February 15, 2020: World Championship Sled Dog Races

I'm posting this early in case anyone wants to go out tomorrow to see this amazing event.  Mushers from as far away as Canada, Michigan, and Minnesota travel to compete in this event right here in Laconia.

Rachel Colbath from Gilford, wearing bib number 1.

And with winter weather not reliable anymore, it doesn't happen every year, so when it does it's worth experiencing.  The trail conditions this year are excellent, and the weather tomorrow should be as beautiful as today and a little warmer.

Laconia Country Club was a beautiful setting for the races.

The start and finish are at the Laconia Country Club this year - a big thank you to them for hosting the event.  All the information regarding race times (10:00am to 1:30pm tomorrow) are on the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club website.  The first musher of the day was Rachel Colbath from Gilford!

Entering the start area.

A fun part of the day is getting to walk around the staging area and see all dogs and how excited they are.  It takes a lot of support to keep the dogs in control as they're getting ready for the start of the race.  They make a lot of noise at the start (but by the end they're not making a peep, and their long dangling tongues show how much effort they expended).

These dogs want to run.

C'mon, let's go!

And when they're off, you'd better get out of the way.

And they're off.

Sometimes they are a little too excited and things get tangled up as happened to one team right after the start.

The lead dog looks back as if to say "what are you guys doing  back there?"

But help was on hand to quickly get things straightened out and the team back on their way.

The race we watched was the "open" division and we saw teams from 8 to 14 dogs.  They move fast, and the musher has to really be careful on the turns to keep the sled on the track.

Total focus to keep control of the sled.

The teams start at three minute intervals to give each musher plenty of time to get their team settled and moving, but a faster team may catch up and need to pass the team in front of them.  There's a twisty, downhill section right before the finish, and one musher lost control and flipped his sled - with another team right on his tail.

Man down!

But did that stop those dogs?  Nope.

There were a few moments of chaos and tangled dogs, sleds, and humans.

Two teams intertwined.

But both teams regained their composure and finished the race, though the flipped musher looked a little bedraggled!

It's an impressive scene, one definitely seeing if you have the chance tomorrow.  It's as thrilling as it is beautiful!

Sled dogs running in New Hampshire's White Mountains.