Junior Iditarod

Nicole Forto: A Teen Mushing Down A Dream to the Junior Iditarod

February 12, 2015 by teamineka

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 11, 2015

Nicole Forto Junior Iditarod Media Release

(Willow, AK)—While most teenagers are thinking about what movie to catch at the mall or what outfit to wear out with their friends, 17-year-old Nicole Forto is thinking about insulated clothing, food rations, check points, and her beloved sled dogs—all 36 of them! Nicole, who is a senior at Houston High School in Alaska, and a junior musher is busy getting prepared to run her family’s team of Siberian and Alaskan Huskies under the Team Ineka banner in the Junior Iditarod that kicks off on Saturday, February 28 from her home town of Willow. This is Nicole’s second run in the popular race, and last year, she was the recipient of the Red Lantern award, which goes to the last team crossing the finish line. According to Gypsy at the Iditarod Education Portal (www.iditarod.com), the Red Lantern “is a symbol of perseverance and mushers feel a sense of pride and accomplishment when receiving it.”

Nicole says, “As the Junior Iditarod is just a few short weeks away, the ‘pre-game’ jitters are already forming. I’m both excited and nervous about the race. I ran the Junior Iditarod once before, but it still feels like the very first time. I want this year’s race to be the best racing experience for both my dogs and I since this is my last year in junior racing.

The Junior Iditarod is a 150-mile dog race in South Central Alaska. It is a qualifier for the Iditarod for junior mushers ages 12 to 17 years old. And with the race right around the corner, Nicole admits that, “It feels like I have to be frantic and rushing to get everything picture perfect for the starting line! Then I remember to just take a deep breath and have as much fun as I possibly can.”

Nicole’s main sponsors for the race are the FiveSibes™, Alaska Spirit Crafts, The Upholstery Gallery, Alaska Dog Works, and the Willow Elementary First Grade Class.

The beautiful snowy Alaskan trails are where Nicole loves to be. She enjoys her time with the family Huskies that she helps train along with her parents, mushers and canine behaviorists, Robert and Michele. Nicole says she is truly looking forward to the race and to running her lead dogs, Frosty and TyTy, no matter if she comes in first, tenth, or last. And Nicole appreciates the valuable lessons one learns while out on the trail. “Mushing…has shown me that believing in yourself and pushing through the good and bad times is where you measure how successful you are,” states Nicole. “My dogs run thousands of miles never giving up on me and I will never give up on them. Mushing has shown me that the word ‘quit’ is no longer in my vocabulary.” Read more about Nicole’s thoughts on success and the journey of a Junior Iditarod musher in her article “Measurement of Success” posted on Tracy R. Williams’ AlaskaTracy.com blog.

Even though Nicole will be hanging up her junior sled after this year’s race and beginning life as a college freshman at the University of Alaska in Anchorage come fall, maybe one day her name will be among the great mushers of “The Last Great Race” itself—the Iditarod. But, in the meantime, Nicole is simply looking forward to this, her final Junior run.

“I hope to have a time-of-my-life experience out on the frozen trails of Alaska with my team,” she says with a smile.

To learn more about Nicole and the Forto mushing family, visit www.TeamIneka.com.

Nicole signs up for the 2015 Junior Iditarod

June 28, 2014 by teamineka

Nicole signed up for the 2015 Junior Iditarod this morning at the annual volunteer picnic and musher sign-up at the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla. She was the first musher to sign up for the race that takes place the last weekend of February.

The Junior Iditarod is a 150-mile race that runs along a portion of the original Iditarod trail, leaving from Knik Lake and finishing at the Willow Community Center.

Nicole ran the race last year as a rookie and was the red lantern winner. This year she will be racing for the last time as a junior and the last big race before she heads off to college at the University of Alaska-Southeast to study marine biology.

Nicole has a large pool of up-and-coming pups to choose from for this year’s race. She hopes to have last year’s leaders on her team, Aussie and Sidney.

Training starts for the dogs in late August.

If you would like to become part of the team, you can be our entry fee sponsor, you can sponsor a dog on the team, and if you are up in Alaska and would like to learn more about mushing and drive you own team, you can do that too!

The Dog Days of Summer

June 17, 2014 by teamineka

Here in the land of the midnight sun, the mosquitos are out and the dogs are enjoying their vacation. They spend their days lounging around in the barking lot and wishing for the colder days when training will start again. We are truly in the dog days of summer here at Team Ineka.

That does not mean that nothing is happening, the mushers are busy running triathlons, working their summer jobs, fishing for salmon that they will use for trail snacks and backyard BBQ’s, plenty of chores to be had, dog houses to build and kennels and fencing to be installed, bees to attended too and cord wood to be stacked.

