Press Releases

Media:  e-mail info@racetothesky.org to receve press releases by e-mail.  Press releases will go out several times a day to media and updates will be posted on the home page of www.racetothesky.org, too.

Join us for the awards ceremony for the 350 mile teams in Helena on Wednesday night at Exploration Works.  The ceremony starts at 6 p.m. with a dinner catered by Chili O’Briens for $7 per person and children eat free.  Exploration Works is a kids museum which will be open tomorrow night for families to visit the museum.  Dinner tickets are available at Urgent Care Plus prior to the dinner.  The public is invited and encouraged to come and share some of the trail stories and hear about the canine heroes.

For more information, please e-mail info@racetothesky or call 406-881-DOGS.

FINAL STATS – CONGRATULATIONS – YOU ARE ALL WINNERS TO US!

UPDATED TIMES AND FINISHERS, TUESDAY, 7:30 P.M.

350 Mile Stats Tuesday Night

1st       Alea Robinson         Eagle River, Alaska            finished at 9:51 p.m. with 12 dogs           total race time 49:37

2nd     Jessie Royer             Darby, Montana                  finished at 9:51:30 p.m. with 11 dogs     total race time 49:37:30

3rd     Warren Palfrey        Quesnel, BC, Canada          finished at 12:22 p.m. with 10 dogs         total race time 52:08

4th      Gerry Walker          Pierceland, Sask, Can.         finished at 1:03 p.m. with 10 dogs           total race time 52:49

5th      Laura Daugereau    Port Gamble, Wash.            finished at 1:19 p.m. with 11 dogs           total race time 53:05

6th       Josi Thyr                   Cataldo, Idaho                     finished at 4:05 p.m. with 11 dogs           total race time 55:51

7th      Billy Snodgrass       Dubois, Wyoming                finished at 4:54 p.m. with 8 dogs              total race time 56:40

8th      Nicholas Mears     Maitland, Australia                finished at 6:38 p.m. with 9 dogs               total race time 58:24

9th      Mark Ibsen              Helena, Montana                   finished at 7:12 p.m. with 11 dogs           total race time 60:48

On the way to the Hi-Country Snack Foods Finish:

Brett Bruggeman left at 3:21 p.m. with 8 dogs

Junior 100 Mile Race to the Sky

1st      Aiyana Ferraro         Victor, Montana            finished at 6:09 a.m. with 8 dogs                   total race time 15:06

2nd     Jenny Greger           Bozeman, Montana       finished at 6:32 a.m. with 8 dogs                   total race time 15:32

Adult 100 Mile Race to the Sky

1sst     Roy Etnire                  Seeley Lake, Montana      finished at 8:19 a.m. with 8 dogs                   total race time 17:10

2nd     Jason Campeau        Okotoks, ALB, Canada      finished at 8:32 a.m. with 7 dogs                   total race time 17:26

3rd     Steve Riggs               Olney, Montana                 finished at 8:48 a.m. with 7 dogs                    total race time 17:36

4th      Margaret Black        Pullman, Washington        finished at 12:36 p.m. with 8 dogs                 total race time 22:15

Jason Campeau won the Best Cared for Team Award from the veterinarians and presented by Dr. M. J. Wixsom.

MEDIA UPDATE Monday 9:30 p.m.

PRESS RELEASE

TO: ALL MEDIA
FROM: PAM BECKSTROM, 881-DOGS
DATE: Monday, 8:30 p.m.
RELEASE: Immediately

