Woman wins her first race to sky

Montana Living —Laurie Warren of Council, Idaho, won the 300 mile Race to the Sky dogsled race Monday.

This is her first Race to the Sky.  She got started helping her sons race sled dogs.  Spencer Bruggeman crossed the finish line at 10:18 p.m. on Monday night placing second followed by Brett Bruggeman at 10:18:10 p.m. in third position for an almost photo finish.  That completes the finishers list.

The public is invited to the 300 Mile Awards Ceremony in Helena at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church downtown Helena starting at 6 p.m.   A lasagna dinner will be served for $5 per person and children eat free. Come enjoy trail stories and celebrate the 32nd Race to the Sky on Tuesday night, February 14th.

Warren left Seeley Lake at 9:27 a.m. Monday morning with 8 dogs to travel the 70 miles to the finish line. 

 Warren had an hour lead on the Bruggeman father/son team but Spencer has 10 dogs and both Brett Bruggeman and Laurie Warren have 8 dogs.  

Mark Stamm of Riverside, Washington and Neal Bowlen withdrew from the 300 mile race.

LAURIE WARREN is a 53 year old muletrainer from Council, Idaho. She got started helping her sons run teams. She has been mushing for 6 years and has won the 2015 and 2016 Best Cared for Team Award for Race to the Sky 100, she also took 4th place in the Eagle Cap Extreme 200 last month. This is her fourth Race to the Sky. In the lead will be Maya, Conman, Athena and Bessie.

Rick Larson of Sand Coulee, Montana, took first place in the 100 mile race finishing at 7:16 a.m. Sunday followed by Joseph Carson of Wasilla, Alaska at 7:40 a.m. In third place was Roy Etnire of Seeley Lake, Montana at 8:00 a.m. Fourth was Dave Bush of Bend, Oregon at 9:10 a.m., fifth was Steve Riggs of Olney, Montana at 9:15 a.m. and sixth was Steve Madsen of Cougar, Washington at 9:18 a.m. Bino Fowler from Bend, Oregon, came in at 1:30 p.m. in seventh place followed by Adam Buch of Cranbrook, BC, Canada at 2:32 p.m. earning him the Red Lantern Award.

Meg Conklin received the Sportsmanship Award along with the Herbst family. Conklin, a junior musher, helped get Maeva Waterman’s team into the next checkpoint. Kali Herbst’s family helped bring in Clayton Perry’s team after he got injured. The Best Cared for Team Award was given by Dr. Kathy Topham to Joe Carson for excellence and professionalism taking care of his team.

100 Mile Race Finishers

1st place:  Rick Larson, Sand Coulee, Montana

2nd place:  Joseph Carson, Wasilla, Alaska

3rd place:  Roy Etnire, Seeley Lake, Montana

4th place:  Dave Bush, Bend, Oregon

5th place:  Steve Riggs, Olney, Montana

6th place:  Steve Madsen, Cougar, Washington

7th place:   Bino Fowler, Bend, Oregon

8th place:  Adam Buch, Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada

Junior:  Meg Conklin, Boise, Idaho