The original inception of Rosebud Run took place in May of 2005 over a cup of coffee at a local coffee shop in Didsbury. Then musher of notoriety, inevitably to become the first Chair of the Rosebud Run Committee, Dena Wannamaker and local farmer Bill Windsor explored the possibility of hosting a sled dog race in Didsbury. With wheels in motion, the organizing group began gaining momentum and called the first committee meeting in June of that year. Upon examining several potential venues for the races, the Rosebud River Valley was the eventual selection for the race site and the name, coined after the Valley in which the race would take place, Rosebud Run Sleddog Classic was born.

Almost immediately following that first meeting of the organizing committee, self-appointed Trail Master and musher John Bates began mapping out and setting the trail. Key people from the mushing community generously offered their expertise to the committee and amazingly quickly the structure of the hosting group began to take shape. Connie McKenzie consented to provide Timing leadership and training for local volunteers. Husband Allen McKenzie assumed the role of Official Starter bringing experience to a committee which consisted predominantly of sled dog ignorant individuals. Susan de Caen, with considerable experience with sled dog races, would travel from Calgary to manage the dog handlers. Jerry Kaita, former musher and sled dog enthusiast, became the Race Marshal for the 2006 edition of the races.

Through the organization and preparation of that inaugural edition of the Rosebud Run Sleddog Classic, several people warrant positions of distinction leading to the successful hosting of that first race. The Town of Didsbury Public Works department stepped well beyond their realm of responsibility to accommodate the committee. Rick Wannamaker, Al Johnson, Einar Sakariassen, and Ed Himbeault worked tirelessly for 72 hours to ultimately create a trail suitable for racing. The entire community of Didsbury embraced the races with an excitement and faith reminiscent of barn raising parties of the past.

While the 2006 Rosebud Run Sleddog Classic sprint races were to take place in the race’s name sake, the Rosebud River Valley, the warm westerly flows of Pacific air, affectionately know as Chinooks, robbed the race trail of snow. Originally scheduled for January 12 and 13, with no snow the races were postponed to January 26 and 27 then to February 17 and 18 and finally to March 11 and 12. On March 7, 2006, with the snow being devoured by a westerly Chinook, the committee held an emergency meeting to determine the fate of the races. With a decision to move the race trail, the four individuals of distinction mentioned earlier set the race trail at the new location in 72 hours concluding 3 hours before Registration and the Mushers Meeting.

Forty-seven mushers from St. Johns, BC to Coatesville, PA entered sixty-six teams in that inaugural edition of the races. Eleven hundred spectators braved the elements to enjoy the unique and nostalgic spectacle of sled dog racing. It was an incredible success story for the inaugural hosting of the Rosebud Run Sleddog Classic.

In the summer of 2006, Trail Master John Bates passed away. John's contribution to the 2006 edition of the races would not be fully realized until well after his passing as the trail crew prepared for the 2007 races. In recognition of John's efforts, the John Bates Memorial Trophy for the Junior Class was added to the trophy spectrum for the 2007 races and the Junior Class would become a permanent class in the races. Although not receiving much in the way of notoriety, John Bates was certainly one of the most notable individuals in what would become Rosebud Run history.

The 2007 edition of the Rosebud Run Sleddog Classic originally scheduled for January 13 and 14 looked promising late in November when very frigid temperatures and six inches of snow gripped south-central Alberta. However, as December rolled on and Chinook winds took daily temperatures above the freezing mark, the snow gradually disappeared and by Christmas, with a drab brown landscape, it was obvious to the hosting committee, the races would have to again be postponed. The new dates of February 10 and 11 were selected with high hopes for some snow early in the new year.

Very early in February, with absolutely no snow, the committee optimistically placed their faith in the weather forecast and postponed again, this time to February 17 and 18. The week and a half leading up to race weekend saw an adequate amount of snow fall on the trail and excitement was high throughout the committee and the community.

Wednesday before the races the temperatures started rising covering a span that bottomed out on Tuesday at -23°C and peaking at 5°C on Wednesday. With mushers and a Chinook on the way, it was too late to turn back. Race days reached high temperatures in the 10°C range and organizers rescheduled to attempt to get mushers and teams off the trail as early in the day as possible.

