Morlock now an Iditarod veteran
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
NOME, Alaska — Kevin Morlock is thrilled to have finished the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, he said this morning in a phone interview from the floor of his host’s home in Nome.Early in the race when he had to drop a batch of female dogs who were in heat, he didn’t think he’d make it.
“I was pretty down when I dropped those dogs,” he said.
Racers all start with 16 dogs, but drop them at checkpoints along the trail as they stop pulling, sprain ankles or have other injuries or illnesses. Mushers must finish with at least five dogs. Morlock thought being down to nine dogs less than 300 miles into the 1,100-mile race meant he and the team would have to scratch, if not immediately then at some point.
“I know I’m going to hear from other people I should have went faster,” the 36-year-old Walhalla musher said. “But my goal was to try and finish and I wouldn’t change a thing … there weren’t many people at the Rohn checkpoint that thought I had a chance at finishing.”
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IDITAROD
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So concerned about keeping enough dogs to complete the race across Alaska, he took his time and rested them well.
He dropped only one additional dog, Velcro, due to an ankle injury, finishing with eight dogs on the team. He was proud the race’s veterinarians took notice of his excellent care of the dogs.
Standouts on the team were Iditarod veterans Eider and Tinker, his leaders from the beginning of the race.
“Those two are incredible dogs,” Morlock said. “They’ll lead no matter what and they do a nice job of it.”
All through training Eider did a good job, but about halfway through the trail we bonded.”
Morlock ran for Ludington musher Al Hardman’s Alcan Kennels, taking mostly Hardman’s dogs and a few of his own.
Morlock’s wife, Joan, and their two-year-old daughter, Aaliyah, were waiting for him at the finish line in Nome, having canceled their plane tickets earlier in the week to wait for him as he was days late from his original estimated finish time. Morlock was appreciative of their decision, noting it was a tough call for his wife since his family is on a tight budget.
“I would have been so crushed (if they had left),” he said. “When I finished I was scanning the crowd and finally saw them. That was worth the trip.”
• Kevin Morlock, 36, of Walhalla, arrived with eight dogs in Nome, Alaska, Monday afternoon, finishing in 15 days, 48 minutes, 10 seconds in 52nd place of 58 mushers.
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