FIRST MATE does it again!!

First Mate Dog Foods has sponsored the 2008 December Freight Pull with ONE TONNE of Extreme Dog Food.

To be held at Icy Waters Ltd, the freight pull will take place whilst all the energetic monkeys are climbing 2000' up Mt Mac in the hopefully-more-legal-than-last-year (eh? wot's a gambling licence?) Reach for the Sky and Take the Beer Poker Run.

More Details to follow - have fun training, be safe - Jon just thanked his body armour after a high speed flight from the scooter through the shrubbery and into the gravel this evening. The dogs had a good laugh, "One of his better ones" mentioned Assman to new boy Grizzly, "Yeah, but he got up a bit quick" added Emma "if we want a good breather lets do it near some rocks next time"

Upcoming Races - Provisional Timetable

DRYLAND

The third Dryland of the season - Sunday October 26th, hosted by Jessica and Mike Simon, a short way up the Mayo Rd. Team sizes and race distances may vary a little from previous Drylands to account for cooler temperatures. If the weather continues behaving this way it might even be raced on skis ("Snowland", however race cancelled if it becomes "Iceland"!)

YUKON BREWING COPPER HAUL TWISTER LEAGUE

Season starts with the H. Coyne & Sons Race Day, Sunday November 16th (snow permitting): 4 dog sleds and 1-3 dog skis in the 12 mile; Pet Dog Race - 1 pet dog,  5km with skis, feet, kicksled, anything unpowered; and the 5km Kids Race up to 4 dogs with a sled, 2 with skis. 

Meet at Icy Waters Ltd, start at the McIntyre Marsh Lookout, Fish Lake Rd

Back by popular demand:

"Reach for the Sky and Take the Beer" Poker Run

22miles: 15 miles up 2,000', then 7 miles down 2,000'.

 4-14 dogs; all 4-6 dog teams WILL leave 40 mins before larger teams; Three hour time limit - finish in three hours or you are scratched, whether you have 3 Queens and an Ace or not.

Gambling Licence application in preparation through Dog Powered Sports Association of the Yukon.

Entry Fee (if we get the Licence) $25

Purse: $400 CHT Dryland Races + $300 Yukon Brewing  and celebratory iced T-Shirts = $700 cash and still working on it!

Sunday December 14th, Meet at Icy Waters Ltd, km 4.2 Fish lake Rd

Mongrel Hordes - The results!!

and absolutely no controversy! no Liquor Board investigation, no mad taxi driver, no very nice RCMP officer, no Lotteries Gambling Commission - just a group of dogs happy to get their monkeys together and get them running! almost a first for the CHT!!

1 Mile 1 Pet Dog,

Wendy Morrison races a blinder; Asha hauls overweight Jon uphill ("I didn't realise it was a ... 'ing  freightpull" she commented later) and Haines Junction's smallest dog bravely pulled Sean's potbelly through the willows...

1 "the dog with no name..." and Wendy Morrison , Bikejour 4.16

2 Asha and Jon Lucas , Scooter 4.26

3 Taz and Sean Fitzgerald, Bike jour 5.00

1 Mile 1 Sled Dog

Hans Gatt, with "loads o' teeth" Tundra holds onto first by a mere 3 seconds from Darryl Sheepway  and a dog from his kennel (c'mon give us some names, it's not like Darryl actually did anything, the dog did all the work - credit where it's due), closely followed by Gaetan and his human, with Linda (from Destruction Bay - should have got a prize for travelling the furthest!) on foot with Maureen bringing up the rear.

1 Tundra and Hans Gatt, Bikejour,  3.51

2 Darryl and Dog Leader, Bikejour 3.54

3 White Doggie and Gaetan Pierranz, Bikejour 4.27

4 Running Dog and Linda, Canicross 7.06

5 Dog-I-C and Maren Bradley, Bikejour 9.09

2 mile 2 sled dog

Jon Lucas pays for price for lack of trail recon - "I didn't know the trail, it was a ploughed field; the sun was in my eyes, - yeah yeah suck it up, you lost - ed. In a packed field, Darryl Sheepway with two other unnnamed dogs (is this the "lost kennel" of old canine lore?) leapt from his bike at the start line and began running the course (erm, not exactly, say, hauled out of the saddle at the start line and dragged down the trail until Hans Gatt kindly chased him down and handed him his bike), closely followed by Susie Rogan and Baby Jesus ("How the heck did Lucas lose the trail? It's easy, I skijor it all winter. Whats' the problem? Jeez, what a whiner..."); Valerie, fresh from Europe was heard to yell "Where's the trail?" getting the helpful response from Jon of "What trail?". Maren Bradly, earns the title of "Unbreakable" after a brilliant crash mere yards from the finish line that saw the bike fly into the air as Maren ate dirt. Whilst Martin Jahr of Haines Junction quite wisely simply ran the race nice and slow "...to teach my little girl how to lead, it is going very well, thank you."

1 Darryl Sheepway, Bikejour 6.55

2 Susie Rogan, Baby Jesus, Bikejour 7.31

3 The Tangle Twins Emma & Assman + Jon Lucas, Scooter 7.39

4 Maren "Unbreakable" Bradly, Bikejour 7.50

5 Jocelynne ZeeWhite, Bikejour 7.54

6=Amil Dupois, Bikejour 8.21

6=Sarah + Brea, Sean Fitzgerald, Bikejour 8.21

8 Martin Jahr, Scooter 9.23

9 Lost Valerie, Bikejour 12.12

Formula 1

Jon Lucas and the superteam , Emma + Grizzly, Assman + Gael sweep all before them, taking first place laurels in the showpiece race; trailing this season's team flag they sped round the course, thrashing all opposition, and coincidentally taking the red lantern as well!!

