From fashion runways to Alaska trails, model back in Iditarod
From fashion runways to Alaska trails, model back in Iditarod
JOHN SCHANDELMEIER
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Published: March 1st, 2010 11:31 PM
Last Modified: March 1st, 2010 11:31 PM
Zoya Denure appears much more comfortable these days in Alaska winter gear.
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From fashion runways to Alaska trails, model back in Iditarod
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everyone knows Paxson is half a world away from Milan, Italy. the lifestyle of the two places may be even farther apart.
Zoya Denure used to be an international fashion model but now owns and operates a rescue and rehabilitation kennel for unwanted sled dogs.
A girl who was chosen and pampered during Models Week in Shanghai, who worked on the runways of exclusive designers in Milan, is now a far different woman in a far different place.
some things haven’t changed, though. She is still gorgeous and has “the walk.”
However, much has changed. She no longer knows where her last pair of heels are (though she may bemoan their loss). her concern is whether to wear Neos or Bunny boots. She does like to look good, but has trouble deciding whether the best attire is Cabela’s or Apocolypse bibs.
“Which do you think are the easiest to run in?” she asks.
my wife Zoya Denure now owns and operates a rescue and rehabilitation kennel for unwanted sled dogs and is getting set to run her second Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. She thinks these homeless dogs can win races, maybe even the Iditarod, but quickly admits this is a long way off.
“I don’t have the experience or the knowledge,” she says. “It’s hard at times, I want success right now, all of it, though, in reality, I know that it comes in teeny steps.”
Zoya came to Alaska from Wisconsin eight years ago. Between modeling jobs, she worked for a mortgage company and told co-workers, “I’m not going to be sitting behind this desk when I’m 30.”
A week later, her belongings were in storage and she was in Alaska with her Siberian Husky, Ethan, seeking a job as a dog handler.
She landed at Bill Cotter’s kennel in Nenana, a fortunate turn of events for both of them. Bill was skeptical at first about this tall city girl who was determined to learn about sled dogs, but he soon came to respect her work ethic and determination.
“She was one of the best handlers I’ve ever had,” Cotter said.
Zoya stayed at Cotter’s for a year, learning the basics of dog handling from one of the best. However, she was anxious to be on her own, with her own dogs. She purchased a few animals. Others came free from other kennels, dogs that couldn’t hold up or were difficult to handle.
She left her job with Cotter and moved to an old homestead near Nenana.
“I had the desire, but I was a little short on the skills,” she laughs. “I ended up living in an old shed because I couldn’t keep the cabin warm. I had no work and no money. I ate fish and potatoes for a month before I found a job.”
Gradually the aspirations melted into reality. She found work at the Nenana High School, and her mismatched group of dogs started to become a team.
Racing beckoned. Zoya trued smaller races with her team, happy to be on the trail with her dogs. always in her mind were the Iditarod videos she watched back in Wisconsin, where she grew up with Rainy Pass, the Yukon River, Norton Bay and Nome as backdrop.
during her second year in Alaska, Zoya traveled to a small race in the Alaskan Range. Awestruck by the towering peaks, she also felt a bit unsettled by the remoteness.
“Who in the heck would live way out here?” she said.
six years later, she has an answer. during a race in late 2003, she met me, her future husband. She now lives on the south doorstep of those peaks, stilled awed but no longer intimidated.
Zoya and I work with dogs that no one seems to want, dogs from the animal shelters and other kennels. there are dogs that bite, dogs that cringe from a touch, dogs that refuse to pull.
Time and patience is needed to bring these animals along.
“Not all of them want to be sled dogs, no more than all Labradors retrieve ducks,” Zoya says.
Most do, however, and those that have the ability will go on to race with her or be adopted. some are sent on to become house dogs or pets. We’ve sent dogs to several places in Europe and a half-dozen states outside of Alaska.
“I know we can’t find homes for all of them,” Zoya said. “Our goal is to have people realize that most of the dogs from the shelter are good dogs. They just need time and a soft hand.”
Zoya ran her first Iditarod in 2008, finishing 53rd amongst a record 96 starters. her daughter, Jona, was born in early November of that year and Zoya spent last year’s race lamenting that she was not on the trail but knowing that she could never be comfortable having her baby out of sight for even a day.
In four days, she will be back on the runners headed down Fourth Avenue. the team is trained and ready, and though she has some trepidation over leaving her toddler for the first time, she is more comfortable. We’ll meet her at the finish in Nome.
Nome seems a long ways off on the first of March. There’s so much worry and preparation.
Is the sled ready?
Is there snow in the Burn?
then the model surfaces, “What will I wear?”
Dog feeding at home is no longer entrusted to handlers — not because they won’t do it right, but rather because the musher needs something to fret over.
Zoya has top-30 aspirations, but this year’s team seems to be very high maintenance. Several of the rescues need extra care. Consequently, she thinks they’ll do shorter runs.
one of her stars, Demon, has a minor hind leg injury and will stay home.
This fall, 24 dogs began training at Crazy Dog Kennel with Zoya. It’s for likely the decision about which dogs go to Nome won’t be made until Sunday morning.
on Sunday, months of the preparation will come to fruition. Dashed from memory will be the high heels, and any sore calf muscles will come from running and kicking behind the sled.
there will be acrid smoke from the dog cooker, not perfumed fashion.
However, the friends traveling with her will be ones she has spent most of her waking moments with over the past year, trusted and trusting working together to cross 1,000 miles of Alaska.
John Schandelmeier of Paxson is a lifelong Alaskan and Bristol Bay commercial fisherman. A musher, he was trail coordinator for last year’s Yukon Quest and has written on the outdoors for several newspapers and magazines.
From fashion runways to Alaska trails, model back in Iditarod
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