Race Results * Generous Donors
Feb 5, 2005 This year’s Ottawa Fun race was another fine dog party. Blue skies and sunshine brought temperatures above freezing during the afternoon. Nevertheless, the trail held out in good shape all day. People got out their lawn chairs and dogs basked in the sunshine.
The skijoring race ran first. The course was fast, but there was enough give to get around the corners thanks to Dwight’s morning surface grooming. We had a record turn-out of skijorers, and a new course record by Barb Anderson.
The four dog sled class once again attracted the largest turn-out of huskies. Twenty nine teams entered, making this another record setting year. I watched lots of enthusiastic teams hit the trail. Watching the four dog teams start, I couldn’t help but notice the three Kilroy teams of spaniels and border Collie/Spaniel crosses. What enthusiastic little sled dogs, and what good line manners they have!
The one and two dog sled class was quite popular with malamute owners. This class requires lots of hard pedalling from the driver, or dogs that can really pull well. It is certainly the most challenging way to get around the course.
This year’s lead dog challenge attracted quite a number first-time challenge participants. Teams were most impressive at the line, many got full points, or only half a point off of perfection. Turns proved challenging to many teams this year. Maybe it was the sunshine, but some of those dogs had their own ideas about which way to turn. Bob Melrose’s well trained team of siberians took first place, rounding the turns expertly without hesitation. This year’s distraction was a yellow dog toy stuffed with the wing of a grouse that collided with my car last fall. Once again the distraction failed to get even a passing glance from most lead dogs, even though it was set right in the middle of the trail, in a place where teams passed it twice. Good dogs!
The “Open” Race is our “everyhing but the kitchen sink” class. Although the limit on team size is 10 dogs, this is a time to get out your retirees, the dogs who didn’t get a chance to run in the other races, or the dogs who could use a little leg stretch before driving home. Skijoring with up to 2 dogs is allowed in this class. Some creative re-juggling of start positions was required to keep skijorers away from the big teams. It all worked out well as usual. I struggle a bit with giving placement ribbons for this class, because running a fast 10 dog team on this winding trail would not be safe. But so far everyone’s treated this class with the right amount of unseriousness. Perhaps next year we’ll make this a best-dressed competition.
Thanks to all for coming, and special thanks to everyone who helped, just for a few minutes, or all day. Every bit is appreciated. Heather.