Anderson racks up early mushing victory

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

OPENER: Fairbanks veteran passes Mackey to claim win in the Sheep Mountain 150.

By BRIAN SINGLER
Anchorage Daily News

Published: December 19, 2005
Last Modified: December 19, 2005 at 04:31 AM


About 30 miles from the end of the Sheep Mountain 150 on Sunday, Ken Anderson caught defending champion Lance Mackey.


Anderson, who was seventh after the first day of the race, stormed past the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race champion and into the lead to become the first winner of the 2005-06 distance mushing season.

"His dogs looked kind of sick," Anderson said by telephone from the Sheep Mountain Lodge at Mile 113.5 of the Glenn Highway. "I had my 12 dogs, and he had nine. I passed him and pulled away."

Mackey scratched after he injured a hand on his sled's snow hook and a virus broke out among his dog team, race director Zach Steer said. That allowed Anderson, of Fairbanks, to win the two-day race in 28 hours, 24 minutes. Anderson topped Sebastian Schnuelle by six minutes.

Third-place finisher Melanie Gould had expected a Mackey repeat.

"I thought he would," Gould said. "He blew everyone away last year."

Mackey decided to bag the race once he was out of the money and went home to Kasilof immediately after the race, Steer said

Meanwhile, Anderson, a six-time Iditarod veteran, had one of his best races.

"My team was really steady. They went out nice and easy on the first 50 (mile leg) and they seemed to get faster as we went," Anderson said. "The teams around me kind of lost some steam."

Anderson, who has signed up for the Iditarod in March and owns a 90-dog kennel, raced 12 young dogs with no medium or long-distance experience . They had only run stage races and last year's Fur Rendezvous World Championship sprint race in Anchorage.

"I was looking at them to see how they would do in the Iditarod," Anderson said. "There were no veteran dogs, but I imagine a few of these dogs will make the team."

In Fairbanks, the snow cover has been better than Anchorage and the Yukon Territory, Anderson said, enabling him to push his dogs harder in training. He took the team out on three four- to five-hour training runs before tackling Sheep Mountain.

"I have had a lot more sled training that some of these teams," Anderson said. "That probably helped.

The dogs did well despite conditions that Anderson said were "hot for the dogs." The trail had several soft spots, and other teams were having problems eating and overheating, Anderson said.

Saturday night, the cold brought its own challenges when a fog bank rolled in and interrupted what Anderson said was a beautiful night with a full moon.

"It was hard to see, and ice kept freezing to my headlamp and I had to keep scraping it off," Anderson said. "Some mushers were having a tough time with their glasses."

Anderson's highest finish in the Iditarod was fifth place in 2003. He isn't too high on his Sheep Mountain victory even though he bested other top names such as 2004 Iditarod rookie of the year Hugh Neff and five-time Iditarod veteran Hans Gatt.

"It's hard to conclude too much, because you don't know who you are racing against," he said. "Most people didn't race their main veteran dogs, but some probably did."

Anderson's next races before the Iditarod will be The Grand Odyssey stage race in France, Jan. 8-19, and The International Pedigree Stage Stop in Wyoming on Jan. 28-Feb 7. That means no fun for Anderson with his $1,750 first-place purse from Sheep Mountain.

"That money's spent already on dog food," Anderson said. "And it's going to help buy 28 new sky kennels to fly our team to France."


Daily News reporter Brian Singler can be reached at bsingler@adn.com.



Sheep Mountain 100

At Sutton

(Place, name, time, dogs at finish)

Sunday's Results

1) Ken Anderson, 24:28, 12; 2) Sebastian Schnuelle, 24:34, 10; 3) Melanie Gould, 24:36, 11; 4) Jason Mackey, 24:44, 12; 5) Jon Little, 24:51, 12; 6) Ryan Redington, 24:51, 9; 7) Gerry Willomitzer, 24:53, 11; 8) Hans Gatt, 25:00, 11; 9) Hugh Neff, 25:08, 11; 10) Anjanette Steer, 25:14, 11; 11) Sonny Lindner, 26:17, 10; 12) RT Lindner, 26:17, 12; 13) Eric Butcher, 26:32, 10; 14) Saul Turner, 26:52, 9; 15) Matt Calore, 26:55, 10; 16) Timm Nelson, 26:55, 10; 17) Jill Kramer, 27:09, 11; 18) Paul Geoffrion, 27:38, 11; 19) Andy Moderow, 27:41, 9; 20) Robert Buntzen, 27:43, 10; 21) Brennan Norden, 27:47, 12; 22) Tom Arnold, 27:53, 10; 23) Dean Rosiar, 28:00, 9; 24) Didier Moggia, 28:21.