The Race to the Sky 350 mile race is fast and quick. Four teams left Owl Creek this afternoon between 2:51 and 4:19 p.m. and two teams have already arrived back at Seeley Lake Community Center Checkpoint.  Jessie Royer arrived in Seeley Lake at 7:36 p.m. Monday night and Alea Robinson arrived at 7:43 p.m..  Both must stay at Seeley Lake for a six hour mandatory layover before heading the approximately 70 miles to the finish line.  That means there could be a 8:00 a.m. Tuesday finish under the archway at Hi-Country Snack Foods near Lincoln.  This would be the quickest finish ever for the Race to the Sky 350 mile race.
Behind Royer and Robinson are Warren Palfrey who left Owl Creek at 3:32 p.m. Monday with 10 dogs and Laura Daugereau who left Owl Creek at 4:19 p.m. Monday with 11 dogs.  Both are expected anytime into Seeley Lake.  We’ll update you as soon as this happens.
We are waiting on confirmation that Gerry Walker, Josi Thyr, Billie Snodgrass, and Nicholas Mears have left Owl Creek.  It is believed that Mark Ibsen has arrived at Owl Creek late this afternoon with Brett Bruggeman following behind.
The public is invited to come to the finish line archway to watch the teams finishing the fastest Race to the Sky ever.  Officials say the trail is hard and fast and cool temperatures make running perfect.  The first place finisher should cross the finish line between 7:30 and 9:30 Tuesday morning.
If you have questions or would like updated time sheets, go to www.racetothesky.org or e-mail info@racetothesky.org or go onFacebook.com to view updates.

MEDIA RELEASE Tuesday, 10:30 a.m.

ALEA ROBINSON crossed the finish line at Hi-Country Snack Foods in Lincoln at 9:51 Tuesday morning.  Robinson is a 17 year old musher from Eagle River, Alaska.  She has been mushing dogs since she was 3 years old and has run many races in Alaska including Junior Iditarod and she came in second in the Junior Race to the Sky 2012.  This was her first 350 mile race and she is running dogs from the Royer Alaskan Huskies Kennels.  She finished strong with all 12 dogs that she started with which is no small feat.

JESSIE ROYER crossed the finish line at Hi-Country Snack Foods just 30 seconds behind Robinson to take second place.  Royer is a veteran Iditarod musher who won Montana’s Race to the Sky 500 mile race when she was 17 while being mentored by Doug Swingley.  She is an accomplished musher, having run Iditarod ten times and being in the top ten three times and receiving the Rookie of the Year Award.

Next in will be either Laura Daugereau of Port Gamble, Washsingon, or Warren Palfrey of Quesnel, BC, Canada.  Warren left Seeley Lake at 3:00 with 10 dogs and Laura left Seeley Lake at 4:03 a.m. with 11 dogs.

This is the fastest finish in race history.

MEDIA UPDATE Monday 9:30 p.m.

Monday, 10 a.m.
Cold temps at White Tail Ranch Checkpoint last night, dipping just below 0 with light snow.  That didn’t stop the Race to the Sky teams from running through there in quick times.  The trail from Hi-Country Snack Foods start and restarts was 51 miles and the first team into Whitetail Ranch was Gerry Walker of Saskatchewan, Canada.  By 10:30, 4 teams had already left for Seeley Lake Checkpoint.

Aiyana Ferraro won the Jr. Race to the Sky  with a total time of 15 hours six seconds followed closely by Jenny Greger with a total time of 15 hours and 32 minutes.

First place finisher for the 100 mile adult race was Roy Etnire of Seeley Lake, Montana, with a total race time of 17 hours 10 minutes. Second was Jason Campeau of Okotoks, ALB., Canada with a time of 17 hours and 26 seconds.  Third was Steve Riggs of Olney, Montana, with a total race time of 17 hours and 36 minutes.  Still on the trail to the finish is Margaret Black.  The run has been taking between 5 and 6 hours.  She should be in late morning to become receive the red lantern award.

Awards ceremony for the 100 mile race will be at 1:30 p.m. Monday at the Seeley Lake Community Center in Seeley Lake.  The public is invited.

The 350 mile race is shaping up to be a fast race.

