Valley Funale 2012

My team not far from the starting line with Adidas and Rapid in lead,
Pip and Chupa in swing, and Chaos and Summit in wheel.
Photo Credit: Jan DeNapoli

The dogs and I had a very fun day Saturday running our final race of the season. We headed our to Two Rivers with our friend Martin to run the Valley Funale. Every spring the Two Rivers Dog Mushers Association Host the "Fun"ale, it is a community event with dog races, Easter egg hunts, a barbecue / pot luck, and a Hungry dog eating contest.
The dog races are  the main events with one and two dog races for the kids and then a 6 dog ten mile race and a ten dog twenty mile race for the adults. We competed in the 6 dog ten mile race this year, and came in third place with a total run time of 37 minutes and 51 seconds, we finished 48 seconds behind first place, and had a blast. The last 3-5 miles of the race were the most fun, that is where we caught up with the other teams and got to pass three teams and then work really really hard to stay in front of them. Abby west and I were helping the dogs as much as we could kicking and yelling encouragement for the last few miles, it sure is a lot of fun to come into the finish line with a team right on your heals, especially a talented one like Abby's.
The Funale is just a fun race, there are no prizes or anything. It is just a fun event for the community, a really positive way to end a race season.
I would like to take a quick minute to thank all the volunteers who made this race season a success in the Two Rivers community.


Here are the race results for the 6 and 10 dog races:

6 Dog Race
Bib # Place Name Time out Time in Total time 10 1 Roger Chamagne 11:46:00 12:23:03 0:37:03 1 2 Beth Manning 11:28:00 12:05:30 0:37:30 11 3 Amanda Gecas 11:48:00 12:25:51 0:37:51 8 4 Steve DeMolen 11:42:00 12:20:14 0:38:14 14 5 Nathaniel Stitt 11:54:00 12:32:44 0:38:44 13 6 Charlie Jagow 11:52:00 12:32:12 0:40:12 2 7 Lia Amundsen 11:30:00 12:12:05 0:42:05 9 8 Abbie West 11:44:00 12:26:11 0:42:11 12 9 Joanna Jagow 11:50:00 12:32:22 0:42:22 3 10 Robert Ramires 11:32:00 12:15:00 0:43:00 7 11 Erik Milan 11:40:00 12:24:34 0:44:34 6 12 AJ Sutton 11:38:00 12:25:03 0:47:03 5 13 Greg Newby 11:36:00 12:28:03 0:52:03 4 14 Ilana Kinsley 11:34:00 12:27:14 0:53:14




10 Dog Race


Bib # Place Name Time out Time in Total time 14 1 Skeeter Stitt 11:20:00 12:42:41 1:22:41 2 2 Jason Weitzel 11:02:00 12:27:55 1:25:55 16 3 Bill Cotter 11:24:00 12:53:30 1:29:30 9 4 Laura Allway 11:16:00 12:47:18 1:31:18 15 5 Rick Tarpey 11:22:00 12:56:46 1:34:46 11 6 Cali Gavora 11:18:00 12:52:56 1:34:56 3 7 Mandy Nauman 11:04:00 12:43:53 1:39:53 6 8 Suzan Amundsen 11:10:00 12:50:20 1:40:20 5 9 Wes Brightman 11:08:00 12:48:27 1:40:27 1 10 Tamara Rose 11:00:00 12:40:58 1:40:58 7 11 Eric Cosmutto 11:12:00 12:59:43 1:47:43 17 12 Tony Angelo 11:26:00 13:15:14 1:49:14 4 13 Bob Hauer 11:06:00 12:57:10 1:51:10 8 14 Donna Patrick 11:14:00 13:23:15 2:09:15

Adidas and Rapid showing there enthusiasm at the starting
line.  Photo Credit: Mariska Wright

Rapid doing the "happy dance"
at the starting line. Isn't she cute?
Photo Credit: Mariska Wright

The team leaving the starting chute.
Photo Credit: Mariska Wright