Four-legged athletes brave winter conditions

The 2019 Canadian Challenge sled dog race is now underway, with several teams braving the northern Canadian wilderness in hopes of fetching victory.

The Canadian Challenge is a 12 dog, continuous mid-distance race held in Saskatchewan yearly. The total distance of the race is roughly 600 km making it the nation’s longest sled dog race, which starts, runs and finishes in Canada.

The Canadian Challenge sled dog race 2019 is now underway. The race spans more than 600 km, and takes place over the next several days. (Brady Bateman/paNOW Staff)

The challenge, which began in the 1990s, started as a mid-distance sled dog race utilizing freight and trapper trails, which are used to this day.

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Bart De Marie, race marshal for the 2019 Canadian Challenge, said weather conditions have been near perfect in preparation of the race, which will take place over the next three days.

“It’s a fairly ideal season. That nice cold weather helped making an ice-packed trail that the dogs can run on,” De Marie said.

“As long as the wind stays away it should be nice and warm.”

Hundreds of spectators showed up in support of the yearly event, crowding the start line to wave off mushers and their teams.

Spectators lined up to be able to watch racers take off from the start line of the Canadian Challenge sled dog race 2019 on Tuesday. The race spans until Friday, covering more than 600 km. (Brady Bateman/paNOW Staff)

Several classes of dog sled teams participated in the event, ranging from the open class, to the 12-dog-teams.

The 12-dog-race saw eight participants, while the eight-dog-class had six racers, and three racers participated in a local, open class race.

“It’s nice to see that we still have such a great outcome,” De Marie said.

“The 12-dog-race will finish somewhere around Friday early morning to around noon. The eight dog mushers will probably roll in Wednesday or Thursday.”

Four legged athletes are harnessed together in preparation of the 12-dog-team portion of the Canadian Challenge sled dog race 2019. The race spans three days and over 600 km of Canadian wilderness. (Brady Bateman/paNOW Staff)

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Photos & Videos: (Brady Bateman/paNOW Staff)

brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TheDigitalBirdy