Husky News

Dan Kaduce has finished the Yukon Quest a couple of times — and also scratched. His eighth-place finish in last year’s race drew little notice in the press, but much of the mushing community followed his progress closely.

His times from checkpoint to checkpoint, rest to rest, were consistently the fastest in the race. His race style was distinctly old-school — stop for as long as you move.

That runs counter to the current strategy of long slow runs followed by a short break that many top teams employ. He spent an estimated 48 additional hours resting his team than did victor Sebastian Schnuelle of Whitehorse, which landed the 40-year-old from Chatanika some 15 hours behind the Canadian.

If you look at Kaduce’s exceptionally fast dog yard a bit closer, you will find that Dan’s wife, Jodi Bailey, was the last musher to beat perennial favorite Lance Mackey in a dog race until this weekend’s Kuskokwim 300; out-running him in the 2008 Gin Gin 200. Speed opens many possibilities.

Dan has been learning about mushing fast. During the 2008 Yukon Quest, he took off like a Chinese bullet train despite the minus-50 temperatures, quickly moving away from the rest of the field.

A couple hundred miles into the race his early speed coagulated with insufficient rest and he dropped into the middle of the pack.

He learned patience and he quickly saw that rest will maintain team speed.

Kaduce continued to test his team and his race theories in this year’s Copper Basin 300, finishing fourth amid one of the strongest fields ever assembled there. As important as his placing, he finished with all 12 dogs. His wife, Jodi, only dropped one dog while finishing 13th.

So add it up: 23 of 24 dogs from this small kennel completed one of the toughest 300-mile races in the country.

There are 30-odd dogs in the couple’s kennel; 24 in Iditarod training and about a dozen retirees. The Iditarod crew follows a tough schedule, training on the trails of the White Mountains. The retirees enjoy short relaxing runs — if you can have a easy run from the Kaduce yard. The out trail is steep, climbing for about 5 miles, and whatever goes up, must come down.

A hairpin turn on the incoming trail heralds the yard.

“I’ve always been resigned to a spectacular crash coming home!” Bailey says.

This year she’s managing the corner, though it may help that Dan borrowed a piece of equipment to move an old car adjacent to the trail, smoothing it out.

Dan and Jodi both have jobs — Jodi works full-time at UAF as a distance education instructor, while Dan works seasonally with T.J.’s Land Clearing in Fairbanks as an equipment operator.

Jodi’s schedule allows her flexibility to train and race, Dan’s seasonal job allows him to concentrate on dogs in the winter. Training time comes after work, after chores, after the rest of things life requires.

It’s an expensive, all-encompassing life. They went without Christmas gifts for each other this season. Dogs are what they speak of at the dinner table (when there is time to sit down for dinner), dogs are the subject on the way to the grocery store, and they are the first thought in the morning as Jodi readies for work.

Do they mind giving up what others take for granted?

“Whatever life you lead you are giving up another. Our life with dogs is what most people only see in movies,” Jodi said.

Is racing about winning?

“No. It is about testing yourself; how well can I accomplish this?”

Don’t expect Dan to win this year’s Iditarod, but if you are on the trail or following from home, know he is there. If you are looking for a rookie of the year candidate, watch Dan Kaduce.

Source: The Anchorage Daily News