Hundreds gather for American Dog Derby centennial in Ashton
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ASHTON — The annual Dog Derby is a special event many locals in Ashton look forward to — but this year is particularly noteworthy — it’s the centennial for the longest running dog derby in the country.
“We’re carrying on a tradition for Ashton,” race director Jon Scafe said.
The Ashton Dog Derby began in 1917, due to the popularity and the significant use of dog sleds in the area. In those days, heavy snowfall during the winter closed down the railways to Ashton making mushing a big business for travelers in the area.
Today, dog sledding is less about travel and more about sport. Mushers come from across the country to participate in the race.
Ann Stead, from Minnesota is an experienced musher of 41 years. She worked on the production of Disney’s dog sledding film “Iron Will.” She said the snow trail was well done despite the warming temperatures.
“We can’t control the weather, they’ve done absolutely an immaculate of preparing this trail, I was so impressed,” Stead said. “I’ve ran on way worse. It was great.”
She said any race that can keep up for this long is a big deal.
“Being able to come out for the 100th commemorative here was really important to me,” Stead said.
The race began Friday and continued into Saturday afternoon. Despite the warmth Saturday organizers were able to build a snow trail for the mushers to perform on. The community also pitched in by hauling snow so mushers could get their sleds to the starting line.
“If it was a little colder it would have helped a lot more. We had to shorten a few more races up for the safety of everyone and the mushers,” Scafe said.
This year Scafe said there were more racers than usual. There were 39 racers, five juniors and three people participating in skijoring.
Typically there are five races at the derby with an unlimited class, an 8-dog class, and a 6-dog class.
On Friday Jerry Bath took the lead in the unlimited class, Grata Thurston in the 8-dog class, Benjamin Thompson in the 6-dog class, and Maria Torgerson in the junior class.
On Saturday there was an unlimited class for those with 8-dogs and up. Those with 8-dogs ran 22 miles, and those with 6-dogs ran 12 miles. The mushers performed two heats between Friday and Saturday with dogs running a maximum of 44 miles.
There was also celebrity races with members of the community such as educators, and city officials racing down a strip of snow on Main Street. Rep. Van Burtenshaw from the Idaho Legislature traveled from Boise to participate in the celebrity race.
“It’s been a great experience,” Stead said. “I think I’ll be back.”