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Koehler competes at North Pole, Alaska

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By Warren Riley

On the trail at Morning Star Park, 46 mushers and 25 skijorers started the World Sled and Skidog Championships. Dogs were howling with excitement and anxious to run. The hundreds of onlookers waved giving support to their favorite teams.

Hosted by the International Federation of Dogsled Sports, the event took place between March 1 and 17 in North Pole, Alaska, and has captured the attention of participants from around the world.

Representing one of the Canadian teams was Karen Koehler of Minden who teaches at Archie Stouffer Elementary School. She described her participation as one of action and excitement.

“The World Championships in Alaska was super fun,” said Koehler. “The weather was very much like a nice winter week here, between -12 and -4 Celsius during most of the races. In the two-dog race, which was my warm up, I didn’t have two big dogs and unfortunately we placed 13th.”

Skijoring involves the timed competition of a dog or team of dogs attached to the skier by a rope, as the team makes its way through a course. The team completing the marked course in the least time is judged the winner.

Koehler felt vindicated by her time in the skijor race.

“In the one-dog skijor we placed 10th; two seconds out of 9th place.”

Koehler also represented Canada in the Pulk division. The term pulk is commonly used to refer to many different kinds of specialized toboggans (often with skis) that are used to transport gear. Dog sports enthusiasts often have their dogs pull pulks for various reasons including hauling their gear into the backwoods.

“In the pulka, we came in 5th,” she said. “We clipped more than a minute off the lead time from the previous day’s event.”

It is up to competitors to ensure their dog and equipment are weighed and adjusted properly prior to the race. Sometimes things go wrong and for Koehler that is exactly what happened.

“In the combined event, Bundle [our dog] got loose. We got stuck behind a skier having problems controlling her dog. But I still managed to keep my position and came in 6th.”

“In the relay [for team] Canada, we placed 5th,” she continued. “For my part of the relay, I was almost a minute closer to the lead time once again. We also competed in the Limited North American Championships in Fairbanks Alaska and finished in 3rd place clipping more seconds off the lead time each day.”

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