We are already planning our season. Robert will attempt (once again) to do his Iditarod qualifiers IF the snow comes and none are cancelled like they have been for the last two seasons. Nicole will run the Junior Iditarod for the last time before she heads off to college in the fall of 2015, Michele plans to enter a small race or two and our friend Dale will too.

We are always looking for people to be a part of the team too! You can learn more about our incredible athletes, the mushers and our daily life with 40 sled dogs.

You can sponsor a dog, booties or become a race entry sponsor, or help with the daily kennel needs with your generous contributions.

It takes a small army to get to the starting line. Our sponsors and supporters are not just people that donate money, goods or services to us. They are part of the team. We appreciate your support and look forward to new partnerships.

Our sponsors receive letters and pictures directly from your favorite mushers. You have the opportunity to meet the team at race events and if you are up in Alaska we can teach you how to drive your own dog team. The mushers are always willing to travel to speak to our sponsors and supporters and to school and other groups that would like to learn more about living a life with dogs!

If you would like to find out more, comment below or check out our sponsorship page by clicking the button below.
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Nome 40 10 mile race

March 29, 2014 by teamineka

Spring mushing is the best in Alaska. Last weekend, Michele and Nicole ran a 10-mile race in Knik and had a blast!

It was the first race that Michele had run for more than 13 years and the first time she raced against and with her little girl.

I (Robert), was supposed to run the Nome Sign 40 race but decided late on Thursday to let the girls run and have some fun.

We wanted to test out two new dogs we got from James Wheeler, whom we got the Kasilof Crew from two summers ago. The new dogs, Valdez a big 70 pound male and Pearl a small black, shy female hoped to make it on the team and this would be their time to shine!

The race started early so we packed up the two teams of six dogs and headed for the lake. The race is one of the most low-key races in the Valley. You meet on the lake, hand the race marshall your cash and pick up a bib. Dale, was there to give us a hand hooking up and seeing the teams off.

The musher meeting was held on the lake and Michele and Nicole picked bib 4 and 6 with the hopes of having someone in the middle to give us four minutes to get the second team on the trail.

Michele was running Vela-Cession, Scarlet-Pearl, Bodhi-Trapper. We got the team hooked up and away she went. Within 30 seconds Michele’s team was heading down the ice road towards someone’s backyard. We quickly got her turned around and on the trail and on her way.

Nicole was running TyTy-Rasp, Aussie-Gabby,Valdez-Ragnar. Nicole started second in the field and left quickly down the trail with Robert and Dale leading her out. Her race was a combination of passes and rock-n-roll as she made her way down the 10 mile trail. Having just finished the Junior Iditarod she was pretty confident on the runners, even though she was using the Sled Dog Systems sled for the first time. After the race she said it felt like a rocket with the light sled and no weight in the bag.

Nicole came in with the other mushers and finished in the middle of the pack.

Michele here: We meandered around the historic town of Knik, past the Dog Mushing Hall of Fame. The trail was icy and fast and it was quite warm. We crossed the road, up a hill and hit the moguls. It became quite a ride! At about mile 3 passes were starting to happen. At the turn around Barb and Ramey Redington were there to help us out. There was a beautiful view of Sleeping Lady (Mount Susitna) and that is were I met up with Nicole.

Nicole was rocking out to her music on her iPod and passed me in quick order. On the way back I switched out leaders and now had Bodhi and Cession in lead. This was the first time Bodhi has ever lead in a race and Cession had only lead for Robert a couple times in his sprint races earlier this season.

As we saw the lake Bodhi’s tail was flying’ high. I could see Robert and Dale as I got closer and closer and I said, “Bodhi take me home to Daddy!” He saw Robert and picked up speed.

We finished strong and waited for the last team to come in. As it turned out Michele and Nicole finished fifth and sixth with Nicole beating her mom by just eight minutes.

What we learned:

Michele here. 1. We are still struggling to find the right mix of leaders. We have plenty of team dogs but a dog team is only as good as their lead dogs. This summer and fall we will be training up several lead dogs to hopefully make our teams complete.

2. I wasn’t prepared for all the moguls! I am used to the nice groomed trails of the Haesseler-Norris trail system. My poor ankle took a beating!

3. I loved racing with and against my daughter. This is the first time I had ever run with Nicole in a race since way back when she was three years old and running her first race, a 100-yard dash with her dog Tamaya.

These low key races are excellent for getting new dogs out to experience the race vibe. I think Valdez and Pearl proved themselves enough and we just may keep them. I am saying, they just may have a chance, quoting one of my favorite movies of all time.

