This weekend saw some of our members take part in the AMWA Christmas trek. With a choice of distances Kelly and her daughter Isabelle took part with their gorgeous malamutes.

The NATBs are so proud of our members but especially Isabelle as she is the youngest person to ever complete a trek in the UK. At just 8 years old she completed 18 miles over 2 days. On the Sunday she ran Dushka and Monday she ran Tinker.

The trek was across Salsbury plains and we all know how tough that terrain is, mud, puddles, hills, more mud, ruts, a bit more mud!
She was an absolute trooper and Kelly is rightly proud of her achievements. What a fab musher we have in our club with a huge future ahead of her. Well done both of you, we are shouting from the roof tops how amazing you are :)

​UPDATE - Isabelle is more famous by the day, appearing in national newspapers. This shows how amazing her achievement truly is - well done again :)

From the Western Daily Press

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/girl-dog-tackle-wilds-Salisbury-Plain/story-28450360-detail/story.html

and Mushing magazine in the US

http://www.mushing.com/articles/content.php?vw=3,0,0,2001

and the MOD site

http://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/fotoweb/NewsPackages.fwx?

​

At the weekend some members thought a swim around Salisbury plains would be a good idea, throw in some mud and ruts that would challenge an monster truck and the dogs and mushers all had a marvelous time!!

A fair number of NATBs attended the annual BSA Ringwood event this weekend and put on a jolly good show!

As always Zara and Chris ran a great event - organisation and fun factor A star levels.
It was great to see the regulars and enjoy the company of fellow mushers.

With only a couple of dramas - Mel took a slight tumble when her team decided the water puddle was much more fun than the track, and Claire missed a marker by whizzing along at a fair pace.
​The team however enjoyed the trail, and the dogs all loved it more!

The weather was again trying but this time due to the warmth, come on Jack Frost, where are you??

Results

DR4
Melanie Sheehan - 2nd
Mark Bird 8th

DRF2
Emma Giles 5th

DB
Mark Perry 2nd
Kane Kington 3rd
Maggie Bird 4th

DS2
Claire Spencer 3rd

DCM/W
Claire Spencer 1st
Dan Brown 2ns
Rachael Brown 4th

DCJ
Elise Instone 1st

Last week a troop of NATBs arrived en mass at the Midlands third race weekend, to say they arrived ready to do battle is a good description, but not to necessarily battle with others (or each other), it was of course against the weather!

With high winds and rain predicted they knew it was not going to be an easy event, Box End is quiet open so any head on winds would lose them time and cause a tough race to be even harder.

However, the NATBs stepped up to the plate and got some fabulous results and as always our hearts swell with pride :)

Results

Bikejor Female - 
Emily Thomas 2nd
Elaine Sherwin 5th
Lisa Stone 7th

Scooter Female - 
Claire Spencer 1st
Melanie Sheehan 2nd

Scooter Male -
Mark Mazzucca 1st
Chris Hannan 3rd

Female Canicross -
Lucy Matthews 1st

Master Female Canicross
Elaine Sherwin 1st

Master Male Canicross
Alan Sherwin 3rd
​
2 Dog Female Canicross
Nicole Sherwin 3rd

Junior 8-12 Canicross
Jonathan Ingram 1st

U8 Canicross
Elsie Instone 2nd

Cliff Tarrant, better known by his team name of Team Tea, pounded out the miles again at the weekend by taking part in marathon number 2 - completing an amazing 27.8 miles!!

The dogs got their own medals after powering round with Cliff and finishing in an impressivehrs 4hrs 51 minutes.

Super huge effort, we are very proud and humble of your achievement :)

Well done Team Tea :)o

This month we would like you to meet Elaine and her amazing pack :)
​​
Name: Elaine Sherwin
Member since : February 2013
No of dogs : 9 (soon to be 10) 

From the oldest to youngest:

Gadget: boy: age 12: Border Collie
Finlay: boy: age 9: Pointer (English) 
Tickle: Boy: age 8: Border Collie
Bean: Boy: age 6: Miniature Poodle
Gavin: Boy: age 5: Pointer (English)
Elmo : Boy: age 4: Miniature Poodle
Kiss: Girlie: age 4: Border Collie
Daphne: Girlie: age 2: Pointer (English)
Goose: Boy: age 1: Pointer (English) 
Arriving next week is : 
Uma:Girlie: age 15 weeks: Greyster 

Occupation: Self employed Dog Groomer
Lives in :Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
Dog Sports participated in: Canicross, Agility & Bikejor 

Q1. How did I start in the sport:
​    I had been looking for a way to get into running & Gavin always pulled when he was       on a lead so I decided to start running with him!

Q2. First dog I raced:
​     Gavin

Q3. How I came to own my dogs:
     I have always loved Pointers as a breed, I love how they look, their athleticism,  
     trainability & amazing temperament! I met my husband through the dogs & he loves
     Collies as a breed ! Whilst doing agility I also came to love how cheeky Min Poodles
     are & vowed to have one in the family..... A couple of years later Bean joined us &
     blew us away with his big dog attitude!! 

Q4. Interesting fact about my dogs:
     When they all participated in an intelligence test Gavin came out on top, followed by
     Tickle & Bean whereas Kiss & Elmo came out bottom!!!  

Q5. Interesting fact about myself:
     I spent my teenage years touring round the country playing in tennis tournaments 

Q6. Biggest achievement in a race:
     This has to be winning gold with Daphne in France at the ECF European
     Championships in 2014 (master ladies canicross) 

Q7. Dogs favourite treats:
     Tripe sticks 

Q8. Favourite song:
     Love lifts us up (from my favourite film) 

Q9. Favourite film:
     An Officer & A Gentleman  

Q10. Favourite cake :
​     Coffee cake 

Apologies for the delay on this write up, its been a bit mad lately!

The NATBs attended the first BSA event of the season (Thruxton was cancelled due to the warm weather) and it was lovely to see some old faces and have a good catch up. As always it was good to see new people entering the sport and enjoying the atmosphere of the well run event.

It was a bit of an eventful weekend for the NATBs, some great racing but a few injuries! Importantly all dogs were fine in the making of this blog....!

Petra and Dan ended up as "man down" after the event, through no fault of the event we hasten to add, and the club would again like to thank everyone who helped look after them during the the hour of their need.

No team pic i'm afraid as it was a ll a bit hectic, but some from the weekend for viewing :)

Results

DR4
Petra Broadbelt - 2nd
Maggie Bird - 5th

DRF2
Emma Giles 4th

DS2
Chris Hannan - 6th

DB1
Kane Kington - 1st
Mark Perry - 2nd

DCM/W
Dan Brown - 1st

DRJ2
Kieran Hannan - 1st