On their way to Owl Creek, which is a 50 mile leg, in order of leaving:

Jessie Royer left SL at 7:23 with 11 dogs
Alea Robinson left SL at 7:40 with 12 dogs
Warren Palfrey left SL at 7:53 with 11 dogs
Laura Daugereau  left SL at 8:15 with 11 dogs

Still in Seeley Lake resting on Monday morning:

Josi Thyr into SL at 4:11 a.m.
Nicholas Mears into SL at 6:20 a.m.
Brett Bruggeman into SL at 9:09 a.m.
Gerry Walker into SL at 5:14 a.m.
Mark Ibsen into SL at 6:32 a.m.
Billy Snodgrass into SL at 7:31 a.m.

All the 350 mile teams have taken their 4 hour mandatory lay-over which was floating.  Each 350 mile will have another 6 hours mandatory lay-over at Seeley Lake before the final leg of the race to the finish.

Any questions, please contact Pam Beckstrom at info@racetothesky.org or join us on Facebook.

Media Release

 TO:              ALL MEDIA

 FROM:         PAM BECKSTROM

RE:               TEAMS LEAVING WHITETAIL RANCH SUNDAY NIGHT, FEB. 10

RELEASE:   IMMEDIATELY

FOUR TEAMS OUT OF WHITE TAIL RANCH SUNDAY NIGHT

The first team out of Whitetail Ranch near Ovando was Warren Palfrey at 10:15 p.m. Sunday evening with 11 dogs.  Closely following Palfrey were Jessie Royer at 10:17 p.m. with 11 dogs, Alea Robinson at 10:19 p.m. with 12 dogs and Josi Thyr at 10:21 p.m with 11 dogs.

Still not into the Whitetail Ranch is Margaret Black.  She is expected in any time.   All the 100 mile teams have a 6 hour layover at Whitetail Ranch before heading to the finish line at Morrell/Seeley Creek Trailhead near Seeley Lake.

The first 100 mile junior team can leave anytime after 1:56 a.m. Monday (Aiyana Ferraro) followed by Jenny Greger at 2:01 a.m. Monday to head to the finish line.

Roy Etnire, the first 100 mile adult team into Whitetail can leave at 2:20 a.m. Monday to head to the finish line.

For information go to www.racetothesky.org to view press releases and see times into and out of each checkpoint.

PRESS RELEASE

TO:                 All Media

FROM:           Pam Beckstrom

RELEASE:    Whitetail Ranch Update

Thirteen teams have completed the first continuous leg of Race to the Sky early this evening.   All ten 350 mile teams have reported in to Whitetail Ranch Checkpoint near Ovando.   Both 100 mile junior racers were in Whitetail 5 minutes apart and one 100 mile adult was resting at Whitetail Ranch.  The race start/restart at Hi-Country Snack Foods was a picture perfect day with overcast skies and cool winds.

First in for the 350 mile racers was Gerry Walker of Sasketchewan, Canada at 7:14 p.m. followed by Jessie Roy of Darby, Montana one minute later. Forty-two minutes separated first place and tenth place into Whitetail Ranch.

The 350 order checking into Whitetail Ranch Sunday evening:

Gerry Walker                      7:14 p.m.

Jessie Royer                      7:15

Alea Robinson                     7:19

Laura Daugereau               7:21

Warren Palfrey                   7:28

Nicholas Mears                   7:34

Josi Thyr                                7:50

Mark Ibsen                          7:56

Brett Bruggeman               8:17

Billy Snodgrass                   8:24

For the Junior 100 mile racers:

Aiyana Ferraro                   7:56:20 p.m.

Jenny Greger                      8:01 p.m.

For the Adult 100 mile race, Roy Etnire was the first musher into Whitetail Ranch at 8:20 p.m.   The three remaining 100 mile adult teams were expected to arrive at Whitetail any time were Steve Riggs, Margaret Black and Jason Campeau.

The 100 mile racers all have a 6 hour mandatory layover at Whitetail Ranch before being able to proceed to the Morrell Creek Trailhead near Seeley Lake to finish their race.  Aiyana Ferraro can officially leave Whitetail at 3:56:20 a.m. Monday for the finish line which is approximately 50 miles.

Temperatures are cool and the trail is good.

Any questions, please call 881-DOGS or e-mail info@racetothesky.org.

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