By Taylor MacPherson

Canadian Challenge begins in Elk Ridge

Feb 22, 2017 | 9:00 AM

Mushers took off yesterday in the Canadian Challenge sled dog race, a gruelling 270-mile journey which starts in Elk Ridge and ends in La Ronge.

Twenty teams accepted the challenge, coming from as far away as Quebec. In addition to substantial purses of prize money, the Canadian Challenge is also a qualifying race for the Yukon Quest and Iditarod, the two most famous races in the sport.

“The 12-dog teams run North of La Ronge to Grandmother’s Bay and Stanley Mission, then back to La Ronge,” Race President Gill Gracie told paNOW during the pre-race vet checkups Monday. “The awards breakfast is in La Ronge on Saturday morning.”

Although inadequate snow forced organizers to shorten the race distance and move the starting point out of Prince Albert to Elk Ridge, Gracie said the mushers remained enthusiastic.

“The mushers are used to dealing with all kinds of conditions,” she said. “So whatever we get we’ll deal with.”

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Race Marshall Bart de Marie, who previously competed in the 12-dog race, said he will be on hand throughout to ensure fair play from the mushers.

“We just make sure that everybody follows the spirit of the rules,” de Marie said. “I check in, talk to them, have a quick chat to see how their mental state is, and look at the dogs.”

Comparing his role to a combination of referee and coach, de Marie said his goal is to ensure all the teams finish the race with a healthy, full-strength team.

At 68 years old, Alberta-based Steven Taylor is the oldest musher ever to run the race. The Canadian Challenge, Taylor said, has become an annual family tradition he shares with his daughter Jillian.

“We’ve been coming here for 10 years now,” Taylor said. “We’re addicted and have to keep coming back.”

The community around the Canadian Challenge, he said, is what makes the race so special.

“It’s the people that actually put the race on,” Taylor said. “It’s kind of a little community all of its own, and Saskatchewan’s a great place to visit.”

He added he wasn’t concerned about the trail conditions. There is no point, he said, in getting depressed about the weather, and added conditions are not important because every musher will be facing the same challenges.

“Since August we have been running short of snow, short of ice, short of trail, short of everything you could possibly imagine a dog musher needs, and we’re still here,” Taylor said. “As long as everybody’s racing the same distance, who cares?”

Despite his status as the oldest-ever musher to run the race, Taylor said he has no plans to hang up his harnesses any time soon.

“We’ll be back next year,” he said with a laugh.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews