The Yukon Brewing Copper Haul League races on Saturday were presented with an unforeseen obstacle. A truck tried to cruise the unplowed road, got stuck, and left a big hole and many bumps on the trail.

The obstacle and the 23 mushers, a more than the usual amount of entrants made for an exciting race.

More than just dog mushing, the race looks to promote canicross, skijoring, kick sledding, and bikejoring. It also encourages people to come race with their pets. Saturday saw eight teams in the “Working Pet Dogs” category.

“The working pets just keeps increasing,” said League organizer Jon Lucas. “People seem to really like it.”

The League has now had its qualifying race and two others afterward. The goal of the League, said Lucas, was to get back to the roots of sled dog racing by bringing inexperienced mushers into the fold.

“An easier way to get experience is to attend a race or two where the stakes are very low, competitive edges can be relaxed, and we can all work on our trail etiquette, especially passing,” Lucas told the Star in December.

Now, three races in, Lucas said the vision is coming to fruition.

“Everyone is controlling their teams,” said Lucas. “You have the 10-mile teams passing the pet dog teams and it is really great. That was the point of this race and it is a testament to the dogs.”

During the qualifying race, 11 mushers competed in the 10-mile race. To be eligible to win the League, a musher needed to complete the qualifier and the other three races.

After the qualifier, the list of mushers shrank to five; Alexandra Rochat, Soren Ohlign, Melissa Schenke, Ilana Kingsley, and Greg Newby. Those five remain in the running for the League which has a race pot of $700.

To make the League more interesting, Lucas implemented a handicap system. Mushers’ times will be adjusted by previous performance.

“Supposedly slower teams will be on a level playing field with the supposedly faster teams,” Lucas said.

Even if a musher did not race the qualifier, they can still come out and compete for day prizes provided by Yukon farmers and butchers.

Results:

Alexandra Rochat and her team of six won the 10-mile race in 36 minutes, 20 seconds. Lucas, 40:24, was second and Lindsay Caskenette, 46:23, was third.

After two races and the qualifier, the handicap and League points are starting to shake out. Newby leads the pack with 20. Kingsley has 17, Ohlign has 15, and Rochat and Schenke both sit on 14.

Like the past three races, a Kick Sled, Working Pet Dogs, and Young People race were hosted. The trio of races were three-kilometres.

Catalina Gomez and her two pooches won the Kick Sled race in 19 minutes. Karen McColl was 54 seconds behind and Francis Naud came third.

Nadele Flynne and her one dog skijored their way to the top of the Working Pet Dogs race in 16:08. Kevin Legeard ran with his two dogs and came second. Stephanie Dixon, sit-ski, placed third. Eight teams competed in this division.

Jim Verin won the Young Peoples race in 13:10 and The Barnes Clan placed second.

The final race in the Copper Haul League is slated for March 13.

With a file by Vince Fedoroff.