TOFTE -- Jennifer Freking's 2008 John Beargrease Sled-Dog Marathon finished right out of the gate.
The Finland, Minn., musher broke her left hand as she crashed into the fencing on a right-hand turn on her way out of the Ordean Middle School start Sunday afternoon.
"I was hoping it was dislocated and I could keep going," Freking said today in Tofte as she watched her mid-distance teams finish. "I was dragging for about 100 yards. Once I got it right, I tried to pop it into joint, but couldn't."
Freking, who finished second in the 2005 Beargrease and third in the 2006 marathon, had pins placed in her left hand during surgery Sunday night.
"The bottom line is you have to control your team and set the hook, and I couldn't do that," Freking said.
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The 2005 Beargrease rookie of the year will have the pins removed the Friday before she races Alaska's Iditarod, which starts March 1.
"I'm kind of shell-shocked," Freking said. "But you have to do what is in the best interest of the dogs."
