By Canadian Challenge

Canadian Challenge Sled Dog Race Committee Gets Ready for its 14th Season – Looking for Support

Dec 16, 2010 | 1:19 PM

The Canadian Challenge Sled Dog Race is held every February between Prince Albert, La Ronge and various northern communities. This is our 14th year running the race,and we already have half a dozen well-known mushers signed up for the event.

http://www.canadianchallenge.com/

Our fundraising efforts over the summer netted us about $8,500, a good start for our funding
target of $50,000.

Our summer fun cost us hundreds of volunteer hours, and involved serving fast food during the week-long Prince Albert Exhibition and at a one-day Mud Mania event two weeks later.   It was hard work, and our entire board plus other volunteers gave up work and leisure time to help us.

Now, we are asking other businesses, governments and agencies in for help in raising the rest of
the money. 

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Besides the race purse and office expenses (we maintain an office in Prince Albert from December to February), we have to pay for trophies, gas for clearing and maintaining trails, promotional materials, banquets, accommodations for volunteers and more.

It’s an ongoing conundrum; sponsors want to see large numbers of mushers, and mushers want to
see a purse that makes it worth their while to enter (not many mushers make money at this sport
but a contribution to expenses is always welcome).

The truth of the matter is, without our sponsors and sufficient funding we simply don't have a race!

During that last decade our race has grown in credibility within mushing circles, and is still the
only all-Canadian qualifier for the Iditarod and Yukon Quest. We expect a good number of teams
to register for 2011, and appreciate the ongoing support from our sponsors.

With a strong board over the past several years,  we are always working to improve the race,
listening to mushers others who contribute many good ideas. This race pulls together community
involvement by a large number of First Nations, Métis and other northern people. We have
created great relationships across the North over the years.

As you know, we are now four races in one. The 12-dog race is our flagship race, running 517 km
from Prince Albert through La Ronge to Grandmother’s Bay and Stanley Mission, returning to La  
Ronge for the finish.

The 8-dog race runs 320 km from Prince Albert to La Ronge. The shorter Junior and open races
run 100 km from Prince Albert to Elk Ridge Resort, on the edge of Prince Albert National Park.

The teams will all start at two-minute intervals in Prince Albert, with the 12-dog teams starting
first at noon Tuesday February 22. It’s a great spectacle, a popular spectator sight, and a very  
good opportunity to get your name in front of the public.

Even before that, the Monday night Musher’s Banquet in Prince Albert is an opportunity to
display your banner, enjoy a good meal, meet the mushers and hear about the race. A good night
out – at our expense for certain levels of sponsorship.  And, if you stay with us on the trail, there’s  
the awards breakfast on Saturday in La Ronge, where the presentations are made and the stories
are told and enjoyed by all! Besides the sport and spectacle, we try to maintain historical tradition
by following some of the old trapping, RCMP  and freighting trails into the north.

We’d love to have you to with us. As we’ve explained, costs are high, and to attract top-line
mushers we must offer a decent purse.

Please let us know today that you are with us.

If you would like to sponsor a specific event, such as the banquet, vet check, registration, a
checkpoint, or the awards breakfast for example, we’re ready to discuss that with you.  If you’d  
like to offer a donation, large or small, we’d be very grateful.  If you have something in-kind that
would help the race, please let us know.

Of course, you’ll get recognition, depending on your level of support   – on our website, in print,
at the starting events including the start line, at the awards breakfast, and at some of the
checkpoints in between.    We may ask you to wear a race T-shirt or sweatshirt; you may get a
framed photo to hang in your home or place of business.

Come and be part of our Challenge family. Make your commitment right now by completing the
attached form and faxing or mailing it back to 306-763-1584.

Early commitments mean much better race planning, and we thank you for your early response.

On behalf of the Board, thank you so much for your consideration.

Sincerely

Gill Gracie, President

Daryl Minter, Vice-President

John Edwards, Treasurer

Rob Campbell, Secretary

Chad Nilson, Director

Gerry Markel, Director

Bernie Zintel, Director

Linda Caswell, Director