Tailwind Kennels

10/02/2025

Since 2000 only 7 races have had women finish in the top ten of the ! Finishing this race is a major accomplishment and these women are tough competitors who inspire women around the world! This post has been changed a few times. The Kusko300 site has amazing archives but sometimes I make mistakes.

09/02/2025

That’s a wrap for our team! Phew! Great race. The dogs looked awesome with happy wagging tails at the finish line. It’s 40 degrees and blowing this morning but so far the trail and river are holding up. Sam sent our almost 10 year old super star Radar home in Tuluksak as well as Scout. Little Missy took up the slack and led home with Siri by her side. We are very proud of Sam and the team. What a wild year! Despite the lack of snow, busy work schedule and new baby at home we somehow once again pulled off a competitive kusko race.
The finishing team 🐕
Missy Siri
Malcolm Ralph
Star Jasmin
King Cleo
Paul Oscar

Biggest thanks to: Mary Boniface for the hours she put into training the team, cutting meat and all things animal. We hope she joins us in Bethel next year but are thankful to have her home keeping the kennel moving this week.

Big thanks to the Klejka family. Joe and Jackie have been supporting Jessica and her professional mushing hobby for 30+ years. Lucy and Luke are lucky to have such wonderful grandparents.
Thanks to the Brewer family for always stepping in to help with kids, hosting a check point for training run, or making a last second wind/water coat. We couldn’t pull off our competitive mushing or lifestyle without you.
Also thanks to Colby Spears our previous jr. Iditarod standout for stepping back on the runners this year to help us truck the team and family north for some training miles and winter camps. We love having you on our team.

And finally we always have to thank the Kusko champ Pete Kaiser and Myron Angstman for all the really good dogs over the years.

Now back to bed before Luke and Lucy wake up to celebrate with their dad🙌🎉🐾

Sam Brewer arrived in 13th place at 4:32 in the morning with 10 dogs. He said he was happy with his young leader dog Missy who was a rockstar throughout the race!

08/02/2025

Great footage of the start and our team too. Look for our real sled and Sam’s orange kusko 300 hat❤️
Missy and Radar leading the way

08/02/2025

Video of Sam leaving the halfway point

08/02/2025

Eleven hours into the 2025 Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race, most mushers are taking their first rest in Kalskag, around a third of the way through the race. Mushers are keeping a relatively quick pace and enjoying the smooth trail – with one exception.

08/02/2025

Kuskokwim 300 start 2025
This year the race started 2 weeks late due to poor trail conditions. The race normally starts 3rd week of January but this year Alaska had an unseasonable warm winter. The race is known for its evening start time and post start firework display. However the weather is threatening again to interfere with the race so yesterday the race decided to push the start time 7 hours early. Phew, it’s been a busy last few days.
Our musher left bib #7 on one of the prettiest days in Bethel. The sun was shining, the wind believe it our not was hardly blowing and the snow was plentiful🐾

07/02/2025

25/03/2024

The first 3 days of the 2024 Iditarod we enjoyed nice temperatures and besides the first 40 miles of the burn, great trails. In Nikolai I had to repair my sled bag with dental floss after a run in with a boulder while on a very bumpy section between Rohn and Nikolai.

22/03/2024

Only picture I got in the burn. To read a description of this section of trail visit: https://iditarod.com/zuma/virtual-trail-journey-the-trail-from-rohn-to-nikolai/

21/03/2024

Iditarod startline photos
Thanks Toni Reitter❤️
Lead dogs Radar and Sally both 9 yrs old

16/02/2024

Busy busy week!
✅ All food for dogs and Jessica cut, packaged and shipped out on the trail
✅ All dogs received their pre-race blood screening ( CBC and chemistry panel) as well as 12 lead EKG’s
A few steps closer to Nome🐾

Comment below to guess how many pounds of kibble, beef, chicken, salmon and other treats were shipped out for the team and Jess to eat on the trail. 🙌

Interested in sponsoring the dogs and Jessica as they mush to Nome? Or maybe you want some kennel apparel? Visit our website: https://www.tailwindkennels.com/copy-of-2019-main-sponsors

12/02/2024

Goose Bay 160! 🐕🐕🐕
Fun race, close to home with the best atmosphere where the volunteers and competitors are all your friends❤️ What a good race. 🐾🐾🐾
Sam finished in 2nd place. He took a little detour this morning going on the wrong trail towards Deshka but got back on the trail and then worked hard to catch up to the speedy Sled Dog Systems Racing team run by Dakota. Sam says he’s tired after running up most of the hills. This course has a lot of hills! So proud of Sam who finished with his whole team looking bright and with the same leaders: Missy and Sally who finished the kusko 300 with me!
Sam had a exciting race after he hit a stump pretty hard in the first 5 miles of the race, broke the bridle for his sled ( where the main dog lines attach to the sled) and had to rely on his hooks catching to stop the team. He did his Sam thing and MacGyvered the sled to make the course. Good thing we love our sled makers and they just happened to place 3rd place and will help us repair the sled in the coming days. Good job Sam our most recent Iditarod qualified musher!💪

Mary ran another exceptional race earning her another Iditarod qualifier! Not to be outdone by Sam, Mary also wanted to add a few miles to her run. Hahaha just kidding. But she also found the detour and her and the team added a few more miles before getting back on the trail and I am sure they kept smiling despite the hiccup. Wahoo! Go Mary, we have loved having her train and race with us this winter. The day before the race Mary also assisted me with an abdominal exploratory surgery! Wow, it been a busy week. Mary ran a smooth race and also finished with her whole team running Cleo and Radar to the finish in lead. It’s also worth noting Bug and Lindy finished making this their first dograce! These youngsters ran across the finish line barking!🎉big thanks to Turning Heads Kennel for letting Mary borrow Lexi and Shak!

Biggest thanks to the Tug Bar for hosting this event and feeding our mushers as well as the superb vets, vet techs and volunteers. This race is just fun to be around! Also to Tj and Dana for your help at the start!🐾

Also could not have accomplished the weekend without the help of our longest supporters:Mom Klejka, Sam’s parents, Mike ( Jessica and Sam’s kindergarten PE teacher) and Cathy Lucas.❤️

Now it’s time to prep for our next race: The Iditarod 🙌
Jessica