Most likely this is the last race of the year for Team Ineka and now our focus shifts to next year. We hope to start the season with entering a few of the shorter races like the Aurora 50-50 and the Alaska Excursions 120 in December. That is if Mother Nature blesses us with good snow!

See you on the trail!

Junior Iditarod

March 10, 2014 by teamineka

Nicole ran the Junior Iditarod in February as a rookie and finished with a team of 10 happy dogs lead by Sidney and superstar stand out, Aussie!

As Nicole’s dad and armchair musher for this race, this re-cap will be a little different than most. It does include an excellent 60 minute interview with Nicole talking about her race on The Sibe Vibe show hosted by Dorothy Wills-Raftery. You can listen to the show by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post.

Race Recap

Nicole started training for this race more than a year ago after she finished the Willow Junior 100 and decided that she wanted to run the biggest junior race in the world, the Junior Iditarod.

Nicole was the first musher to sign up in October and was given a generous donation by Alaska Chicks, Co. to pay for her entry free.

Lead up to the Race

As many of you know, we had a crazy winter here in Alaska. Just a little bit of snow in December then a huge warm up and a big melt in January. After I ran a few of the sprint races in late January we let the dogs have a couple weeks off to gain some weight and relax a bit as we geared up towards race day.

We waited for a couple weeks before the Junior Iditarod folks would make a formal decision on the race and the trail. Finally, about a week before they said that the race would leave from Martin Buser’s Happy Trails Kennel in Big Lake, follow through the swamps to the river past Scary Tree and up to Yentna, have the kids do a 10-hour lay over and return.

Musher Meetings

The week before the big race is always crazy! First we had to drop off Nicole’s drop bags so that they could be flown to the checkpoint at Yentna Station. Each musher was allowed two drop bags that weighed no more than 60 pounds. Each drop bag would contain everything that Nicole would need at the checkpoint and the return trip back. They included things like kibble and meat for the dogs, meat and salmon snacks, extra dog booties and batteries for Nicole’s headlamp, food for her and a few extra supplies.

On Thursday night Nicole had her rookie musher meeting at Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla. It was very informative. Iditarod veteran Cim Smyth talking about feeding and snacking on the trail, another Iditarod veteran Zack Steer talked about dressing for cold weather, many others spoke about vet care, sled repair, the trail, and more.

On Friday morning we had to arrive before noon back at Iditarod Headquarters for the Vet Check. All the dogs looked good and passed the check except the vets told us to make sure that we gave the dogs a nail trim before the race.

Friday night was the musher meeting. Nicole, Michele and I attended and heard about all the formalities of the race and the bib draw took place. Since Nicole was the first musher to sign up she was the first to draw. She picked number 6. She would be going out in the middle of the pack.

Race Day

Race day is always organized chaos. We had all of Nicoles gear and sled packed up the night before. We loaded up the team and headed over to Happy Trails by 8:00. We had to be there by 9:00. Nicole was going out 6th so we knew we had a little over two hours before her race started.

They parked us down on the lake and we got started with our pre-race chores: dropping the dogs from the truck, putting on the tags for each dog, prepping Nicole’s sled, a talk with the veterinarian, many pictures from fans, and much, much more.

As we began to hook up it was my job to lead the team out to the starting line by holding on to the leaders. Dale was near the front as was several other volunteer handlers as we made our way across the lake ice to the starting line. Michele was already there to take some pictures as they counted down to the start of Nicoles race!

Day 1

Nicole and her team were off shortly after 11:15 and on the trail. The team looked good as they rounded the first turn and then she was out of sight. For us armchair mushers, the first time for me with Nicole in a big race, it was now a waiting game. The Junior Iditarod was testing out a new tracking system that would be used by the big race, the Iditarod, in a couple weeks. Each team is given two trackers, actually emergency locator beacons or SPOTS. They not only have the ability to track the teams on the trail but should the musher have an emergency they can push a button on the tracker and help would be on their way. But, if a musher pushes the button they are withdrawn from the race.

For us armchair mushers (and parents), it would become a maddening 30+ hours of constantly hitting the ‘refresh’ button on our iPhone/iPad/computer to see where Nicole was on the trail! It was so maddening that by the time I made it home from the race start, I hooked up a 10-dog team and went out on a 40 mile run. When I made it back to the house, I said, “well that took me 4 hours, Nicole should be on the river by now!”

