World Championship sled dog event kicks off Friday

LACONIA — The few inches of snow that fell overnight Monday was a welcome sight come Tuesday morning for organizers of the World Championship Sled Dog Derby.

Between 2 and 3 inches fell on top of the 12- to 15-inch snowpack on the course, according to Jim Lyman, president of the Lakes Region Sled Dog Club, which manages the three-day competition scheduled to get underway on Friday.

Last Friday’s rains resulted in shifting parts of the race course to areas with better snow conditions.

The 13-mile open championship course will make a loop over parts of the Laconia Country Club and then parallel Route 106/Parade Road, then make a second loop between Parade Road and Meredith Center Road just south of Pickerel Pond Road, then return along Parade before cutting across the old State School land and making a third loop near Ahern State Park and returning start-finish line.

The courses for the 6-dog and 3-dog events are shorter and are situated mostly on the Country Club or old State School land.

Last year’s race had to be canceled because of COVID, and so interest in this year’s race is more intense.

Lyman said registrations for the event, with a $20,000 purse, were continuing to come in. But he said that noted mushers who had already committed to take part include Guy Girard of Quebec, Randy DeKuiper, from Michigan, Ed Clifford from Raymond, Ken Chizik, considered one of top 10 mushers in the country, and Doug Butler of Vermont, a dairy farmer who is at much at ease with cows as he is with sled dogs.

This year's derby is being held in memory of Richard Champagne, a longtime derby trail master and member of the Sled Dog Club's board who died last April.

Events for the derby are scheduled to get under way Thursday at 7 p.m., with drawing for the starting order at Patrick’s Pub in Gilford.

The main event, the Unlimited race for the World Championship trophy gets underway Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. each day. The six-dog Classic race, meanwhile, will begin at 10 a.m. on each of the three days. The three-dog Junior races will take place at noon on Saturday and Sunday. A one-dog Junior competition is set for Sunday at a time to be announced.

Race times are subject to change, organizers note, and so they are encouraging the public to check the club’s Facebook page for updates throughout the weekend.

Forecasts are calling for a high temperatures on Friday in the mid-30s, and the mid-40s on Saturday. Sunday is shaping up to be colder, with the high reaching the mid- to upper 20s, according to the National Weather Service.

“It should be a hard and fast course on Sunday,” Lyman said.

The derby is due to wrap up late Sunday afternoon with the awards ceremony and raffle at Patrick's Pub starting at 4 p.m.