MAL EDUCATION - by Ruth I. Kellogg

MEMORIAL TO A MUSHER

On a weekend perfect for both mushing and spectating, 45 professional and amateur sled dog teams gathered at the 108 Ranch Resort in Central British Columbia for some serious racing. The event, on January 18 and 19, 1997, was the 6th Annual Jack Gawthorn Memorial Race. These annual races are held as a memorial to a local, musher and outfitter, Jack Gawthorn.

On April 3, 1991, Jack and his team of Malamutes set off to close his backwoods cabin on Long Lake (northeast of 100 Mile House, B.C.). Jack, his dogs, and all his equipment disappeared. It is presumed they went through the ice. No trace of Jack or his dogs has ever been found in these dark and murky waters. His daughter, Chris Kuby, was an attendee and volunteer at the races. Chris told me that there is now a permanent memorial to Jack at his backwoods cabin.

I had the privilege of meeting Jack Gawthorn and shared my meeting with Malamute Quarterly readers in my column (Happy Dog!) entitled "B.C. Outfitter" (spring 1988). When I met Jack, he was breeding and working Alaskan Malamutes having switched from Canadian Eskimo Dogs. Jack was not a racer; as an outfitter, he preferred to guide and give excursion rides around the 100 Mile House, B.C. area .

The Cariboo, which is what the interior of B.C. north of Cache Creek is known as, is a musher's haven. The area is known primarily as ranching and forestry country. It is also becoming a popular year-round vacation spot. The land is, for the most part, gently rolling grasslands with plenty of trees and scenic lakes. The weather is, what I would consider, moderate. It's not too hot in the summer, and the winters are usually snowy without many long dips down the thermometer to 40 below. Around my place (1/2 way between 100 Mile House and Williams Lake), winter temperatures average about minus 5 to 20 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit). So, with the generally dry snow and pleasurable winter temperatures, mushing is one of the many winter sports enjoyed in the Cariboo!

The Jack Gawthorn Memorial Sled Dog Races are held annually as a two day "racing meet." The races are held at the 4-star rated 108 Mile Ranch Resort and utilize their spectacular golf course and surrounding greenbelt area (including two small lakes) for the trails. As the Clubhouse is on a hill, the viewing of the race is spectacular from it. The majority of all the trails can be seen from the one location! Both the start and finish race areas are in the Clubhouse vicinity with just a short walk between them.

These races, sanctioned by the International Sled Dog Racing Association, run under their rules. The 1997 Race Committee included a 'Race Marshall (Irvin Wiens), Chief Judge (Mike Huntley), Chief Timer (Mervin Riddell), Trail Boss (Karl Tress), Veterinarian (Terry Queshel) and two Coordinators (Chantelle Ross & Andy McLaren). A sanctioned dog race is evaluated by the Race Committee, participating mushers, and the ISDRA. Every aspect of the race is evaluated including race's organization, efficiency and smoothness of running the classes, course layout, and quality of track laid. From the results of these separate evaluations, the ISDRA "grades" the race meet, suggests improvements that could be made to the race meet, and ultimately controls the race's "sanction" for future races. At the present time, this race meet is definitely on the Western Canada's Professional musher's circuit. The hopes of the Committee is that it will attain world class (or top) grading by the ISDRA.

Mushers came from a-wide variety of places. Although the majority were from various parts of B.C., mushers also travelled from Alberta, Manitoba, Arizona, Washington, and Germany. The German musher, a professional, bred his Alaskan Huskies in Germany (from stock that was imported there from Alaska by another musher). With corporate sponsorship, he was able to transport his dogs and all equipment to North America. He is now doing the Western Canadian and Alaskan mushing circuit. He attended to all the little details before the race - including waxing the runners with the appropriate wax for the snow and temperature! (As a very novice musher, I hadn't thought about waxing runners. But as it is done with cross country skies, it made sense!)

At this year's races, the classes offered were: Sanctioned 4 Dog, Sanctioned 6 Dog, Purebred 6 Dog, and Sanctioned 10 Dog. Each musher and team runs in their respective classes each day. The winners and placements of the various classes are determined by the total of both scores over the two days. To ensure that there were no dog substitutions, race officials marked each dog with a cattle marking crayon with a color corresponding to the race entered. For example all dogs entered in the 6 dog races were marked with a red streak on their head and/or flank. A musher could run less dogs in the class (eg. 3 dogs in a 4 dog class) or if one dog had to be pulled during the race, it had to be placed securely in the musher's dog bag and carried in the sled to the finish. The same dogs had to run in the event that they were entered in on both days.

The Sanctioned 4 Dog team ran a course of 4.5 miles - truly a sprint race with all teams being Alaskan huskies! All 6 Dog teams ran a course of 6.3 miles. The Sanctioned 10 Dog teams ran a course of 10.2 miles.

The Purebred Dog Class started 5 minutes after the Sanctioned 6 Dog class (all Alaskan husky teams). This is the first year that this class was offered and drew an entry of 13 teams (9 Siberian Husky teams and 4 Canadian Eskimo Dog teams) which was more than the Sanctioned 6 Dog class! The times were slower than the Alaskan Husky teams - as was expected. The Purebred team owners know they are not competitive with the Alaskan huskies and entered the event to Ùchallenge each other" but mainly to have fun and enjoy the competition. I did check with the Race Officials and verified that participating in their race would qualify Alaskan Malamutes for the AMCA's sled dog titles and Canadian Kennel Club's Sled Dog titles.

It was apparent that even within the Purebred class, there were definite breed differences. The Siberians were considerably faster than the Canadian Eskimo Dogs. Although there were no Alaskan Malamutes competing, I'd expect the Malamutes to have similar times to the Canadian Eskimo Dogs. (Canadian Eskimo Dogs are similar in size to Mals with similar working abilities.)

After the racing classes on Saturday afternoon, a weight pull was held for any and all dogs. In addition to the classes, there was a silent auction with many wonderful items donated by individuals and various businesses. An Art Show featuring local Artists was also on display. (The Cariboo attracts and fosters many talented artists in all mediums.) And of course, there cannot be a dog event without some sort of celebration! A Musher's Ball was held on the Saturday night.

I was left with many impressions of this Race Meet. High on the list was the friendliness and informality of everyone there. Although informality is typical of the Cariboo, this was still a highly competitive event. (Any time there is cash for prizes, people do become much more competitive.) The explanations and teaching about sled dogs and mushing events to the general public and spectators that was done through their (free) program and excellent commentary by Dr. Terry Quesnel on the P.A. system was outstanding. But one thing that really impressed and delighted me was the support given to the Race Committee by the entire community of 100 Mile House and surrounding area. This is truly a wonderful memorial to a gentleman musher and dog lover, Jack Gawthorn.

Addendum: I do apologize for the sporadic appearances of the Mal Education column over the past year or so. Now that I have moved (again!), life is starting to finally become (pardon the pun) "in harmony" for my Alaskan Malamutes, Arabian mare, and myself. My home is in vicinity of 150 Mile House, B.C. which is over 600 miles north of Vancouver, B.C. It's been a long and rough road we've travelled and now we, my four-footies and myself, are now able to "heal" and become happy and healthy. I'm really "in the country" with all sorts of wildlife - including wolves - as neighbors! With miles of trails at my back door, I have revived my interest in mushing. I hope to represen