Husky News

As you keep toasty warm these winter days, spare a thought for Aaron Peck, riding against the mountain winds on his dog sled at the International Pedigree Stage Stop Race in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The son of Norman and Sharon Peck of Vernonville, Mr. Peck has a long-standing interest in dog sledding, according to Jim Cunningham, owner of Cedarpaws Kennels north of Centreton, who has been helping him in fall and pre-season training in Northumberland Forest.

According to Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Peck started pursuing this sport at age 10 and has been actively involved since age 15.

“Aaron is a very accomplished musher and has finished many different races across North America,” he said, offering a list that includes the 300-mile 2007 Canadian Challenge in Saskatchewan, the Alaska-based Iditarod in 2000 and 2005 and the 2007 Seeley 300 in Montana.

Mr. Peck’s first event of 2008, which was his first time ever participating in the International Pedigree Stage Stop Race, took place January 25 through February 2.

Living with his dogs in Huntsville during the off-season and working as a carpenter, Mr. Peck returned to the area in September to begin this year’s training.

“By December, he was on the road to Lake Louise, Alberta, to work for a friend doing sled-dog rides,” Mr. Cunningham said. “Aaron and his employer, Jason Smith, ventured to Elkford, B.C., for a 40-mile race where Aaron placed second, two minutes behind his employer, in a five-hour-eight-minute run.”

Mr. Peck and his friend then combined their teams, which he took to Wyoming for a different kind of race.

The format in Jackson Hole is not the usual kind of race where the first musher from start to finish wins, Mr. Cunningham explained. It’s more like the Tour de France bicycle race.

“Each day competitors race from one town to the next, with daily winners and an overall winner,” he said. “They even have a yellow jersey for the leader of the competition to wear each day.”

Mr. Peck’s first couple of days were spent getting used to the different terrain and the mountain elevations. But once that adjustment was made, he moved up in the overall standings.

Mr. Peck consistently placed in the top 10 daily in the field of 19 competitors, even scoring a third-place finish on the sixth day. The third day was a little exciting – the first time in the event’s 13-year history that the race was interrupted for safety concerns, specifically winds surpassing 60 miles per hour and white-out conditions at road crossings.

Mr. Peck came seventh overall.

For Mr. Cunningham, the victory lies in more than just the numbers. “Competitors included past Iditarod winners and stage-stop winners from across North America,” he declared.

“Aaron’s competition during this race was the who’s-who of distance racing.”

Source: northumberlandtoday.com