Marianne Skjøthaug is getting tired.
Skrevet av: Tine Johansen/ transl. Elisabeth Simonsen
Foto: Kim F.O. Nordsveen
Dato: 13.03.2013 18:51
Former world champion Marianne Skjøthaug (47) from Langfjorden in Alta is sitting among her dogs, putting ointment on sore paws. She is the 2011 World Champion in the 8 dog-team-class and has long experience as a musher. She is not very tall, but looks like a real musher lady, used to hard work. And that impression is probably right, because she has been a handler for her husband, Arne Karlstrøm for 20 years in FL-1000. This is the first year she is part of the longest race herself, but she has previously raced FL-500 to a second place, and has been respectively in third and first place in Femund-400. In other words she not completely hopeless when it comes to dog sled racing.
Spa-treatment in progress. Photo: Kim F.O. Nordsveen
-If I am getting tired? Yes, I do. It has been fine, really, but it gets hard sometimes. I have ten dogs now, which is good, but they have a few aches here and there. This means you have to make some choices, to take them out or let them stay in the team. I had some trouble leaving the last checkpoint, no one really wanted to take the lead. But as soon as they got moving things were fine.
A clever face peeking up from the hay, searching for eye contact. Photo: Kim F.O. Nordsveen
The dog next to Marianne is looking at the photographer and wagging his tale. It certainly doesn’t look tired. Marianne is petting it, telling him he is a real good boy. –They have eaten well, but right now they are tired and not very bright.
Bright and happy, a real good boy. Photo: Kim F.O. Nordsveen
She keeps moving, talking and cuddling the dogs. –This year I will make it to the finish line, which is the only plan. I haven’t raced this long before, so it’s a high enough goal for me right now. Some legs have been hard, some easier, most of them have been easy actually. It has been good; it is just difficult from time to time. Because I haven’t done the long race before I wind up standing at the back of the sled, wondering, thinking, and pondering. How is this really going? But my spirits are high, they have to be.
Marianne keeps her spirits up. Photo: Kim F.O. Nordsveen