Iditarod

[vdub]

There's a familar face in this year's musher line-up....

Cindy Abbott - Musher Details - 2013 Iditarod - Iditarod (http://iditarod.com/race/2013/mushers/974-Cindy-Abbott/)

12 days to start... Good luck, Cindy! Just getting a team togeather and qualifing to start is a major accomplishment.

[pberggren1]

I think that would be so much fun racing the dogs.

[mishb]

Cindy really needs everyones help at the moment.

She needs some donations of any amount to help her feed the dogs and also to enable her to purchase some high powered battery that will help with light so that she can see.

You can visit her website www.reachingbeyondtheclouds.com (http://www.reachingbeyondtheclouds.com) if you can spare a couple of dollars


I wish Cindy safe travels

[chrisTIn@]

Cindy really needs everyones help at the moment.

She needs some donations of any amount to help her feed the dogs and also to enable her to purchase some high powered battery that will help with light so that she can see.

You can visit her website www.reachingbeyondtheclouds.com (http://www.reachingbeyondtheclouds.com) if you can spare a couple of dollars


I wish Cindy safe travels

I wish Cindy safe travels too! :thumbsup:
Thanks for the link, Michelle. What a beautifully designed new website!
Nice pictures of the dogs, wow.

I couldn't find a bank-account number though.
Where can I make a donation for dogfood?

[drz]

I wish Cindy safe travels too! :thumbsup:
Thanks for the link, Michelle. What a beautifully designed new website!
Nice pictures of the dogs, wow.

I couldn't find a bank-account number though.
Where can I make a donation for dogfood?

Under the Iditarod link there is a link for donate but I only see info on how to donate through pay pal.

[annekat]

Wow, Cindy is a true inspiration. A person with Wegener's accomplishing those things at such high altitudes and low temperatures... truly amazing. Do check out the link to her great website and all the photos there.

[Sangye]

Saw this on Facebook today.

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[Debbie C]

Read Ciny's story and looked at her pics. What an inspiration she is

[pberggren1]

That's cute Sangye. Thanks for sharing.

[vdub]

I guess the race starts this weekend. I believe the way it works is that they will have a ceremonial start in Anchorage on Saturday, then move the teams to Willow for the real start Sunday, but not real certain of that. Sure wish I could be up there for it, but I have a hard enough time just going to the store or mailbox.

[vdub]

The ceremonial start for the race was today. Tomorrow the real race starts at Willow. I usually follow the Iditarod fairly closely, so once in a while I'll post standings on where Cindy is. But, you can always follow the race yourself, too. Here are some links that are handy.

Current Standings (http://iditarod.com/race/2013/) -- this is the most important link if you are going to follow the teams

Checkpoint Distances (http://iditarod.com/race/2013/checkpoints/)

Route (http://iditarod-collaborative-project.wikispaces.com/file/view/IditarodMapSouthRoute.jpg/60040114/IditarodMapSouthRoute.jpg) -- this is an odd year, so they take the southern route

[vdub]

And they are off.... Cindy is still hanging in there.....

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[vdub]

Cindy at Finger Lakes...
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This is from Wikipedia.... The stretch from Finger Lake to Rainy Pass (http://www.wegeners-granulomatosis.com/w/index.php?title=Rainy_Pass,_Alaska&action=edit&redlink=1), on Puntilla Lake, becomes more difficult, as the teams follow the narrow Happy River Gorge, where the trail balances on the side of a heavily forested incline. Rainy Pass is the most dangerous check point in the Iditarod. In 1985, Jerry Austin broke a hand and two of his dogs were injured when the sled went out of control and hit a stand of trees. Many others have suffered from this dangerous checkpoint. Rainy Pass is part of the Historic Iditarod Trail, but until 1976 the pass was inaccessible and route detoured through Ptarmigan Pass (http://www.wegeners-granulomatosis.com/w/index.php?title=Ptarmigan_Pass,_Alaska&action=edit&redlink=1), also known as Hellsgate, because of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake (http://www.wegeners-granulomatosis.com/wiki/Good_Friday_Earthquake).

