COVID forces cancellation of Sled Dog Derby

LACONIA — The Laconia World Championship Sled Dog Derby, which attracts hundreds of spectators for the three-day event, has been canceled due to COVID-19,

The race had been scheduled for Friday, Feb. 12, through Sunday, Feb. 14.

“Everywhere we turned we couldn’t make it work because of COVID,” Jim Lyman, president of the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club, said Friday.

Social distancing restrictions would have prohibited the traditional spectator viewing areas at the start-finish line.

Lyman said the Laconia Country Club informed race officials it would not host the venue as it did last year. He said the club approached state authorities to see if the start-finish line could be relocated to a large open field near the old Laconia State School, and was told that  would not be possible, either, though the state was willing to have the race course on state land.

“We’re a big spectator race,” Lyman said, “and we try to keep that going.”

Another major obstacle was the continued closure of the U.S.-Canada border to non-essential traffic.

Between half and two-thirds of the mushers who compete in the open-class events at the derby come from Quebec, he pointed out.

“We were hoping that the restrictions might be lifted, but from what we’ve been hearing, it looks like that won’t be happening until sometime in the spring,” Lyman said.

COVID restrictions also precluded the club from doing its usual fundraising. Every year the club holds an auction which typically raises between $10,000 and $12,000. While the club would have been able to put on a race this year with the money it has on-hand, without an auction this year there would not be as much money available to defray the cost of the 2022 race.

The Laconia World Championship Sled Dog Derby dates back to 1929, just four years after the famous 674-mile relay effort to deliver serum to diphtheria patients in Nome, Alaska.

The race was only canceled once — in 1974 — in the first 50 years of its history due to the lack of snow. But since the early 1980s the derby has been canceled 13 times — or about once every three years because of poor snow conditions.

The races would have also been complicated by border restrictions in place between the U.S. and Canada. Mushers from Canada would not have been unable to participate at all unless restrictions were changed before the race.