On The ONAC

On The ONAC
Mar 21st 2008
wolfmoonsleddog
Alaska
Location: Ester, AK
Time - 12:26pm
Temperature: 14 degrees F
Conditions: Sunny, breezy
Forecast: Partly cloudy today and tomorrow. Lows in the single digits, highs in the 20s

Last weekend was the Open North American Championship sled dog race or ONAC. This is one of the biggest sprint races in the world and draws top mushers from all over. It is run in heats over three days and each heat begins and ends in downtown Fairbanks.

I saw the teams run along the trail at Creamer’s Field near Fairbanks. It was amazing to see huge teams of dogs pulling tiny little sprint sleds. No waaay would I try that. At least not right now. Sprint dogs are small and the winning teams are composed of Eurohounds. These dogs are a mix of hounds, pointers, etc. They are not huskies and are not as tough as huskies. But they are faster. You wouldn’t find them running the Iditarod though. They wouldn’t be allowed in.

I went to the ONAC banquet with one of the mushers (who does run huskies) and ate a FANTASTIC meal and listened to all the mushers step up and thanks their sponsors, their families and their dogs. Some of them were really funny and some of them really moving. If you ever have a chance to go to a mushing banquet, go.

A lot of big-name mushers were there, along with the editors of “Mushing” magazine. By the way, check out the current issue of “Mushing.” More on this soon.