Sick dogs slow Maixner’s run

NOME — Kelly Maixner had a faster team this year than last, but it turns out even more mature dogs can’t outrun a stomach bug.

“I started noticing it the first day,” Maixner said of his 2013 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race run.

But, on the upside, he got to hone some of his dog handling skills.

“I got real good at giving the dogs pills,” he said.

Maixner, a dentist when he’s not racing sled dogs, said his method for that was pretty simple: “I just open their mouths and throw them in and put my fingers in there and push them down a little bit.”

The dogs didn’t like it at first, but were pretty much used to it as they got close to Nome.

Maixner, who has been participating in a series of Frontiersman stories about Iditarod 2013, said this was the toughest of the three Iditarods he’s finished.

“The dog sickness made it so much harder than any of the other ones,” he said.

He’s not alone. This year, teams up and down the trial — from Martin Buser’s team to Jake Berkowitz’s team — were weathering sickness. Jason Mackey of Meadow Lakes dropped out in Unalakleet because he himself had become sick. It’s not clear exactly what the cause was; whether warm temperatures contributed to food spoilage or whether it was just a bug the dogs were passing around.

Maixner spoke via a spotty cellphone connection from Nome, where he was 31st to cross under the burled arch, a moment his wife, Margaret Maixner, immortalized on Facebook thusly:

“Kelly and the team are in! He finished at 7:57 a.m. in 31st place. He certainly is consistent: 30th in 2011, 32nd in 2012, and 31st this year. He and the dogs looked tired but happy. Everyone has been fed and is getting some much-deserved sleep.”

This year saw a new record set for oldest winner when Mitch Seavey, 54, of Seward, took the title. The top finishing Valley musher was Seavey’s son and Maixner’s friend, 2012 champ and holder of the record for youngest winner, Dallas Seavey, 26, who placed fourth.

As of Saturday afternoon when Maxiner spoke, 50 racers had crossed the finish line, including 15 local mushers. Only four racers were still on the course, including Big Lake’s James Volek, an Iditarod rookie who was running third from last on his way to Safety, and last-place musher Bob Chlupach of Willow, who was in White Mountain.

So what do you do in Nome while you’re waiting for everything to wrap up?

Maixner said he’s been watching television and going out some at night.

“I had a poker night with some of my friends,” he said. “I just hang out and relax, sleep a lot and recover. That’s been nice, I got a lot of sleep.”

He said his dogs that made it to Nome, all nine of them, were back in the Valley. His father-in-law is a pilot in Talkeetna and flew them back. The dogs that were dropped off along the trail were flown to Anchorage, where his sister-in-law was taking care of them until he returns to pick them up.

He said he only dropped one dog due to injury. The other six he had to drop because they were sick. Actually, that’s not 100 percent accurate.

“I dropped one in Safety just because I wanted to go a little bit faster,” he said. “He also was sick, which is why he wasn’t moving as fast.”

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.