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 Montana's 17^th Annual Race to the Sky 

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Harmony Kanavle is the 2002 Race to the Sky Champion!!!
February 13, 2002 Noon

Harmony Kanavle beat her soon-to-be father-in-law John Barron in a race that literally was not decided until the last hill.  Kanavle and Barron left the last checkpoint at Seeley Lake just one minute apart yesterday afternoon.  (See time stats)  The two remained close together for the next 52 miles, where, at the base of Huckleberry Pass, and 25 miles from the finish, they elected to stop and camp for an hour and a half.  Both Kanavle and Barron are running in Alaska's Iditarod in early March, and they wanted to give the dogs the extra rest at the base of Huckleberry to ensure that the dogs were going to be healthy and strong for the upcoming Iditarod.  Buck Church of Chirstmas Valley, OR, was runnining in third place, but was 2 1/2 hours behind them leaving from his mandatory 6-hour rest at Seeley Lake.  This gave Barron and Kanavle the cushion they needed to stop and rest.

After 90 minutes of resting, both teams were ready to go, and the race up and over the pass to the finish was on.  "She's a good dog driver," Barron said of Kanavle after the race.  Harmony was able to pull ahead of John and beat him to the finish line by 13 minutes to become the fourth woman to win Montana's Race to the Sky, which has been run 17 times.

As of the time of this article, 8 teams had crossed the finish line at Hi-Country Beef Jerky outside Lincoln.  Behind Kanavle were John Barron, Buck Church, Clint Hallam, Karen Land, Cindy Gallea, Rob Greger, and Harry Lambirth, in that order.

Of the 23 teams that started the race, 17 are still in the running.  The last musher to scratch was Nancy Sweeney of Elliston, MT, who had trouble on the run from Holland Lake back to Seeley Lake.  Paul Strahl and Janet Whitesell are expected to finish at Hi-Country shortly.

Only Lachlan Clark remains in Seeley Lake.  The rest of the teams left by 8:46 this morning.  Clark arrived at 5:20, and is planning to rest all day because he doesn't want to leave Seeley Lake during the heat of the day.  This move is especially prudent given that the weather is likely to be clear and sunny all day.  

In order to be classified as an official finisher, teams must cross the finish line by Noon on Thursday.  

A post-race banquet is scheduled to be held at 6PM Thursday at the Lincoln Community Center.

--Reporting from somewhere between Lincoln and Seeley along MT Hwy 200--Jim Gallea, Ultimate Iditarod.