After taking a few months off, the dogs were more than ready for the Phillipe's Bike Repair Dryland Race, which was held Saturday on the Old Alaska Highway.

The race featured five event categories and marked the official kick off of the second Hot Hounds season.

Saturday's race was not only enjoyable for the dogs, but also for the mushers, who substituted bikes, scooters and even a power quad in place of the more traditional sled.

"The dogs don't really need the summer off, they still enjoy running," said Jonathan Lucas, the organizer of the event. "It keeps them at a certain level of fitness, so you are not starting from scratch (in the winter)."

The Drag ‘n' Fly Kennel hosted the event that included a Potluck BBQ after the conclusion of the competition.

Each category was $10 to enter. Prizes at the dryland race included a variety of supplies from Phillipe's Bike Repair, Icy Waters Arctic Charr, Yukon Brewing and Taplow/First Mate Dog Food. Since December First Mate has has donated around 2 1/2 tons of food for dog mushing events. The top three positions in each category was awarded with a prize on Saturday.

Even the weather co-operated during all five racing categories, which began and ended at the Drag ‘n' Fly Kennel. Temperatures were a lot warmer than expected, but were also comfortable for the dogs to race in.

The two main racing distances at the event were 1.6-km and 3.2-km. The dryland race began with the one pet dog one mile race. Pet dogs are defined as dogs that are not on a mushing team.

The first race saw the mushers set out in two minute intervals. Racers travelled down on a trail parallel to the Old Alaska Highway before looping back at the half way point of the race.

Lucas, using the scooter, bested all of the competition in this category, winning with a time of 5.10 with his dog Asha. Catherine Wallis wasn't too far behind on the bike, completing the race at 5.22. There was a total of five competitors in the pet dog category.

The next racing event was the sled dog category, which featured three participants and also used a two minute interval format.

Three time Yukon Quest winner, Hans Gatt proved he was just as talented racing in the summer as he is in the winter. Gatt finished in first place with a time of 4.59, using Suzie Rogan's dog Tundra. Janet Keller came in second and was just a couple seconds off Gatt's time at 5.01.

The bike was a popular mode of transportation for the one dog sled category and was used by all three competitors in the race.

With a total of eight participants, the two dog sled, two mile event offered the steepest competition at the dryland race.

Once again Lucas took top spot using the scooter. He won the top honour with his dog team of Assman and Emma, which came in at 7.48.

The next best time posted was by Suzie Rogan, who chose compete in the event using just one dog. Rogan went with a proven winner, picking three-year-old Tundra and finished the race at 9.39.

Rogan, who skijors in the winter, said she was happy with how Tundra did.

"I think he did great," she said. "I trust him on this crazy trail with the bicycle and the scooter. He's one of a kind."

The previous Hot Hounds race that Rogan was in, she won a T-shirt for the best crash after the rope went underneath her front tire, which caused the bike to flip.

She said she wasn't hurt in the crash, but was still a little nervous heading into Saturday's race.

"I was lucky, but after that they made me wear a helmet this year."

She said she chose to use the bike again because it's faster than the scooter.

"I was the last person in the last race and I figured people were kind of looking forward to it wrapping up, so I figured with the scooter I would be a lot longer."

Rogan said that these races are always a lot of fun to enter.

"I think it is strictly to meet up with friends really, but we have been on a couple little training runs because of this and it's kind of fun."

Stacie Zaychuk finished in third place using the bike with a time of 10.03, while Earl Shaw was just six seconds behind to claim the fourth spot on the scooter.

The following category was the First Mate Freight Pull, which included a lightweight and a medium weight classes. Light weight dogs were from 0 to 60-kg, while medium weights were 61 to 100-kg. This competition involved the dogs pulling a wagon, which had bags of dog food loaded onto it. The total distance was 16 feet and each bag of dog food weighed 40-kg.

The winner in the lightweight category was Suko, who is owned by Janet Keller. Suko managed to pull 285 pounds, which was four bags, including the weight of the wagon.

The medium weight category was won by Asha, who is Lucas' dog. Asha was able to pull 11 bags, which totaled 565-kg, including the weight of the wagon.

The final event was the Formula One, which featured the participants riding on a power quad with a group of four dogs. The Formula One was won by Gene Ennis, who completed the 3.2-km course with a time of 7.37. Lucas placed second in this event with his time of 8.02.