No snow, no problem.

The Eagle Pack's Mongrel Hordes welcomed a record 43 entries for its four dryland races at Susie Rogan's and Hans Gatt's kennel just off Gentian Lane in Golden Horn on Sunday.

The races included one mile-one pet dog, two mile-one to two sled dog, one-mile mass start and one mile canicross, wherein you tie yourself to your dog and hold on.

Jon Lucas, organizer of the Copper Haul Twister League, said the canicross race can be pure torture for the runner.

"That's actually really hard work, I've tried it a couple of times; the dogs are pulling you, and if you're going too fast or going down hill and you want to slow down, you actually have to work against the dogs,” Lucas said.

Lucas finished second in the one mile-one pet dog event, fourth in the two mile-one to two sled dog and third in the one mile mass start.

"Just waiting for the timer to countdown (for the mass start), there was a lot of adrenaline,” Lucas said, noting there were 15 teams on the start line for that race.

Icy Waters Ltd., Aurora Booties, Muktuk Kennel and C&D Feeds pitched in prizes, which were awarded after the race, when competitors also enjoyed the usual post-race potluck barbeque.

"Just to chat, swap gossip, training tips,” Lucas said of the post-race ritual.

The prizes and the grub help to create a fun atmosphere surrounding the monthly dryland event, which began in June.

"It's just for fun, they're short races – the longest one's about two miles – and we get more and more people turning up,” Lucas said.

"People are just starting now to think about fall training, or have started fall training.

"It's a good way to get your dogs out. It's good for the dogs; they get to meet other dogs and get all the excitement and strangeness of a race event without it really mattering if they mess up.”

Lucas helped found the dryland training races four years ago as a way to continue the mushing season through the summer.

Previously, mushers would go their own way come April, after the winter season.

These dryland races were a good way to keep mushers together year round, Lucas said.

Besides, he added, it's better than putting the dogs back into the pen or on the

chain come summer.

"I certainly use it to bring inexperienced dogs...they get to see that everything's fine in a race and it's going to be fun, so when they go to one of the bigger races in winter, it's like, ‘Yeah, well, it's just a race,'” Lucas said.

"You really see the change in the quality in training in the teams. When we started, people were weary about having head-on passing and also mixing in different groups – runners and riders or ski-dooers and sleds – and the other dogs get used to it, the riders get used to it and you get much smoother passes and better behaved teams.”

Newcomers pay $10 for their first race and $5 for subsequent races, which are always followed by a potluck.

For the details of next month's dryland races, the last dryland of the season, visit www.copperhaultwister.blogspot.com.

The Yukon Brewing Copper Haul Twister races will start in November, and run once each month until March.

Race results are as follows:

One mile-one pet dog

1 Susie Rogan 6.41

2 Jon Lucas 7.58

3 Karine Grenier 8.37

One mile canicross

1 Sandro Bumblebee 8.44

2 Paul Adams 9.25

3 Adam Robinson 10.22

Two mile-one to two sled dog

1 Darryl Sheepway 11.24

2 Cynthia Corriveau 11.26

3 Adam Robinson 11.47

One mile mass start

1 Darryl Sheepway 3.35

2 Fabian Schmitz 3.36

3 Jon Lucas 3.37