Eleven skiers and sixteen dogs turned out to contest race distances of 5.2 and 12.1 miles at the Willow Winter Carnival and experienced single digit temperatures under blue skies.

The skijor races were sandwiched between the women’s five-dog and the open class mushing races and followed the finish of the Don Bowers 200 distance race, so there were plenty of course markers to choose from. Skijorers who didn’t follow all the orange markers covered extra distance around Willow Lake.

The wide Willow Lake start/finish venue permitted the race to begin with a LeMans-style mass start. Skiers and their dogs lined up about fifty yards from their skis and poles and ran to their equipment following the start command. Mike Malvick and Rebecca Knight were the first competitors onto the course and held their advantage for more than 1.5 miles until Knight turned onto the short course and Bud Rice and Kris Rasey passed Malvick to set the pace on the long course.

Rasey went on two win the 12.1-mile two-dog race in 47:19.3, nearly two minutes ahead of Rice who finished in 49:10.4. Chuck Pratt finished third in 54:34.0. Justin Vert was the sole one-dog finisher of the 12.1 mile course and finished in 1:40:58.

Knight won the 5.1 mile one-dog race in 21:04.2, well ahead of the rest of the field who took the scenic route around Willow Lake. Adam Breidinger finished second in 28:11.8 and Allen Freudenthal was third in 29:00.7. Rebecca Voris was the only 2-dog competitor on the 5.1 mile course and finished in 29:35.9. Weather was clear and sunny. 

Temperature at race start was 2ºF, winds were calm.The courses this year were changed from previous years, so timings are not strictly comparable.