NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WZMQ) – Mushers are back on the trails. Across Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of sled dogs from around 70 midwestern teams met at the the Negaunee Township Hall, competing in various sprint races at the UP200 Dryland Dash.
Meg Hovela is the volunteer coordinator for the races.
“We are on our ninth year this year, often we’re the first dryland dash race of the season for all of the Midwest mushers,” said Hovela. “It’s a good way to get the dogs up and running.”
This season, high temperatures have been difficult to train in, but this weekend brought in the perfect weather for the competitive opener. Mushers say during this time of year, the trails for these races set a fun pace for the rest of the season.
“I ran both six dog and four dog rig,” said Anne Small, a musher from St. Germain, Wisconsin. “The course is beautiful, you get the fall colors as you’re zooming along.”
“I always forget year to year how fun this course is, its so beautiful,” said Amelia Gagliano, a musher from Phelps, Wisconsin. “There’s a lot of diversity on the trail, which makes it super fun to run the teams on.”
Aside from the dogs, the humans who participate share a special bond with one another.
“The mushing community all works together, if somebody needs a hand getting their rig team to the line and you’re free, you just jump on and help out,” said Small. “You get to know the whole community.”
In helping those mushers, a large amount of volunteers over the weekend included students from Northern Michigan University. Teams raced both days across multiple pack sizes, averaging their times together for a final score. Those scores can be found below.
Score Photo Courtesy: Meg Hovela
