Since the summer we have had a mixed bag of dogs - one sick, one old, one puppy, and one eager healthy, crazy dog. Racing has therefore natually been limited to, well....limited events?! During the autumn I participated in a 2*3km race with one dog (Phoebe) and bike. This was really fun, so when I had the opportunity, I joined a dryland race on the Drammen Horseracing Circuit (Travbane):
Phoebe ran against the Norwegian (and European) elite Nordic disclipline dogs - i.e. her competitors were 40kg Vorsteh dogs and the guys on the bikes were top trained (since they ski with the dog in winter)... We had a GREAT race and after 1.6km only came in 30 seconds behind! Had I been in shape I am sure we would have done better....! Good dog!
Last weekend we went to the Hamar Dog Musher Festival ( Hundekjørefestival) where we entered the sprint four-dog Nordic Breed class - the distance should have been 8km but due to prepping of trails for the upcoming World Championship, the circuit was 6.7km... In front, Phoebe and Sven, wheel dogs were Burka and Niklas. It was a miracle that we started the race - 6 months ago, Burka was almost dead, and she has not recovered fully - she is still thin and in need of conditioning.... However, there is nothing wrong with her enthusiasm, and she has a tendency to "dance around" with eager anticipation - the result of which was less than good! 5 seconds before the start, she had managed to "jump out" of her too-large harness..! With full stress adrenaline and nervouseness I tried to fix it... When we got away 1min 45 s after my race had started, it was still not correct... Anyway - we run along and were caught halfway by next team run by a friend. She passes us, and our speed picks up as we trail her at a distance - result? Total tangle of Burka's harness - I stop twice and anchor up to fix it before it is finally done.. Day 1 we were therefore last, even if the dogs ran very well! Technical problems - "that's racing"! Day 2 went like dream in comparison - borrowed harness and no tangles - we passed two teams on the trails - the Greenland dogs, no problem, but the Siberians of a German musher behaved like "mini crocodiles"... Ah well - we made good time - all in all a very good weekend! HAPPY TRAILS!
