The upcoming Kearney Dog Sled Races are at capacity.
Race committee chair Kaitlynn Tidwell says there is no further space to accommodate any more racers after 100 teams registered for this weekend's event.
Tidwell says the same thing happened last year when the race committee had 120 teams register.
See: Ontario’s largest sled dog racing event set for Kearney
She said that made it challenging to fit in all the racing over two days, so the decision was made to cap the registration at 100 this year, which is the 31st running of the annual event.
This year, racers are coming in from Minnesota, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Quebec, numerous Ontario communities and Manitoba.
Like it has in previous years, the local event is again a qualifier for the International Federation of Sleddog Sports World Cup, which takes place this year in Minocqua Winter Park, Wisconsin, as a dryland event from Oct. 21 to 26.
The local event features one, two, four, six and eight dog races in addition to the I-Kid-Arod.
The children’s event is a play on words regarding the world-famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska.
The difference is where the Iditarod is a race with adults steering their dogs over more than 1,500 kilometres, the I-Kid-Arod has boys and girls aged six to 12 racing one-dog teams over an easy 100-metre course.
“It gives the kids a chance to test the waters in a safe way,” Tidwell said.
Additionally, Tidwell notes, that having races of this kind helps to introduce the youngsters to multiple dog sled teams later in life.
Tidwell says one reason the Kearney Dog Sled Races have become so busy is because, after an absence of several years, the eight-dog component made a comeback after COVID.
She says mushers don’t have many places where they can run an eight-dog team, and Kearney is filling a void and creating a niche at the same time.
The races are again being run at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 276 at 58 Park Rd., which has a huge plot of land that can accommodate all the mushers, their dogs, sleds, and transportation vehicles.
The race is promoted as a family affair, and there are several non-race events designed for children.
Tidwell says these include the Pet-A-Pup pit stop, where children and adults can pet the mushers’ dogs when they’re not racing and talk to the owners about their dogs.
There’s also a colouring contest and, Tidwell says, new this year is a scavenger hunt where children find eight stamps on the race grounds; collecting all eight stamps gets them a free hot chocolate.
Jacob Betker of Timmins is back to provide sled dog races for the public, and there’s a silent auction. Food will be served all day both Saturday and Sunday at the legion building.
Tidwell says a new promotion asks people to bring dog food, which the race committee will forward to the food banks in Burk’s Falls and South River. Non-perishable food goods for people are also welcome, and these will be donated to both food banks.
Tidwell says the weekend event will provide an economic boost to the area.
She says every available accommodation in Kearney has been booked and racers are now taking up rooms in nearby Almaguin Highlands communities and Huntsville.
Tidwell says the race not only draws people from the Highlands, but also from Muskoka, Toronto and, this year, one individual from Niagara Falls.
She says this person saw the race as a spectator recently and was so impressed that he came on board as a volunteer.
Tidwell has one request from the public, which is to leave your dogs at home. She says the grounds will be a high-energy site with so many race dogs, and if a family dog isn’t used to this kind of noise, it could be a problem.
Additionally, there’s the potential that a pet dog could get off of its leash, run onto the trail, and get run over by one of the sled dog teams.
“We wouldn’t want to see that,” she said.
As always, watching the races is free.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with Almaguin News. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.