Denare Beach dog race follows in organizer’s father’s sled tracks

BY ERIC WESTHAVER

FLIN FLON REMINDER

Paws will be paced and sleds will fly over frozen lake ice during the area’s first organized sled dog race in years, organized in honour of a long-time former musher by his son.

The first annual Jimmy Custer Memorial Sled Dog Race will take place at Denare Beach and on Amisk Lake Feb. 11-12. The event will include a pair of races on both days - one race each day for sixdog and 10-dog teams. The 10-dog race will take place at 10 a.m. sharp on both Feb. 11 and 12, with the six-dog race starting at 11:30 a.m. on both days.

The races are held in honour of former Denare Beach dog musher Custer and organized by his son, Wally Olson, working along with partner Vanessa Campbell. The races are meant to both pay tribute to Olson’s father and help resurrect what is, in many places including Flin Flon and Denare Beach, a dormant sport.

“This was something I wanted to do in his honour, since his passing. With the support of my partner, we’re now able to do this,” Olson said.

“That’s the whole purpose. It’s very, very important to us.

My partner and I grew up doing this very thing - it’s kind of in our hearts already. It definitely means a lot to us.”

“Me and Wally are outdoors people. We love dogs,” Campbell said.

“We both grew up on this. It was our livelihood. It was our transportation. It was everything to us, dog racing - we are very passionate about it.”

Custer was a known dog musher and trainer who took part in races across Canada. His team of 14 dogs would run dozens of kilometres up and down Amisk Lake every winter in preparation for major races - it’s on a route up and down the same lake, partially using trails maintained by the Border Explorers Snowmobile Club with their permission, where Olson hopes to bring the dogs back.

“Everybody comes in the night of - mostly because they’re coming from far and wide. We’re expecting teams from The Pas, from Prince Albert area, Meadow Lake, even teams from the Northwest Territories,” Olson said.

“They’ll be in for the weekend and on Saturday morning, we’ll have registration at the race site.”

Sled dog racing holds a crucial part of northern history, dating back to when dog teams were a primary form of winter transport, used to carry cargo and passengers alike.

“Dog teams were used as a means of travel, of transportation. I guess how dog racing got going was somebody bet someone - ‘I bet my team is faster than yours to deliver groceries,’ that sort of thing,” said Olson.