1 Jon Lucas, Emma, Assman, Grizzly, Gael and a 22 year old Quad!   6.15

Photos to come, next Dryland possibly on the Mayo Rd at Jessica and Mike Simon's, Sunday Oct 26th - as it should be colder, races will be feature more dogs, speed sped speed!! Details to follow!

Mongrel Hordes - a feast for all senses!

In addition to the delights and adrenaline rush of dashing down twisting wooded trails behind happy-to-be-racing-in-summer canines, the Chocolate Claim is sending Jocelyn ZeeWhite with gluten free cookies, coffee, tea,  chocolate cake and carrot cake! She's also bringing three teams! So, can everyone please fill up on delicious cake just prior to their races, eat your fill, it's delicious...except me, I'll wait till we've finished...what? competitive? me? noooo...

and of course that is in addition to Eagle Pack's most excellent Dog Food; the Wharfe on 4th's delicious hot smoked Sockeye; Icy Waters Ltd delicious Arctic Charr; Yukon Brewing's most thirst quenching specially brewed chilled T-shirts; and the Chiropractic Dazhaw Du Clinic's ointments to relieve race wear for Dogs and monkeys alike!

And that big yellow thing in the sky, now what's it called again, has reappeared! Race is good to go!

Icy Waters Ltd "Open House"

CHT/Dryland Sponsor Icy Waters Ltd, producers, processors, and purveyors of Fine Arctic Charr are holding an open afternoon on Sunday 31st August, 1pm - 6pm. km 4.2 Fish Lake Rd.

Tour the facility, see the fish, processing demonstration, and enjoy fresh Arctic Charr burgers and shade grown coffee courtesy of Starbucks.

Just in - Chiropractic Dazhaw Du Clinic Prizes

For the Monkeys - "Medistick" anti-inflammatory warming creams, as used by the Toronto Argonauts;

For the Dogs - "Traumeel" homeopathic anti-inflammatory ointments.

You can't win prizes like these at any other Dryland event in the Yukon! The CHT has it all!

Mongrel Hordes Race Details

Race Date - Saturday August 30th, 6pm

Location: On Gentian Lane, 3km South of Carcross Corner on the Alaska Highway. Susie Rogan (hosting the event - thanks Susie!) will be putting out signs from the highway to her lot. If you get lost, or need better directions give Susie a call at 668 2703, or email gattsled@hotmail.com 

Mushers Meeting at 6pm

Race Officials: 

Laura Jane Lucas, Gene Ennis, Mel Bedard (no comparisons with MacBeth, thank you very much)

Race 1

1 mile 1 pet dog - race on a scooter, on foot, on a bike, or anything else unpowered with a pet dog attached to you.

Asha the Racing Rottweillor will be back, reminding Jon that 1 mile is quite far enough, thank you!

Race 2

1 mile 1 sled dog - again anything goes, but this time you are racing with a sled dog. Usually faster than Race 1.

We hear that Hans Gatt will be back out with "Big Teeth" Tundra to defend his 2 second lead over Janet Keller and "Pretty Boy" Ringo from the last race.

Race 3

2 mile 2 sled dog - any mode of unpowered transport. Faster than Race 2, and with more chance of spills - ask Martin Jahr if you wonder why a helmet is really necessary.

After victory in the earlier Phillipe's Bike Repair Hot Hounds, Assman and Emma may well ditch dead-weight Jon at the earliest opportunity to ensure victory over monster freight-puller Baby Jesus with Susie Rogan at the helm, whilst Earl Shaw with two of the Drag N Fly Dogs is looking to improve by just a few seconds to get ahead of those semi-feral beasts Jack n Harris leading out in front of Stacie Zaychuk.

Race 4

Formula 1: Powered Quad - 4 to 8 dogs; Unpowered Quad - 8-16 dogs. 2 miles. Mass Start, trail narrows to ten feet wide after 800m so getting into pole position early is important, and no chance of a slingshot until the final straight.

An icy chilled Yukon Brewing T shirt to the Quad with the best (or any) decoration - c'mon, use your imagination.

Potluck BBQ all evening.

Entry fee $10 for each race. All proceeds to CHT Org funds for redistribution as prizes in races for the 2008-9 snow season. 

Helmets Mandatory for Races 1-3. Body armour, as always, helps prevent gravel rash, stops rocks cutting into body tissue, and protects from willow whiplash amongst other more unfortunate injuries. What price a shattered forearm just before the snow flies? You have been warned and have to sign the disclaimer anyway

Prizes! (Goodies)

Eagle Pack Dog Food and money saving vouchers from Hans Gatt and Eagle Pack

Chilled T shirts from Yukon Brewing

Hot Smoked Sockeye from Wharfe on 4th

Frozen BBQ size Arctic Charr from Icy Waters Ltd

Stuff - we're still not quite sure what stuff - but certainly prizes have been pledged from Dr. JF Latour's Chiropractic Dazhaw Du Clinic

The organisers are planning for a fun controversy-free event...this time. If you need to come in a cab, please make sure the debit machine is working before you get in, even if it isn't a Premier Cab.