With temperatures well above zero, the dogs could be forgiven for taking the time to gulp down a mouthful of snow during Sunday's Alpine Vet mushing race.

This past weekend's Yukon Brewing Copper Haul Twister League race marked around a 41 C difference than the temperature at the previous competition, held just last month.

To the delight of the organizers, there was no shortage of musher participation for the 19-km adult dog race. A total of 18 mushing teams took part, while the kids and pet dog 5-km races each had four participants.

Jo Van Randen set the pace in the adult division, coming in at 58:30, which was less than 30 seconds faster than Kyla Boivin's second place time.

"The dogs did great," Van Randen said about her team. "They had nice clean passes, which is the neat thing about this race because you meet so many people head on. You don't get that opportunity very often. Usually you don't see people for hours in most races."

Sunday featured a firm and thick trail, which needed only a couple of hours to patch up on Saturday. Trail conditions ranged from being very slick in some areas to slower in others.

Teams travelled out in two-minute intervals and if one team caught up to another, the slower team was required to pull over and allow the other to pass.

If a musher fails to yield when caught in the Copper Haul Twister League, he or she is accessed a 10 minute penalty.

Participation in an individual race in the series costs $10 and the league holds one competition each month during the mushing season.

Besides travelling by sled, participants in the Copper Haul league can use a pair of skis. However, because of safety issues for the dogs and mushers, metal edged skis are banned from use in the races put on in the league.

Prizes in Sunday's race were donated by Alpine Vet, Yukon Brewing, Aurora Booties, Icy Waters Ltd., Taplow/Firstmate Dog Foods, Dazhaw Du Chiropractic Clinic, Yukon Agricultural Association and Midnight Sun Alpacas.

League members are awarded 10 points for finishing first, which goes down two points for each place after that.

Besides the abnormally warm temperatures, sunny skies and a cool breeze greeted racers, which benefitted the dogs both on the way out and back to the start/finish line.

With her strong second place finish, Boivin held on to her first place ranking in the league standings.

"I enjoy this race," she said. "It's good fun and it's a good experience for the dogs. It teaches them passing and all kinds of stuff."

Boivin plans on volunteering for the next race, so she can be eligible to be a member in the league.

"Why not? If I am leading league, hey might as well go for the gusto," she said.

Tony Radford rounded out the top three with a time of 59:04, while Aileena Ruekenbach came in fourth at 1:01:29.

The fifth spot was locked up by Will Van Randen, who posted a time of 1:01:34.

All top five mushers in the adult category used a team of six dogs and travelled by sled.

Jeff Diment built on his lead in the kids race, placing first with a four dog sled. His time was 11:28, while Keagan Hopkins using a two-dog team finished in second at 15:16.

Larissa Ruekenbach rounded out the top three, coming in at 25:08.

The pet dog race was won by Jonathan Lucas' dog Asha, who just beat Michael Pealow by two seconds, crossing the finish line at 17:08.

Annisa Guenfoud finished in third place in the pet dog category with a time of 21:03.