Garrick Schmidt was the first musher to leave the start line with other mushers following in two-minute intervals. (Facebook/Canadian Challenge Sled Dog Race)

By Derek Cornet

and they're off

Canadian Challenge 10-dog race starts in Missinipe

Feb 20, 2024 | 5:00 PM

Eleven teams left Missinipe at noon on Tuesday on a 10-dog, 328-kilometre race in northern Saskatchewan as part of the Canadian Challenge Sled Dog Race.

“The start went really well. We had a lot of help to get the teams down to the start line and that went really well,” said Canadian Challenge President Dan Kirkup.

“The trail looks great. We had some help from the Canadian Rangers out on the trail yesterday to make sure everything was wonderful and safe, so the trail looks great. We don’t have a lot of snow, but enough snow to do the race. It should be a pretty good trail out there.”

The 10-dog race began at Thompson’s Resort and will continue to La Ronge, to Fafards, to La Ronge, to Fafards, to La Ronge and then finally finish at Thompson’s Resort. Mushers must stop at either La Ronge or Fafards for a mandatory four-hour break, while a mandatory five-hour break will be held in La Ronge during the final stretch back to Missinipe.

As of 4 p.m., Andy Heerschap was leading the race with Anna Bolvin just minutes behind him. Craig Houghton was following in third about two kilometres behind Bolvin with Garrick Schmidt coming up in fourth. All mushers are wearing GPS technology and can be tracked on the Canadian Challenge website.

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“You’re probably going to see the first teams showing up in La Ronge between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. tonight and then some will carry on, some will stop for a rest and they will be going out again south, probably coming back some time in the early hours tomorrow morning (5 a.m. or 6 a.m.),” Kirkup said.

Progress in the Canadian Challenge as of 4 p.m. on Tuesday. (Canadian Challenge)

Kirkup explained veterinarian checks that occurred on Monday were a success and he thanked Kevin Roberts at the Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre for offering the space. He noted it was a good facility for vets to stay warm and for the mushers to all come together.

The eight-dog, 164-km race, which includes local musher Ragnar Robinson, begins Feb. 22 at noon and goes to Fafards for a turnaround and then back to La Ronge for an overnight stay. Teams will continue the following day (10 a.m.) towards the finish line in Missinipe.

The six-dog, 80-kilometre race will start Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. at Riese Park (following the eight-dog restart) and will end the same day in Missinipe. There’s a total of $25,000 in prize money up for grabs between all three races.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com