In just two years, what started as an effort to introduce South River and area residents to dog sledding has now become an event that qualifies participants for the World Cup of dog sled races.
On Jan. 20 and 21 South River welcomes dog sled enthusiasts and their dogs from Quebec, Ontario, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania to compete in two-, four-, and six-dog races in addition to one- and two-dog skijor where the individual is on skis and pulled by dogs.
There is also a junior category that features one- and two-dog sled races plus a kid and mutt event where young children race their dogs on small sleds over a 500-metre distance.
Among all the categories, it's the one-dog skijor, two-dog and four-dog sled races that are qualifiers for the upcoming World Cup.
Lisa De Gennaro, who as president of the Sledding Sports Association of Southwestern Ontario (SSASO) is promoting the South River race, says the two-dog skijor and six-dog sled races don't qualify for the World Cup because the existing trail isn't long enough under International Federation of Sledding Sports (IFSS) rules. The World Cup is held by the IFSS.
De Gennaro says if the local trail's length can be increased another one to two miles, that allows the remaining categories to become sanctioned events as World Cup qualifiers. De Gennaro is optimistic that local organizers can make that happen sooner than later.
In addition to qualifying for the World Cup, De Gennaro says the South River race is also a Gold Ticket event meaning dog sledders who win their respective class get a Gold Ticket to represent their province at the next Nationals.
De Gennaro says South River residents have developed a quality trail and it's not just her who's making that claim.
Dog sledders, or mushers as they are also called, who took part in the community's races last year also spoke well of the trail.
“People were super impressed with it,” she said. “When you come to a first-time event there are usually a lot of hiccups.”
However, De Gennaro says that didn't happen in South River and the participants also praised the volunteers who organized the local races.
Chief among those volunteers are Stephen Todoroff, Jessica Switzer and Matt Paquette.
It's been Paquette's dream for years to create a local dog sled racing event, and with initial help from Todoroff, he started the work to have an existing cross-country ski trail also used for dog sledding.
Paquette is a musher and has known De Gennaro for years.
It was tough sledding to add a dog sled course to the cross-country ski trail but with De Gennaro's expertise, the trail became a reality.
“We added a bit to the trail,” Paquette said, adding the group also got a lot of help from the cross-country ski team at Almaguin Highlands Secondary School (AHSS).
Two years ago that work resulted in a Fun Run which expanded in 2023 to include time trials for serious mushers who like to compete. However, the 2023 event managed to keep the Fun Run portion.
Paquette says if the existing trail is going to expand so that more categories can qualify for future World Cups, it will be done with safety in mind.
“We don't want to expand just for the sake of expanding,” he said, a position that De Gennaro fully supports since a priority is to keep the dogs and mushers as safe as possible while racing.
Right now the trail lengths are 2.5 miles and four miles long depending on the category.
Both Paquette and De Gennaro will race their respective teams in the upcoming event.
Todoroff is not a musher while Switzer is skipping the racing component so she can concentrate on co-ordinating the background work. That includes working with the culinary staff at AHSS, which sits next to the trail, to provide food and drinks to the mushers and the public.
The event drew a larger-than-expected crowd last year and Switzer expects even more spectators this year because of the World Cup status the event has achieved, plus, awareness of the race has grown tremendously.
Switzer is also directing the mushers where to stay and eat outside of the race days.
The AHSS parking lot is where spectators can park their vehicles. Switzer is asking the public to be mindful of where they park because the dog sledders will also be using the same site and they will be hauling a lot of equipment. Volunteers will help with the parking.
There is no charge for people to see the races which feature a large variety of dogs including Huskies, Alaskan Huskies, Samoyed, and Malamute.
On Saturday racing begins at 9:30 a.m. and runs to about 4 p.m.
Sunday's races get underway at 9 a.m. and are followed by an awards ceremony at 4 p.m.
The order of events for both days is the same with one and two-dog skijor racing kicking things off followed by four-dog sled racing and then there is a lunch break. The six dog races follow lunch followed by the kid and mutt event. The final two events are two-dog and a junior sled race.
Participants will leave the start line in about two-minute intervals.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
