The long tradition of the Canadian Championship Dog Derby added another chapter at Grace Lake over the weekend.
The two-day event pitted racers in two-dog, four-dog and six-dog categories over a 21-km trail.
Dexter Lafferty prevailed in the six-dog race in a time of 1:28:12. Taylor Beck placed second at 1:30:11 while Alisa Blake sewed up third with a 1:31:49 effort.
In the four-dog race, Heather Beck crossed the finish line first with a time of 12:12. The two-dog race results weren’t known as of press time,
The event, which got started in the early 1960s, touted a total prize pool around $5,000 this year.
“Years and years ago, they had the trappers and hunters and all the people from the city and the towns come together and celebrate the year and the year end, and that’s how it started,” race marshal Grant Beck said of the illustrious racing history.
Jaden Beck, one of the six-dog race participants, has been competitive since he was 14. Now 27, he still has the drive.
“We usually do a race once a year here in Yellowknife. It’s always a good event, brings all the family. But it’s nice to see other people come up,” he said.
He added that he looks forward to heading south and west for more races each winter.
“We like to travel to Wyoming. That’s a good race. There’s a race in the park [in] Manitoba. And then there’s lots of races in Alaska. We try to hit as much as we can,” he said.
Alisa Blake, another six-dog participant on the weekend, recently returned from a sled dog race in Fort Providence and was looking forward to ending the season on a high note in Yellowknife.
“I love dog racing,” said Blake, who has been involved in the sport for more than 20 years. “This is going to be our last race for the year, so I’m pretty excited about it.”