Husky News

Competition was fierce this weekend for mushers and their canines.

Saturday marked the 13th annual Eldorado Gold Cup sled dog races but it was also the day of three other sled dog events in the United States which drew away some regulars to the Central Hastings event. Despite this, the turn out was satisfactory for chairwoman Sandra Hannah.

“I’m very impressed with the turnout here,” she told The Intelligencer moments after the last musher embarked on the 50-kilometre route. “We’ve got 19 mushers here today.”

That’s only two less than last year’s 21 but still far below the event’s high of 24 mushers achieved years ago. Hannah credited Saturday’s number of participants to those three other races in the United States adding only one participant from south of the border – Connecticut’s David Punch – attended Saturday’s race.

Though timing may not have been the best friend to Eldorado’s annual race, Mother Nature was clearly working for it. Hannah said she was happy to see a milder day with only a low wind.

“Our weather conditions are excellent,” she said. “The trails are in good condition. I’m not saying excellent because we could have used a bit more snow.”

A slight lack of snow, however, was not impacting animal performance – dogs lining up at the starting point were eager and anxious to set off on the course. Hannah said as one watched the mushers leave at two-minute intervals, it was obvious the race would be a quick one with the dogs showing nothing but an interest in setting off on the path.

But once the teams got out on the trails, they discovered the snow wasn’t perfect for the races. Stirling resident Scott Shaw said his team of eight dogs moved slow due to snow conditions.

“There was lots of snow but it was what we call punchy – because the dogs punch down through it,” he said. “It was loose on top and with all the Ski-doos out on it it was turned up so we were running in about three inches of powdery, icy conditions.”

Shaw finished sixth of the 19 racers which he said wasn’t a bad finish considering conditions caused all the racers to move a bit slower than normal.

He said the race should have been easily completed in three hours but the top speed was three hours and 45 minutes.

Shaw, who has been a musher for 15 years and has had a team in every Eldorado Gold Cup, chuckled when asked what the allure of sled dog racing is.

“I’m not sure,” he said with a laugh. “I think the biggest thing that everybody likes is just getting out there with the dogs and being outdoors. That’s the generality of it all.”

Those dogs - of which Shaw has 25 in total – become part of the family, he said. In Saturday’s race, he ran his own team and another musher, Shane Cox, used another eight of his canines.

Selecting which 16 dogs of his 25 will be used in races is determined through test runs, age and other factors, he said. “Out of those 25 you’ve always got to have a couple older ones, a couple younger ones and a few that’ll never be running but are just training for the next year. I say it’s like a baseball team where you’ve got 25 guys but you’ve got your starting nine, you’ve got your relief pitchers, you’ve got your minor league team…. Basically, you’re trying to find eight dogs that run the same,” he said.

Keeping a close eye on all the dogs was Ron Moore. The Newmarket resident has attended the Eldorado races for eight years, serving as the event’s veterinarian.

“I’m here just in case they need me,” he said.

Moore said the Eldorado race is usually a low key event for him with his services rarely required. He couldn’t recall any major accidents at the event and added the main thing he watches for are sore ankles on the dogs or any type of injury or impairment to the pads on the animals‘ paws.

“Usually for a 50-kilometre race there’s not a lot of injuries. The racers aren’t going to push it for a race like this because it’s the beginning of the season,” he added.

Moore said not many veterinarians take on the duty of serving sled dog races but he has attended events all over North America and enjoys being out with the mushers.

“It’s great,” he said. “I get to be outside with the dogs all day and mushers are great people.”

Gold Cup results

First place – Rene Marchildon: 3 hrs, 45 mins, 52 secs

Second place – Todd Sullivan, 4 hrs, 3 mins, 49 secs

Third place – Bruce Langmaid: 4 hrs, 7 mins, 23 secs

Source: Duluth Tribune