[mishb]

Loving these updates and the history surrounding the route, vdub :biggrin1:

I have been following Cindy's progress, but this last bit of information from you (Cindy at Finger Lakes) puts it in to perspective, of just how dangerous it is.

Someone said to Cindy (on fb) the other day - If you told me that you were going to go to the Moon for your next challenge, I wouldn't doubt that you will do it (something like that)

[vdub]

She made it to Rainy Pass. That's quite an accomplish all on its own. Now she heads out into the bush. Miles and miles of nothing. Usually they have a webcam at Rainy Pass, but this is doctor'n day for me, so I don't have time to look it up. Maybe tonight.

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[vdub]

Not good news for Cindy....
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This is from the Anchorage Daily.....
FINGER LAKE: Iditarod notebook: Mushers test-drive 'pee pants' | Iditarod Sled Dog Race | ADN.com (http://www.adn.com/2013/03/04/2812072/iditarod-notebook-have-faith-buser.html)

Injured Abbott fears a scratch

In 2010, Cindy Abbott became the 40th American woman to summit Mount Everest. Running the Iditarod has been harder, she said Monday, just a day into the race.

Abbott said she may not finish the trek to Nome.

Suffering from a rare and incurable disease that damages blood vessels, the rookie musher takes 16 pills a day and is functionally blind in one eye. But it was a wrong turn early in the race by her lead dog, Dred, that put Abbott's Iditarod dream in jeopardy, she said.

About 20 miles from starting line in Willow, Dred aimed for a branching path that Abbott believes is a part of the Junior Iditarod trail.
"He's his own man and he's sure that that was the trail," Abbott said. She yelled to the team -- "Haw!" -- trying to force a U-turn.
"We spun my sled around about three times," Abbott said. "I ended up doing the splits."

Abbott, 54, suspects she tore a muscle. Her right leg is "working at about one-third power," she said.

Abbott managed to control the sled on the 40-run into Finger Lake despite a punchy trail ribbed with trenches, she said. But she worries about her ability to wrestle the dog sled for remaining 800 miles. Abbott planned to nap Monday night and attempt the 30-mile stretch to Rainy Pass overnight.

That leg ends with the infamous Happy River Steps, a series of switchbacks that threaten sleds and bones. If the trip goes well, she'll consider pushing onward to Nome, she said.

"This is really sort of a bummer, because I will scratch if I feel like I can't manage the sled for dog safety," Abbott said.

Finishing a plate of beans, chicken and rice Monday afternoon, she stood slowly, aching. This will be her only shot at finishing the Iditarod, Abbott said.


"Most people with my disease (Wegener's granulomatosis) they are lucky to be able to get out of bed or walk up a flight of stairs," she said.

Read more here: FINGER LAKE: Iditarod notebook: Mushers test-drive 'pee pants' | Iditarod Sled Dog Race | ADN.com (http://www.adn.com/2013/03/04/2812072/iditarod-notebook-have-faith-buser.html#storylink=cpy)

[pberggren1]

Oh no! I sure feel for Cindy. She has worked so hard for this. It doesn't sound hopeful that she can finish.

[mishb]

It doesn't matter if she doesn't finish.........she gave it a shot :thumbsup:

She is super amazing, has completed all of the lead up races and on top of all of that she is in a WG flare ........ but even now, if she cannot finish, she is still raising awareness for vasculitis and WG and what better way to do it.

Good luck Cindy.

[annekat]

Cindy made the Huffington Post....
Stacey Gualandi: At 54, Cindy Abbott Runs the Iditarod to Raise Awareness of Her Rare Disease (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stacey-gualandi/cindy-abbott-iditarod_b_2808912.html)

[vdub]

She has left Rohn....
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[pberggren1]

Wow, she is going on.

[mishb]

Go Cindy :thumbsup:

She certainly is a trooper and an inspiration

I was thinking about it last night and the more she goes on (whilst injured) the more coverage she will get about her condition.
I just hope that she knows when to stop and say - that's it, enough is enough.

Safe travels Cindy

[Sangye]

Just catching up with this thread. Wow, I hope she's okay. Cindy's a really incredible athlete. :thumbsup:

[pberggren1]

It's amazing how some with Wegs can do so much physical stuff like that.