Archer, Tiffany

From Spearfish Lake Tales Wiki

Tiffany Archer née Langenderfer-McMahon was born in early 1977 to Kirsten Langenderfer and Mike McMahon. Her month of birth is January or Febuary, since she is able to take part in the Iditarod the year she is 18 (see Runner's Moon ), which is held in March. Not able to afford quitting, her mother continued to work at the Spearfish Lake Record-Herald. "In fact, Tiffany was riding in a baby carrier while her mother sold ads and serviced accounts when she was three weeks old, and when she was a little older Webb moved a vacant desk upstairs at the Record-Herald in order to make room for a play pen. Tiffany didn't hurt ad sales, and even Homer Sanderson figured that the motherly touch might have helped."^AF10 Among her babysitters were the neighbor Jackie Gravengood, her mom's co-worker Carrie Evachevski, and Carrie's not-yet-famous daughter Jennifer.

She has two younger siblings, Henry and Susan. Tiffany is directly responsible for Susan's name, a reference to the Iditarod racer Susan Butcher, her hero at the time of Susan's birth.

The family lived in her Great Aunt Gretchen Langenderfer's house until 1987. While there she had to share a room with Henry, despite being a neatnik while Henry was a slob. When a snake crawled out the bathtub drain, she took it to school for show and tell and left it with her fourth grade teacher, Linda Clark.^BAR01 . Whether or not it is a Gibson's Water Snake becomes a major plot theme.

As a nine year old, Tiffany was described as "very sober, responsible, and competent".^BAR08

1987 was also the year that started Tiffany's obsession with dog sled racing. Her teacher, Mrs. Clark, suggested a TV show to her class. The show was on Susan Butcher and dog sled racing and from that moment on, that's what she wanted. Having moved to a bigger house, she asked for a dog and her father bought George. She may have taughter George Gee, Haw, Hike and Whoa before Sit.^BAR72 Mike and their neighbor, Mark Gravengood, inspired by the same show, started experimenting with dog sledding on their own, with Tiffany's encouragement. For Christmas, Tiffany was disappointed because she didn't get another couple dogs and a sled of her own.

Two days after Christmas vacation ended, a substitute bus driver meant Tiffany and Henry missed their ride to school. The level-headed girl hooked up the dog sled team and got to school in time. Later at the first Warsaw Run when her father fell ill, Tiffany finished the race for him and became the first winner of the annual race. Later that winter, she won the three dog sprint race at the State Championship. She would never run a Junior or Women's race, only as an adult.^RM18

Tiffany is her mother's bridesmaid, when her parents finally got married in May, 1991.^AF52

From seventh grade on, Tiffany regularly drove a dog team to the High School and was training seriously for races while working with Josh Archer and his Run-8 Kennels. Before 1993 for Jenny Easton's Wonderful Winter World TV special's, Tiffany would double for Jennifer while wearing a wig.

In March 1995, Tiffany and Josh ran the Iditarod the first year she was eligible. The pair managed to finish only seconds apart at 22^nd and 23^rd.^RM17 At breakfast the next morning Josh and Tiffany end up meeting Susan Butcher and Rick Swenson.^RM18 During their visiting Tiffany mentions that Jenny Easton sang "The Iditiraod Trail" at the pep rally held in her honor. You can follow this link Trail Song Video to a music video of scenes from the 2006 race set to Hobo Jim singing "The Iditarod Trail". Before they left Nome a few days later, they were engaged. They waited until she graduated from High School before they got married. Despite her mother's entreaties, Tiffany refused to wear a dress at her own wedding. The wedding took place on top of Turtle Hill and George, despite being a male dog, was her bridesmaid.

Tiffany learned to be a brakeman on the C&SL Railroad, working a couple summers before 2000 when time pressures became a problem for the couple. They had also started Spearfish Lake Outfitters and had raced the Iditarod several more times. Facing the Storm discusses how they decided to handle those commitments.

At the Winter 2001 Warsaw Run, Tiffany had to scratch at Warsaw, since she was feeling ill. She had been vomiting regularly. When she returned to the race finish, she announced that she was pregnant^SQ24.

In Spring 2001, under pressure and manipulation from Jennifer Walworth, they took their first true vacation together, riding through the Grand Canyon with Canyon Tours for Karin Chladek's wedding.