Husky News

The unusual world of sled-dog racing orbited through Summit County on Saturday on a picture-perfect day for the biggest money race short of the Iditarod.

Melanie Shirilla, of Lincoln, Mont., captured overall honors and the $10,000 purse that goes with it in the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Race. Prize money awarded to mushers, including purse and daily awards for individual races, totaled $100,000.

For the third year in a row, Park City has been the last leg of the eight-day race that starts in Jackson Hole, Wyo. The 13th running of the stage race proved to be the most brutal as 18 mushers and their teams battled blizzard conditions day in and day out.

“You’ve heard of ‘The Perfect Storm,’ the movie,” said race organizer Frank Teasley. “Well, I’m starring in the sequel.”

 Junior mushers take tips from racers in an event during the … (Scott Sine/The Park Record)

Park City provided the race’s only day of sunshine.

The single Utah entry, Kate St-Onge, of Millville, dropped out on the fourth day.

Unlike the Iditarod, the stage race moves from town to town each day and runs a separate course. Mushers can win purses not only for the overall time but also for daily finishes.

When the mushers crossed the finish line near Quinn’s Junction on Saturday afternoon, they had traveled about 300 miles.

Sled-dog racing is not a just hobby for top mushers, Teasley said.

“It’s total commitment. This is what they do all year. It’s not just a sport to them. It’s a lifestyle.”

Shirilla and her husband, four-time Iditarod winner Doug Swingley, keep 54 dogs.

Shirilla’s overall time for the eight days was 24 hours, 41 minutes and 5 seconds. Second place and a purse of $8,300 went to Wendy Davis, of Lander, Wyo. with an overall time of 25:03:25. Third went to Jacques Philip, of Nenana, Alaska, who finished at 25:39:06. Her purse was $6,500.

“I love these dogs,” Shirilla said. “They give 100 percent. I’m in awe of them.”

Swingley also ran a team in the stage race. He finished fifth and was awarded $4,300.

Shirilla and Swingly earn enough money from racing and breeding sled dogs that they don’t have to hold down other jobs.

Not so for J.R. and Anna Anderson of Frostbite Falls, Minn. In the off-season, he’s a carpenter and she designs Web pages.

Nonetheless, they keep 40 dogs on their 90-acre spread. They win some purse money here and there and get help from sponsors.

“We’ll make a little money on this race,” J.R. Anderson said. “We’d like to have done better, but you can’t always win.”

J.R. Anderson finished eighth overall.

The Andersons will enter eight or nine races this winter and that will keep them and their dogs on the road from Christmas until April.

Sam Perrino of Yellow Knife, Northwest Territories, Canada, drove 2,300 miles with his wife, Petra and son, Quinn, 7, to enter the Pedigree stage race. He was fourth, overall, to take a purse of $5,300. In the offseason, he works as an electrician. At 35 dogs, he’s got one of the smallest kennels of the mushers entered.

“We do about four of these stage-races a year,” he said. “On a good year, we’ll make a few bucks. But mostly, it’s about break even with a few groceries.”

Loving dogs is a prerequisite to mushing. And 8-year-old Isie McLoughlin, from Daniel, Wyo., loves dogs.

She drove to Park City with her parents to take part in the “Junior Musher” program put on by Pedigree. Junior mushers get a ride on a sled with a real musher who shows them some of the tricks of the trade.

“I like dogs a lot,” she said. “And it’s fun to get pulled on a sled.”

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Source:The Salt Lake Tribune