This morning we left at 6:30 AM on our way to Glennallen for the Copper Basin 300! We are BEYOND EXCITED!!

So who's part of the Ryno Team this year?

HANDLING CREW: Tom Olson (my little brother) and Derek Patton (my main guy). Tom will be handling for Liz and Derek will be handling for me.

MEDIA CREW: Katy Olson (my mother), Tom Olson (he's a man of many talents), and Jeff Schell (Liz's dad; he doesn't know he's on the media crew yet, but hopefully he'll be game). The media crew will be actively updating the blog and social media pages (Facebook and Instagram- give us a like!) with commentary, photos, and videos.

RACE TEAMS:

My team will consist of......drum roll......... Boone, Cartel, Drummer, Goblin, Jana, Katy, Lefty, Perm, Supai, Uno, Wingman, and Wombat. This team has a few different players compared to years past, but I can't wait to see how youngsters Uno, Wingman, and Wombat perform in their first 300-mile race! I anticipate main leaders to be Cartel, Katy, and Goblin. Back up leaders are Lefty (he's a great leader but not particularly fast), Boone (she's coming into heat, and all the boys think she's super duper cute right now), and Jana (she's coming off a little soreness, so at the first sign of stiffness, she'll be dropped. I want her to stay active but not at the risk that she'll miss Quest). Our goal for this race is to do our absolute best and have a FANTASTIC TIME. We're not a 13 mph team, but if the trail is challenging or slow, we'll be right in the mix.

Liz's team will be comprised of Belle, Blitz, Coot, Drake, Fish, Gringa, Ham, Niagra, Yuker, and Ruby (an awesome little leader from Smokin' Ace Kennels- Thanks Matt and Amanda!). Her team is a mixture of trail hardened veterans and rookie two-year-olds. This will be Blitz, Fish, Gringa, and Yuker's first 300-mile race, so we're very excited for their mid-distance racing debut! Drake, Coot, and Belle have thousands of trail miles under their belt, so this will be just a nice long training run for them. Ham, Niagra, and Ruby will be her main leaders, with possible substitutions of Coot, Belle, and Gringa at the helm. Their goal will be to enjoy every second of the race at a leisurely pace. This is Liz's first mid-distance dog sled race as well!

We decided not to enter any yearlings in the Copper Basin and instead gear them up for the Two Rivers 100 on January 20th with Tyler!