 20, 2017

Here's to all of you that follow us and subscribe to the blog.  Many of you guys have helped out along the way with donations and we greatly appreciate it.  

If you feel so moved, visit the Sponsors page on the website at:  http://www.trentherbst.com/sponsors.html 

We have a PayPal Donate button where you can use your PayPal account or a credit card to send any help for race expenses.   Any and all support appreciated.

Race start in two weeks, getting exciting!

End of Solicitations, promise.


Meet the handler

November 7th, 2016

Hey Guys! As Tim and Trent introduced in the last blog post, I'm Carlleen and I'm the new handler for Trent this season. My goal is to not only keep you up to date on what is happening, but to also want to answer any and all questions you may have for us. I'm also going to do Meet the Member Monday, so each week on Monday I'm going to introduce a member of the team whether that would be human or dog, lol. So, here's the first Meet the member.

~Carlleen

Our first meet the member is the new handler, Carlleen. Here's some info about her.

Age:20 (21 in a week!)

Favorite Color:Pink, and then red

Favorite Season: Winter and fall

Where were you born: Green Bay, Wisconsin

Why did you move to Idaho: I moved to Idaho to continue my education and to stay in the sled dog sport. I'm currently attending CWI for Agriculture Science

How did you get into mushing: Back when I was in 5th grade, my family and I went to go see my uncle and cousins race. After that, I told them that's what I wanted to do. In 6th grade, I started sprint racing and every since I decided I wanted to mush dogs. When we kept taking longer than the faster teams, it was my thought that maybe I should try for mid-distance to distance mushing. It wasn't until I ran the Eagle Cap 31 mile pot race in 2016 that I actually ran a longer race than 6 miles.

What are you future plans: I plan to open a sled dog touring company and petting zoo. I hope to run the Iditarod one day and to educate the public about mushing and dogs.

Anything else about you: I have 2 retired sled dogs that are living back in Wisconsin with my parents. There names are Chipmunk (tan dog) and Dingo (black dog). These two dogs did everything with me. I've done 4-H obedience, agility, and showmanship with them along with dressing up and taking photos. I love taking photos (You guys will see a lot of my personal photos that I've taken) and spending time with my boyfriend. I also skijor (I'm not very good at it though) and dryland racing. Feel free to ask any other questions to get to know me!


2017 Here we Come!

November 3

Just a quick note that the 2017 Iditarod Season is officially on.   Eighteen bright, shiny canine faces have moved to Idaho for the Winter from Upper Peninsula Michigan, from our kennel partner Nature's Kennel.  The team consists mainly of Iditarod veterans from the past two years, who raced as yearlings/rookies with Trent in 2015 and 2016.   We'll get pics and intros up soon, a bunch of Trent's favorites are back.  

Our training kennel is out in Fairfield, ID and the team is already up to 25 mile runs, looking strong, and eating hardy.   

We have a new handler this year.   Carleen Brehmer joins us and says "I live in Boise and have been around sled dogs since 6th grade. I moved here from Wisconsin to attend college, but also continue with the sled dog scene. I've mainly raced sprint races, but this past February I ran at Eagle Cap Extreme in the 62 mile pot race. Even though I don't have a team of dogs here, I've been trying to stay in the sled dog community. I've helped train a team of dogs, kennel sat for Ben Thompson, and helped do a sled dog talk with Rick Katucki. My Uncle owned a kennel of 22+ dogs and I've helped take care of them. My ultimate dream one day is owning a sled dog touring company and a petting zoo. I hope to fulfill my dream of running the Iditarod"

We are excited to have her, and she will also be posting photos, training kennel and race stories on the blog.

Stay tuned for more soon!

Trent and Tim

Dog team finishers....

Twelve dogs made it to Nome with Trent on Friday.   

Blast was the only veteran, and ran lead much of the race.  The other eleven finishers were all Iditarod rookies making their first finish.  Here they are below; Aurora, Billy, Blast, Fiona, Heart, Jasmine, Leia, Percy, Pudda, Reily, Ruby, and Rush.

Ayn, Hornet, Layla, and Kokomo all had sore shoulders and hopped off the bus on the trail.   All 16 dogs made it over 500 miles all the way to the Yukon River at Ruby.  14 made it over 700 miles to the Bering Sea Coast at Unalakleet.  

Lots of happy looking dogs on the video at the finish.   

Aurora

Billy

Blast

Fiona

Heart

Jasmine

Leia

Percy

Pudda

Reily

Ruby

Rush