Sure enough she was. Over the last several hours Nicole was pretty much keeping pace with the middle of the pack. As the hours wore on she fell into last place but she was keeping and even speed of about 7.8 miles an hour. The average speed of our dogs, many of them Iditarod and Yukon Quest veterans who’s speed is much more deliberate and they set themselves into a comfortable pace.

Nicole arrived to Yentna station close to 7:00 to begin her 10 hour mandatory layover. She was a couple hours behind the musher in front of her but to Nicole she didn’t mind. She started her chores and even got a few hours rest before leaving in the early morning darkness heading toward the finish. The reports from the trail said that her dogs looked great and so did she and she left without any problems.

Nicole would tell us later that she mushed along the river with the Northern Lights swirling above her. What a sight!

Day 2

I woke up at 5:30 and the first thing I did was check on Nicole’s status of her tracker on my iPad. She was allowed to leave at about 4:50. I saw that she was moving down the river and went back to sleep until about 7:30. After the morning chores and meeting with a dog training client at our house, we left to head to Big Lake at about 11:30. We arrived by 12:15 and could see by the tracker that she was still several hours away. We alternated between sitting in the truck and the visitors center at Happy Trails to get updates on Nicole.

When she was five miles out we all started getting anxious and headed out to the finish line. What was so cool was that everybody that was still at the visitors center came out to cheer Nicole in.

Nicole made it up the hill and crossed the finish line a little after 3:30. After all the formalities were done: she had to check in, make sure all of her mandatory gear was there and a quick pat on the head for each of the dogs, I went up and gave her a hug and told her great job!

We lead the team over to the truck and Nicole gave them a quick salmon snack. I looked over the dogs and so did the vet. While they were tired, there were no injuries at all! That is a testament to good dog care out on the trail by Nicole.

We packed up the gear and loaded up the team and headed for home. Nicole grabbed a quick shower while Michele and I put the dogs back at their houses.

By our schedule that we came up before the race, we thought that Nicole would arrive just in time for the banquet. She made it with a couple hours to spare!

The Banquet

The banquet was held at the Willow Community Center at 6 pm after the race. It was a packed house and all the mushers got to sit front and center. The guest speaker was Iditarod veteran, Mike Williams, Sr. He talked about the importance of mushing and preserving our way of life and the junior mushers becoming a mentor for someone else. He also performed the invocation in both his native language and in English. It was a very moving experience.

After dinner, the awards ceremony started. Each musher received a large amount of goods and services donated by local businesses. Nicole received her Red Lantern award and thanked me when she spoke to the crowd. I was so proud of her at that moment I started crying.

What Nicole learned

As we always do on our race recaps, we share what we learned on the trail. The following is Nicole in her own words about what she learned on the trail:

1.) Pack extra boot liners or boots. I had no idea that i would be going through open water but I shouldve thought ahead and planned for the absolute worse. I did not pack extra liners or boots and ended up going through open water and recieved frost bite on my feet. (Robert here: Nicole had to cross a stream of open water up to her knees. Hear the whole story on the interview on The Sibe Vibe.)

2.) Try to push through swamps as fast as possible. The swamps were the worst part for me and the dogs. They got to hot and that’s when a lot of them slowed down and my time increased. (Robert here: The swamps she is talking about are miles and miles of mostly treeless land around Big Lake, Alaska. Even with temperatures in the mid-20s with the sun bright overhead it feels much warmer and it doesn’t take long for the dogs to get too warm.)

3.) Even dogs who are 4th and 5th string leaders have the greatness to be 1st string. Aussie a last choice leader lead the entire race. (Robert here: Aussie was a dog we got from a good friend of ours, Hugh Neff. After hearing about this he asked if he could have him back. Nicole said, “Not!” They both laughed.)

4.) Sometimes keeping your attitude happy and exciting is the best for the dogs. If you think you can’t make it the dogs will feel that energy and they will just quit on you.

Nicole says that she will be back next year to run the Junior Iditarod and remember that thing about mentoring that Mike Williams talked about at the banquet? Well, it is in the works that Nicole will be mentoring a young lady from Canada and they will run the race together next year!

A huge thank you to Nicole’s sponsors and supporters for this race. Not only were your donations much appreciated but your kind words, advice and support that helped make all of this possible: Alaska Chicks, Co. The Upholstery Gallery, Ed and Judy Perry, April Cox, James Wheeler, Bob Morgan, Jeff Rogers, Hugh Neff, David Scheer, our awesome vet Susan Dent and many other family and friends that cheered for Nicole along the trail and to the finish line.

Listen to Nicole’s interview on The Sibe Vibe:

Online Pets Radio at Blog Talk Radio with Dog Works Radio Show on BlogTalkRadio

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