A growing crew of northern Alberta dog owners has at least one shared new year’s resolution for 2019: run their dogs more often together.
More than a dozen people brought their huskies, Dobermans and terriers to Emily Murphy Park on Saturday morning for a briefing session on the Iron Paws Stage Race — a virtual sled dog race that kicks off New Year’s Eve and runs for six weeks. One woman from Sylvan Lake travelled two hours just to attend the event.
Iron Paws isn’t a traditional race with a mass start and a sanctioned route. Instead, individual racers, who compete in regional teams across Canada and the U.S., earn one point per mile run with a dog. Using the honour system, teams submit their points online.
Participants may earn extra points by meeting up, travelling to another location together and completing challenges, such as posting pictures of their pups eating popcorn.
Dog sledding is encouraged, but so is skiing, fatbiking, running and nearly any other activity that can be done with a canine in tow. Last year, one person participated on roller blades.
Top racers earn rewards, but the point of the challenge is to get outside and socialize with other people.
The Edmonton team is still seeking more members.
“No one knows who we are because it’s a virtual race, so I thought it’d be nice to meet before we hit the trails,” said Kandise Wilson, the Edmonton region’s team captain, on Saturday.
Last year, Wilson ran her miles, but this year, she’s looking forward to riding her fatbike.
Wilson set a fire in one of the park’s pavilions and explained the rules of the race. She passed around schedules and mileage logs and warned of porcupines and other trail hazards.
Once everyone was ready, she strapped on a pair of skis and set off with her dog toward Hawrelak Park.
Kandise Wilson, skijoring with her dog in Edmonton’s river valley, plans to lead a team of local dog owners in the Iron Paws virtual stage race. (Nathan Gross/CBC)
Learning how to sled with a dog is easy.
“Until you fall,” said Marty Springstead, who teaches clinics on kicksledding and brought along sleds for people to try.
Springstead said he started sledding more than 25 years ago with his first dog, a powerful greyhound-shepherd cross.
Now he’s teaching others the ropes and mushing with Kai, his 11-year-old Alaskan husky.
Marty Springstead started sledding more than 20 years ago. Now he teachers others how to find the right harnesses and use kicksleds. (Nathan Gross/CBC)
Erika Skoglund skijored — a sport where a skier is pulled by a dog — with her young Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever on Saturday. She said she was grateful for the outing.
“It’s nice to get out and be social and still be able to bring our dogs,” she said.