Their first dog sled was built using a pair of downhill skies and a milk crate. Their first pulling dogs were a Border Collie and a Great Pyrenees. Their first runs with their make shift sled pulled m=by their make shift sled dogs were taken in Northern Wisconsin. Since then, the Berington Twins have come a long way in the mushing world. Anna and Kristi joined the National Guard and ended up in California. Anna worked for a sled dog touring company. Kristin worked on a ranch. The Beringtons came to Alaska to get into sled dogs and they found themselves some excellent mentors. Anna has trained with Iditarod musher Scott Janssen and Iditarod Champion Dean Osmar. Kristi has trained with musher Paul Gebhardt and Dean Osmar.
With today’s finish, Kristi has completed Iditarod six times. Her best finishes have been in 2011 and today, placing 29th. Anna has run four times and today’s 28th place finish was by far her best. in Two earlier races the twins have entered the chute at the same time and have crossed the finish line holding hands. Today there was about a four minute difference between the twins’ finish times. Kristi is also a veteran of the Yukon Quest.
The dogs on both teams were highly spirited and really weren’t interested in stopping after making it to Nome. They trotted into the chute enthusiastically and trotted down to the dog lot after the burled arch festivities. These were very happy dogs and very happy mushers. chief Veterinarian, Stu Nelson was on hand in the chute to check the dogs. He congratulated the twins on the great condition of their dogs.
When asked what was the hardest part about the 2015 race, they answered, “The COLD.” Both are very athletic and regularly compete in triathlons and long distance running so the physical challenges of the trail were minimal, on the other hand, the cold was difficult. Both agreed though that if you had to choose between cold or wind, they’d choose cold.
