Sled dog racing in Bemidji is back!
Bemidji has a long history of sled dog races in the area. To the right is part of an article published by Nelson Bryant in 1987 talking about the race in Bemidji.
Outdoors: Mush! It’s Time for the Sled Dog Season January 11, 1987
January launches the sled dog racing season in this country, and in Bemidji, Minn., this weekend more than 2,000 dogs and 200 mushers, or drivers, are competing in the first leg of a three-part event known as Tuffy’s Triple Trail.
The races in the Bemidji meet -called the Paul Bunyan Sled Dog Race - are 3, 6, and 14 miles long, in which, in the same order, teams of 3, 6, 8 and 14 to 18-dog teams compete. The two remaining Triple Trail events, both in Minnesota, will be Saturday and Sunday in Ely and Jan. 24-25 in Grand Rapids, and cash prizes total $77,000.
Sled dogs have been part of the North American scene for more than 4,000 years. Formal dog-team racing on this continent began shortly after the turn of the century, the first event in 1908 in Alaska, the next in Idaho in 1917. Currently, more than 3,000 mushers compete in a circuit that includes most of the northern states. The best-known and most grueling sled dog race in the world is Alaska’s Iditarod.
The races in the Tuffy’s Triple Trail are sanctioned by the International Sled Dog Racing Association, which awards gold, silver and bronze medals to the top point winners in such events at the season’s close.