Sports

Race to the Sky dog sled race comes to rest, winners announced

Posted: Feb 14, 2012 6:37 AM by Russ Thomas- KPAX News
Updated: Feb 14, 2012 6:38 AM

SEELEY LAKE- It was a race that began in Lincoln on Sunday afternoon, and finished just before dawn Monday morning in Seeley Lake.

It was a time for the mushers to celebrate and the dogs to rest. A culmination of hours of racing and months of training lead to the crowning of two winners in the Race to the Sky dog sled competition Monday. Two winners close in age, but with much different levels of experience.

16-year-old Musher Jenny Greger from Bozeman came out on top in the Junior 100 Mile Race. This is far from Jenny's first victory. In fact, she is now the two-time defending champion of the Race to the Sky Competition.

"I'm very proud of my dogs. What's even better than winning is seeing that my time was better than last year."

18-year-old Garrett Warren won the 100-mile adult race, his first adult win of his career. Warren, is relatively new to dog sled racing. He credits his love for racing to one of the world's best mushers.

"It'd be Jeff King who is a 4-time Iditarod champion and my mother's sister is his next door neighbor. So I was able to meet Jeff in a different setting than most people would and that's where I got my sled from and one of my dogs."

Warren has learned quickly on the job

"You know what I found out...the mushers do just as much work as the dogs. When you're going up the hill you're running behind the dogs pushing the sled and pumping your feet, and when you're going downhill you're riding the back to keep the sled from running over the dog."

Warren says he intends to move to Alaska and continue to pursue his dream of competing in the Iditarod, just like his mentor King.

Jennie Greger has already competed in the Junior Iditarod, she finished 5th overall and won the Rookie of the Year award.