Jennifer Campeau
from Atka Kennel out of Rocky Mountain House.
If any
part of that sentence sounds familiar,
it could be because Jennifers' husband, Jason, has run the
Challenge coming in 3rd place in 2014.
Or it could be the fact he ran the Iditarod twice and as I
write this is running his second Yukon Quest...BUT.... It shouldn't be the
reason that the name sounds familiar.
It should be because Jennifer won the open class
at the Canadian Challenge in 2014 and it should
be because she won the 2014 Eagle Cap Extreme Pot race It should also be because she qualified in
two races last year at the Eagle Cap Extreme and Race to the Sky.
OR How about that this year she will be using
this race to Qualify in order to run either the Iditarod or the Yukon Quest
with her husband next year.
6 years ago Jennifer
and her family moved from Ontario to Alberta making the decision to live on an
acreage. It had been Jason's boyhood
dream to own and run sled dogs and now that they lived in a location to allow this
he bought a few dogs for the family to enjoy.
This however (and maybe it was his plan all along) hooked the entire
family and they ended up with enough dogs for both Jason and Jennifer to each
run their own team.
Jennifer is back
using the Challenge as her final qualifier as she really enjoyed her last
experience here saying it was a really well run race and the hospitality was
great at all the check points.
10 of her 12 dogs
are between 1 and 2 years old. All
Rookies to the Canadian Challenge and in fact running their second race in
their first year of racing. It is all
about learning and growing for the pups as Jennifer shared with me the
experience of the first check stop in which all the dogs stood the entire time,
tails wagging with a wondering look at 'Mom' as if to say, "what's going
on, what are you up to?"
By the time they hit
the second check stop they quickly figured things out and settled down to
rest. Jennifer is quite excited about
this young team, especially her new young leader Easton. At 2 years of age he is fast and knows all of
his commands.
Jennifer will not be
alone in this race as her twin daughters will be coming along, the perfect
cheering squad. Knowing family is
waiting at each check stop (even if it can only be to share a smile when you are
qualifying) makes each run have a sweet purpose.
Photo Credit; Jennifers Facebook Profile
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