Sled Dog Races Part 2
Continuing my discussion on the types of dog sled races I will now introduce Stage Racing and Open Class racing.
Stage Race: These are races that are up to a week long with a stage ran every day from as short as a few mile sprint to a 50-60 mile mountain stage. The race is setup to be very friendly to dogs and the people involved as well. Every team will have a pool of dogs from which they may draw a maximum number of dogs to compete each day. For example many races will have a 16 dog pool size with no more than 12 dogs being run any given day. It is up to the racer to determine which dogs to run on each stage, when to rest dogs, and to possibly hold dogs in reserve and keep them as fresh as possible to use at the ideal time.
Stage races usually travel from town to town in an almost Festival like atmosphere. Spectators can get up close with the dogs and racers are able to rest properly in a hotel every night. These races have changed over the years from being a distance event to more of a faster dog event. Different strategies and kennels have influenced this greatly. The best example of this race I can give is the Wyoming Stage Stop race.
Open Class: This is a race that pushes the definition of Sprint racing to it's limits. The best examples of this would be Fur Rondy, ONAC, and The Pas. All of these are 3 day events with stages ranging from 20 to 35 miles per day, which are ran at very fast speeds around 20mph. Generally defined as Unlimited meaning you can run as many dogs as you can safely control. The Pas in Manitoba is the exception to this with a limit of 12 dogs. Teams as big as 22 dogs will line up at the two races in Alaska, with dogs being dropped after stages before the next days event. These races have a huge following in their home towns, being broadcast on radio and being part of Winter festivals.
In my opinion, these dogs might represent the ultimate athletes in the world of sled dog racing. They can go fast and far, they all have to be equally matched when setting up your team. The dogs must all have the ability to run at the same speed for success, a dog running half a mile per hour slower will severely slow the team down. These dogs will be running all out for in excess of 2 hours at some events. It's a balancing act of getting maximum performance out of the dogs while preserving them for the next stage
These events are definitely worth following, with live checkpoint times being broadcast at the races you can definitely feel the tension as the race unravels before you. I will definitely watch these races closely and will share links before the racing season gets into full swing.
Stage Race: These are races that are up to a week long with a stage ran every day from as short as a few mile sprint to a 50-60 mile mountain stage. The race is setup to be very friendly to dogs and the people involved as well. Every team will have a pool of dogs from which they may draw a maximum number of dogs to compete each day. For example many races will have a 16 dog pool size with no more than 12 dogs being run any given day. It is up to the racer to determine which dogs to run on each stage, when to rest dogs, and to possibly hold dogs in reserve and keep them as fresh as possible to use at the ideal time.
Stage races usually travel from town to town in an almost Festival like atmosphere. Spectators can get up close with the dogs and racers are able to rest properly in a hotel every night. These races have changed over the years from being a distance event to more of a faster dog event. Different strategies and kennels have influenced this greatly. The best example of this race I can give is the Wyoming Stage Stop race.
Open Class: This is a race that pushes the definition of Sprint racing to it's limits. The best examples of this would be Fur Rondy, ONAC, and The Pas. All of these are 3 day events with stages ranging from 20 to 35 miles per day, which are ran at very fast speeds around 20mph. Generally defined as Unlimited meaning you can run as many dogs as you can safely control. The Pas in Manitoba is the exception to this with a limit of 12 dogs. Teams as big as 22 dogs will line up at the two races in Alaska, with dogs being dropped after stages before the next days event. These races have a huge following in their home towns, being broadcast on radio and being part of Winter festivals.
In my opinion, these dogs might represent the ultimate athletes in the world of sled dog racing. They can go fast and far, they all have to be equally matched when setting up your team. The dogs must all have the ability to run at the same speed for success, a dog running half a mile per hour slower will severely slow the team down. These dogs will be running all out for in excess of 2 hours at some events. It's a balancing act of getting maximum performance out of the dogs while preserving them for the next stage
These events are definitely worth following, with live checkpoint times being broadcast at the races you can definitely feel the tension as the race unravels before you. I will definitely watch these races closely and will share links before the racing season gets into full swing.
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