Come run with us and our elite canine athletes! Join us for the exciting 2009/ 2010 racing season. This year we are excited for Michelle to take on a new challenge - the world-famous 1,000-mile Iditarod. Ed will be running many mid distance races as well, such as the Sheep Mountain 150, the Gin Gin 200, the Quest 300, the CB 300 and the Percy DeWolfe.

    Throughout our long winters, you can experience the pristine beauty of the Yukon Southern Lake’s region in the best possible way – by dog team. Nestled among breathtaking mountains and majestic waters, Pristine Wilderness Tours offers an experience that is as unique and as personal as their intimate family run kennel.

    For the past 11 years Ed, Michelle and Keegan and up to 55 Alaskan huskies have been providing visitors with adventures from 1 hour to 7 days. With our combined experience of some 35 years we would love to share some of our knowledge with you.

    Ed has been running dogs for 25 years and has completed 5 Yukon Quests, including finishing 8th in one of the coldest Quests on record. Michelle has been running dogs for 11 years and has completed 4 Yukon Quests, finishing 8th twice, 6th in 2007 and 4th in 2008.

    Are you interested in racing yourself? Do you have dreams of testing yourself in the Northern wilds? Contact us for information.

Ed and Michelle sell, feed and recommend Momentum Dog Food and Pursuit. Dr Tim Hunt has supported our dreams and gives us the best product to get to the starting line. Check out Dr. Tim’s web site at www.drtims.com. We now also carry Hydrolyte, a canine electrolyte replacement energizer and antioxidant. Contact us for prices.

We would like to thank our Platinum Sponsor, Yukon Zinc. Yukon Zinc’s support helps us to “Live Our Dream”, and we are proud to support mining in the North. Yukon Zinc is helping to make our dreams possible!

    We would like to thank Lindy and Spike of Alaska Discovery RV Tours for their continued love & support - they have paid our entry fee for the 2010 Iditarod. Also Murray and Cathy of ExploreNorth, who cover all of our Web site related expenses.

    If you would like to meet some of the dogs in training for this year’s season, click here. Help us out by sponsoring our team - there are many levels of sponsorship from a personal level to corporate sponsorship.

There are many things I love about being a musher. One is that I am so in the moment. Experiencing the extremes of racing makes me feel more alive and strangely, that brings death closer. I think our society shuns death and we need to realize it is a part of life. Raising funds for Hospice Yukon as I run the Iditarod this year makes the race all the more meaningful. My reasons for wanting to support Hospice come from my personal experiences with the deaths of my loved ones and my own grief. Sometimes these losses still overwhelm me with sadness. I personally experienced the warmth and support of Hospice Yukon during these times, even years after my loss. This has helped me in acknowledging my grief and working through it. I think it is important for everyone to be supported while they are grieving or dying. In the 2010 Iditarod, I will be carrying 100 handcrafted Feelie Hearts on behalf of Hospice Yukon Society. My 2010 Iditarod will be run in memory of Thalina Tchulokovsky, who passed away from ALS on May 8th, 2009, and my beloved lead dog Choutla who passed away July 23rd, 2009. Feelie Hearts began with a grieving four year old girl whose mother had died. She was given a small, stuffed fabric heart to carry with her, understanding the soft heart neatly tucked in her pocket was proof of her mother’s existence and love for her. It gave her permission to remember and to grieve her loss which was far too vast for words alone. The Feelie Heart story has traveled to Hospices around the world, comforting dying people and those who love them. Now 100 hand crafted Feelie Hearts will travel the 1000 mile Yukon Quest Trail in Michelle’s sled bag. The power of these small, lopsided, fuzzy hearts is in the tangible way they remind us to handle our own hearts carefully, to remember that love is never far away and compassion and understanding are readily available. They may be purchased from Hospice Yukon for a tax deductible donation of $100 or more and will be sent out following the race with a copy of Michelle’s race journal, the Feelie Heart story and a team photograph. To purchase your very own Feelie Heart or one for someone you love, please contact Hospice Yukon: Hospice Yukon 409 Jarvis Street Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 2H4 Phone: 867-667-7429 On the Web at hospiceyukon.net