and will feature 2006 Iditarod Rookie of the Year Mike Jayne!
WELCOME TO THE FORUM MIKE!This thread is now open for questions, ask away!
Mike agreed to join us here and share his "rookie" perspective in running the '06 Iditarod where he placed 25th and garnered the "Rookie of the Year" distinction. He also has the record for the 8th fastest rookie time so far.
Mike lives in Fairbanks now but was born in Iowa and grew up on a hog farm there. When he was 16, his family moved to the remote Brooks Range and lived "off the grid" far removed from the luxuries of modern life . While living there, they were featured in the book "Looking For Alaska" by Peter Jenkins. Mike began mushing in 2000 and since his dad does veterinarian work for many Iditarod mushers, he was interested in running it for a long time.
Mike Jayne wrote:I commercial fish in the summers and race dogs in the winter. I also buy and sell land and I'm in the middle of building a house right now. Takes time when you're working alone. I've been self employed for 4 years now. I've run several races for the last six years and now I'm taking a few years off from racing.
Mike ran the Yukon Quest in 2007 putting in a solid top ten performance in 8th place. He won the special "Challenge of the North Award" for running 750 miles of it with only 8 dogs.
Mike Jayne wrote:I had a bunch of dogs get sick and hurt early in the race, so it cut my team almost in half right away.
Here is an awesome YouTube clip of Mike and his team going up Eagle Summit, really gives you an idea of the scope of that terrain-Amazing!
Last year Mike ran the Kobuk 440 with an impressive 2nd place finish amidst a field of veterans.
Check out his Facebook and Myspace pages on the links below;
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profi ... =751976375
MySpace: http://myspace.com/michaeljayne
All pictures used with permission