That her race is back again to bring sled
dogs and mushers from all across the country.
And it's a qualifier for some big races
like the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod,
the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge.
Only a few days away now. And this morning,
we're joined by the official race
organizer and founder, Jerry Wardley.
Jerry, thank you so much for joining us.
So talk to me about the founding of
the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge. What?
What inspired you to get this thing going?
Well, thank you. Thank you for having me.
I've been on a. Volunteering their did
rod for a number of years really wow.
And so that's what my background was
from from that and and then down here
I thought it would be a great idea
to have a starter race down here.
So why not it's a great area to do it.
Why not and now you're in your
fifth year is that right?
That would be the 5th year. Yes.
Fantastic. Talk to me about how this
is grown and sort of some changes.
Yeah we started out I think we had
10 mushrooms the first year and
and then each year it's grown.
Since we started with one race and
now we have actually 5 events, WOW.
This year, the, the, the,
the headliner event of course
is our 300 mile
sled dog race through Valley
Adams and and some of Jim County
in the West Central Mountains.
Wow. And 300
miles, 300 miles, correct.
And so that's our, that's our qualifier.
We're one of only three 300
mile qualifiers in the lower 48.
And so we get mushers from all over.
Someone from Saskatchewan
is coming this year really.
We've had people from New Hampshire,
Michigan, they come from all over for this.
So then the other events are
we've got also 100 mile race
there on some of the same trails.
We have a then also we're starting a
new race out of Warm Lake, just a short,
short race this year that will be new.
Hmm, but they're all kicks off
with a couple of events we have.
Veterinarians check all the dogs.
Yeah pre race and that'll be in
McCall and then we have a ceremonial
start at the McCall Activity Barn and
that's and that we'll we're auctioning
off sled dog rides online also the
highest bidders can get a ride with
with these with these mushers and
that would be a heck of a time.
So it's a it's a great time there
for that so awesome.
That sounds like a ton of fun.
So how can people attend, take this
in and watch these various races?
Well, first you can go on our website at
idahosleddogchallenge.com that has most
all the information you need for scheduling
and and places to go and so forth.
OK, and but then all we've got 5 checkpoints
throughout the race that people can
actually drive to and there's kind of
a schedule on the on the website about
approximately when they might be there.
OK. And one of the things I wanted to
mention was the we have a a tagline
that we came up with a few years
ago called Spirit Unleashed and.
The way that came about is people we saw that
how excited the community was for this event.
Yeah. And and people were saying it's
so much more than just a dog race.
Yeah. And so the community has come
alive with this with this race kids.
We had a call yesterday from Cascade.
Where are they going to park all
the school buses because there's
that's coming all over for this race.
So.
So we came up with this.
Find spirit unleashed.
And it's not just for the dogs spirit,
but it's the community spirit.
Wow that that just came alive for this
community has really embraced it.
And what's that website one more time?
Real quick. Idaho sled dog challenge.com.
Idaho sled dog challenge.com.
What a great race and event.
Jerry, thank you so much for.