On the eve of the Carbon Hill race day, Katherine Scheck was trying to give herself a competitive edge.

The skijorer waxed her skis and used her secret tool to finish off the job.

At 11 a.m., Sunday morning she stood in the start chute at the Mount Lorne Community Centre with her team of 4 1/2-year-old dogs.

The temperature hovered just below zero, much warmer than what most mushers and their dogs prefer.

“I could tell right off the start it was going to be a slower day out on the trails,” said Scheck. “It was a warm, beautiful day and obviously a little hard for the dogs because the temperatures were so warm.”

Scheck and her team of four cruised to overall 30-mile victory in two hours, 51 minutes and seven seconds over Carcross’ Crispin Studer, who competed with a sled and finished just over six minutes later.

“It’s just a fun outing,” said Studer who won his sixth Carbon Hill 30-mile sled race on Sunday.

The 30-mile race took teams out to Alligator Lake and back, a route that Scheck calls one of the best to run dogs on.

“The trail itself is stunning, like I don’t think there’s a nicer place to run dogs than up Alligator Lake Trail,” she said.

Some glacier overflow offered a challenge for teams to navigate.

“I crashed, but the glacier is no problem at all,” said Studer with a smile following the race. “I tipped my sled and two seconds later I was up again.”

The event, which was run by DPSAY featured the 30-mile race, a 10-mile race, a six-mile rec event and a kids’ dash.