Sled Dog Race

    The GCI Open North American Championship Sled Dog Race took place in Fairbanks on March 15-17th. Fifteen dog sled teams participated from places like Alaska, Michigan, New York, Canada, and even Germany. The race was a 3-day event and the winner was determined by total cumulative time over the 3 days. Dog teams race a 20-mile course in days 1 and 2, and then cover 26.9 miles the last day. The race started and ended in downtown Fairbanks.

    Dog Sled
    Musher’s Kids on Top of Truck Before Race

    Many of the teams started out with 16 dogs on the first day. Racers are allowed to start with fewer dogs as the race moves into consecutive days, but they cannot add dogs to their team after the start, or bring in a dog back in once it is dropped. The strategy involves maintaining at least 10 dogs by the end of the race.

    Dog
    One Day, That Could be Me!

    We watched the first day of the race from the Start/Finish line on 2nd Avenue in downtown Fairbanks. The racers are staggered in 2-minute intervals. Day 1 and 2 had the racers start in order according to a lottery draw. On Day 3 the slower racers started first and the fastest racer was last. This makes for exciting viewing on the course as racers pass each other.

    Dog Race
    Arleigh Reynolds Entering Chena River at Beginning of Last Day

    On Day 3 of the race we hiked down to the frozen Chena River to watch the racers cross on their way out of downtown. We were amazed to see families tailgating and barbequing along the course on the 15°F sunny day. Kids took advantage of slope down the river and occupied their time sledding while waiting for the dogs. The best sled I saw was a modified skateboard. It had a normal-sized deck on top with a pad for traction. On the bottom was a smaller ski-type of board attached by small posts at the front and back of the board. My skateboarding students would love it, if we only had enough snow in Tucson.

    skateboard sled
    Skateboarding Alaska Style

    After all of the racers passed us by on the Chena River, we walked back to downtown to watch the race finishers. Although Arleigh Reynolds started in the last position of the day, he quickly showed up on the scene with Ken Chezik on his tail. Arleigh, a veterinarian from Salcha, Alaska would win the race for his first time! He recorded a three-day total time of 3 hours, 32 minutes and 50.5 seconds. This is an exceptional feat since he also won a similar distance race, the Fur Rondy, in Anchorage 3 weeks earlier.

    In addition to being a champion dog musher, Dr. Arleigh Reynolds is also a scientist. In his research of sled dogs, he has determined that dogs that race in Fur Rondy and similar races are truly elite athletes. Distance racing dogs that compete in the Iditarod and Yukon Quest are endurance athletes that work at 40-60% of the maximal capacity. Fur Rondy dogs are required to work at 90% capacity for 1 to 1½ hours for 3 consecutive days. When he measured their maximal rate of oxygen consumption, VO2 max it surpassed elite human athletes. It is rare for an elite human athlete to attain a VO2 max of 90 mL/kg/min. Most of his dogs have a VO2 max of 240 mL/kg/min! That is why Arleigh says he rides on the sled and they pull it.

    Enjoy this video of race highlights.

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    Date
    Weather Summary
    Clear, Sunny
    Temperature
    15

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