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NOME
March 16, 2008

***CONGRATS TO WAYNE AND HIS TEAM!!***

Team Stormwatch crossed under the burled arch at 14:25:26 on Sunday, March 16, 2008.
Wayne and 13 of his dogs crossed the finish line in Nome.
Placing 71st in 13 days 23 hours 25 minutes 26 seconds

Wayne under the burled arch in Nome!!! (left)

The Outwater family - Peggy, Percy, Ruby and CJ. The Outwaters graciously host Team Stormwatch while they are in Nome.

Koyuk
March 12, 2008
Wayne did enjoy his pizza. But in Koyuk!!!

Nulato
March 11, 2008 - early a.m.
Kotz and Shak were the next two dogs to be dropped.
Anvik had been dropped earlier in the race.

The following is a direct quote from Wayne concerning all 3 dropped dogs:

"Anvik was dropped because of an injury to her rear leg from a line getting wrapped around it while going into one of several 5 to 15 feet deep trenches on the down hill slopes caused by snow machines and dog sleds braking going down hills."

"Kotz slipped just out side of Ruby where the trail on the unplowed road was plowed near the village. He did a front leg split and his tricepts were instantly streched too far. I put him in the bag for 1/4 mile then massaged him for 20 minutes every two hours until we were ready to leave. Being that I had 14 other dogs and we were now on the flat Yukon River I cleared a nice roomy space for him in the sled with a coulple of dog coats for a bed. I peddled on the stretch to Galena to help. IN galena I repeated the massage and stayed a little while longer. I put Kotz back in the team as the vets and I thought he looked good. He was a trooper but about half way to Nulato he started hopping again so I put him in the bag."

"Shaktoolik is a big black and white dog. He was my dog that I watched to know if it was to warm to run. He was doing ok but in Galena he wasn't his normal self. In Nulato he seemed very tired and as much time as we were resting, because of the heat, I was hoping the cold weather would come. The forecast was sunny warm for 3-4 more days. Black dogs and sun aren't the best combo so Shak stayed with his buddy Kotz. They were not happy as I pulled the snow hook and went past them in the baseball field that was the dog lot in Nulato."

They are all home and recovering nicely.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nulato,_Alaska
http://www.sitnews.net/JuneAllen/Nulato/030304_nulato.html

THE CEREMONIAL START
OF THE IDITAROD IN
DOWNTOWN ANCHORAGE

Mary Williams, from Wisconsin, was Wayne's lucky IditaRider.

For more coverage and photos on the 2008 Race check out these links:
http://www.iditarod.com
http://www.adn.com/iditarod

Saturday March 1, 2008

4th St. in downtown Anchorage filled up fast as the 96 entered mushers readied for the Ceremonial Start of the 2008 Iditarod.

Carol Preble (upper left) stands next to the 'drag' sled she will be handling in the Ceremonial Start.

Team dog Kotz (below) gives a kiss to his 2 legged cousin.

Is there a Driver change?!?!?!?! (below right)

Team Stormwatch held a reception on Friday late afternoon for Sponsors, Friends and Family. The Team dogs got to meet their Sponsors!

Left is the view from Chris and Wayne's upper deck.

Right is Yukon meeting his Sponsor Todd

Thursday February 28, 2008
Sullivan Arena in Anchorage
This is where each musher will personally draw his/her starting position.
Wayne drew number 22.

Newman - 10 years old -
Leader extrodinare (3rd Iditarod)

Luv - 8 years old -
The Queen Leader (3rd Iditarod)

Zamboni - 7 years old (2nd Iditarod) -
Carol Nash and John Linnahan's Boy

Bond - 3 1/2 years old
Bred by Mary and Tom Schonberger

Friends of Team Stormwatch

It took some convincing, but Wayne Curtis of Team Stormwatch has finally made the decision that he is going to run the 2008 Iditarod. This will probably be the last time he will undertake a race of this magnitude. We are again asking for your support. It is estimated that to run an Iditarod, the costs can be as high as $25,000. Please help us make this goal a reality.

Dog sponsorships will again be available to groups as well as individuals. This year sponsorships will be available for a $250.00 donation. Along with the dogs that are in contention for running the race, we will also be offering the sled for sponsorship and again, we will have some Cheerleaders available for sponsorship. These dogs are going to be staying home this time, but will be running in spirit. We are also going to be offering sponsorship for the dogs that have previously run on a Team Stormwatch Iditarod team. Some of these dogs do not live at the Stormwatch kennel at this time, but should be remembered just the same. And we will also have sponsorships for Iditarod team members that have passed onto the "Rainbow Bridge".

One more sponsorship will be available. Corinne Zurfluh, the Team Stormwatch handler has agreed to stay for Iditarod, but needs money to go home for a visit this summer and then to get back to Switzerland at the end of Iditarod. A plane ticket costs about $2,000. We need sponsors for Corinne. This can be a group of people; it does not need to be one person.

For your sponsorship, your name will be published on the Team Stormwatch website under your dog's name as well as the Iditarod website. You will also receive a memento of your sponsorship. At this time, we have the names of the dogs that are available for sponsorship and some of their pictures; the rest will be available soon.

Besides Sponsorships, we will be making some t-shirts, sweatshirts and possible other items available for sale. We also still have some of the limited edition prints from the 2004 race, by Alaskan artist Dave Totten available. The print is of Wayne's 2001 team coming into Rainy Pass. These prints are printed on acid free paper and have a limited edition of 100 prints. If you missed your opportunity to get one of these prints, they will be available for sale for $35 each plus shipping. And for those of you who have a 2004 t-shirt that needs replacing, we have a limited variety of these available. The price on these is $10.00 for short sleeve and $15.00 for long sleeves, plus shipping. Watch for updates on www.iditarodtrail.com. On this website, you can see all the exciting items you can purchase as well as the latest update on sponsorships.

If you would like to sponsor a dog, or order one of the items soon to be on our website, make your check or money order payable to Wayne Curtis and send it to me at the address below. We appreciate your support. Without it, Wayne could not afford to run these races. Let's keep those Siberians out on the trail.

Carol Preble
19005 Harmony Rd
Marengo, IL 60152
815-923-2305
lodgepole@foxvalley.net (inquiries only, please)

Signing Up for the 2008 Iditarod

Wayne was among the 56 mushers that signed up at 1 pm on June 30th, 2007, at the campus of the Iditarod Trail Committee Headquarters in Wasilla, for the 2008 Iditarod. Along with 15 mail in entrants, this is a record number for the first day of sign-ups.

Wayne shows how easy it is to sign up - as easy as 1, 2, 3!!!