(website/Canadian Challenge) 

By Glenn Hicks

Speedy Dogs

Pandemic creates boost for Canadian Challenge entries

Sep 11, 2020 | 1:48 PM

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a boon when it comes to interest in the Canadian Challenge sled dog races coming in February.

While there’s a need to modify the annual spectacle from Elk Ridge Resort to La Ronge, organizers say some of the bigger stars of the sport will now be involved.

Stefan De Marie, the president of the Gateway North Sled Dog Association and race president, says mushers from out East have not been able to register for U.S. events and that’s good news for the local event.

“They will usually travel south to the east and west coasts, but due to the U.S. border being closed and the situation there, they’ve preferred to come out here,” he told larongeNOW. “It’s neat to see some old faces coming back for the event but also a lot of new faces, and some of the more competitive people from the east coast.”

Funding issues related to the pandemic prompted organizers to trim the main event from 300 miles to 200, and to have ten-dogs as opposed to the usual eight. De Marie said the level of sponsorship won’t be there this time and also a quarter of their budget was lost because they fund raise from part of the summer Prince Albert Exhibition gate-takings, which had to be cancelled this year.

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The route for the 2021 race will not feature Grandmother’s Bay or Stanley Mission in order to keep it down to 200 miles. (website/Canadian Challenge)

“Instead of trying to put something on that would really hurt us financially we decided to cut the race to a 200-miler and one class of ten dogs. That makes things a little easier to manage financially,” he explained.

Twenty competitors have already registered, which is the full allocation, and De Marie said they now have nine people on their standby list in the event of any cancellations.

The occasion also features a six-dog, 45-mile race around a local loop that De Marie said is a way of attracting those who are just getting into the sport and don’t have the time and resources to tackle the more arduous longer event.

The Canadian Challenge gets underway Feb. 17 at Elk Ridge and the main event is usually completed within 48 hours by the winner. Grandmother’s Bay and Stanley Mission will be removed from the usual route to help bring it down to 200 miles. De Marie said it will still be a qualifier for the Yukon Quest event and he hoped also for the Iditarod.

Editor’s note: this story was amended to make clear the event date is Feb.17, not Feb.21 as originally reported.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca