Guelph Lake Sled Dog Race: Concept of friends to the reality of a new race

It helps to be a little crazy when you love sled dogs, and the people I'm going to be speaking with love them with their whole hearts. This group of friends via mushing and Siberians, put their heads together one day after a mush, and decided to put a dream into motion - to host a sled dog race. This group of friends that form the Guelph Lake Sled Dog Race committee are Jen Gastmeier, Ralph Shade, Sally Kirkby, Deb Langlois and Richard Meldrum, with consultant Joel Robert Jamison. 

Those of us that mush and have been to races, see all that goes on, and we know it is hectic. For those that don't, imagine putting on a huge wedding with guests from all over North America, juggling food for a fancy sit down dinner, rooms for the guests, seating arrangements and more. Add to that the happy couple wanting a million dollar wedding for about $300 bucks, guests bringing teams of loud sled dogs, and then doing in in less than a few weeks. Although these friends have had more time than that, it is still quite an undertaking, with everything from securing a location to insurance, sponsors and more. 

This first time race isn't just about all of us having a great time, and having the public come in to see some of the finest folks on runners with amazing dogs; this group wanted to give back too. So in conjunction with Grand River Hospital Foundation, they have Mush for Healthcare. They have 14 health care departments, and a musher choses a departmen to raise monies for that particular specialtiy area. On the day of the race, a representative from that department will be present to help that musher and team to the start chute, and totals will be tallied. All procedes go to the department of the team has raised funds for. 

Several of these fine mushers are going to take some time and talk to us about the race from concept to reality, the trails and so much more!