The winner of the 200-mile race in the 4th Annual Eagle Cap Sled Dog Race held in Joseph Oregon slid through the finish gates at 3:03 a.m. Saturday morning, Dec.19. The first-place musher, Jerry Joinson of Fort St James, B.C., completed the course in just 39 hours and 55 minutes.
The second-place musher, Rod Greger of Boseman, Mont., arrived just 33 minutes later with a total time of 40 hours and 30 min. The third- and fourth-place mushers, Bino Fowler of Bend, Ore. and Michael Carmichael of Utah, slid in at 8:02 and 8:21 respectively with finishes of over 40 hours.
According to Race Marshal Terry Hinsley of Prospect, Ore., finishing times were good this year with fourth-place musher Michael Carmichael putting in a faster time than last year’s first-place winner despite the fact that this year’s race was approximately six miles longer.
As of 10 a.m. Saturday, musher Steve Madson was still on the trail and expected to slide across the finish at approximately 2 p.m. The other three mushers in the 200 scratched along the route. Multi-Iditarod winner John Barron from Helmsville, Mont. and Jo Watkins of Truckee, Calif. Both scratched at the 100-mile station at Halfway. Christine Lyle of Spirit Lake, Idaho scratched 150 miles into the race at Ollocot when she judged her lead dogs to be too tired to continue.
That final six miles of the 200 is “brutal” according to musher Bino Fowler. “I stand corrected,” he said after crossing the finish. “This is the toughest 200 in the northwest!”
The teams both climb and descend 800 feet on the course and navigate a very narrow and technically difficult final six miles before sliding down into the tiny community of motels and restaurants at Wallowa Lake.
All mushers in the 100 completed the race in the following order: Frank Caccavo of Deerpark Wa, first; John Bunderson of Soda Sprngs Idaho, second; Dee Ogden of Boise Idaho, third; Butch Austin of Fruita, Calif, fourth; Rick Katucki of Eagle Idaho, fifth; Laura Crocker of Trail Oregon, sixth; and Tim Curly of Sandy, Oregon, seventh.
Source: Wallowa County Chieftain
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