Forty-four mushers entered sixty teams in the 2007 edition of Rosebud Run. Shovelling crews were required to at least keep some snow on the trail and teams ran on open dirt for short sections of the trail. Amazingly, the race concluded as scheduled to the delight of over 1800 spectators.

Preparations for the 2008 edition of the races started in September of 2007 with a few major changes in the plans. Areas along the trail that had been identified as problem areas would be addressed and alternatives to the use of straw bales to mark the trail had to be explored. Judy Osbourne assumed the role of Volunteer Coordinator, contacting and keeping in touch with the 120 plus Rosebud Run volunteers.

In November work started on the four areas of concern along the trail. The trail down the long steep hill shortly after the 4-mile/6-mile inbound converging point was moved a short distance west to run down a natural ravine and excavation equipment constructed a road down that ravine. Excavation equipment also sloped the stream bank on the first crossing of the Rosebud River immediately after the steep hill and placed a culvert and slough crossing just before the finish gate. The abrupt rise just north of the bridge on the outbound trail required a permit to make any alterations there so the permit process was started with hopes of having that alteration complete for the 2009 edition of the races. Although the use of a float to smooth the hummocks along the entire length of the trail had been planned, circumstances forced that effort to be defered to the 2009 itinerary.

In an effort to eliminate the back-breaking work of using straw bales to mark the trail, the committee decided to experiment with electric fence posts in place of the straw bales. There are several advantages to the electric fence posts. First and most importantly, they weight about 10 ounces each so moving and handling them is relatively easy as compared to a 60 pound straw bale. Second, with the use of a cordless drill, they can be placed anywhere along the trail in frozen ground or ice. Third, they are flexible and will give way if a team should run into them. They stand about 4 feet high so their visibility is far greater than a 16 inch straw bale and nothing additional has to be used to add to their height for affixing snow fence or flagging to them. They are also easily collected after the conclusion of the race and don't deteriorate from one year to the next.

Late in December and early in January, Trail Marshal Jerry Kaita and Trail Crew Lead Rodger Logan mapped out and marked the trail. With virtually no snow and a strong Chinook in early January, conditions were very pleasant for mapping and marking the trail but dismal for trail preparation. The possiblity of having to postpone the 2008 race was heavy on the organizing committee's mind.

On January 15th, following a week-long Chinook, the committee met at Mugs Coffee House to discuss alternate dates for the races; with only trace amounts of snow in shaded areas it was obvious the races had to be postponed. The committee looked at a variety of factors then decided the new target dates would be February 23 and 24. The logic behind this was that later dates could be chosen but it would be foolish to pass up a potential date where snow might be adequate. So the committee set the first alternate dates as February 23 & 24, then March 1 & 2 and finally March 8 & 9. The committee picked three consecutive weekends with the hopes that one of them would present adequate racing conditions.

This postponement presented an opportunity for the committee to research and explore trail grooming equipment. It had become painfully obvious that these races would be plagued by marginal snow conditions and something had to be done to ensure the retention of whatever snow might come along. With this in mind, Trail Crew Lead, Rodger Logan, researched and set in place a design for a Rosebud Run trail groomer. With the assistance of Niemeyer's Welding in Olds, work began on a prototype trail groomer with the expectation that alterations to the original design would be required. The Rosebud Run trail dresser was first put to trail on January 30 on fresh snow. After a few adjustments of the angle of the packer, it became obvious the groomer was going to be a huge asset to the trail crew. Packing and grooming a five foot swath of trail in one pass meant considerably less time would be required to prepare the trail before and during the races.

With snow and stormy conditions on the February 9th weekend and a favourable forecast leading up to the February 23 & 24 races dates, the committee was optimistic. Along with the snow came the announcement that Judy Osbourne was stepping down as Volunteer Coordinator some 14 days before the races. Lois Wright, previously on the phoning committee, took up the torch and assumed the role of keeping in contact with the Rosebud Run Volunteers. Although resolving the Volunteer Coordinator position was relatively simple, the Chinook that hit on February 11th wasn't. The updated forecast predicted temperatures above the freezing mark for a number of days and the trail that was just starting to take shape began to deteriorate.

As the February dates came and passed, and even though the committee valiantly made an effort to salvage the 2008 edition of the races by postponing again to early March, it was simply not to be in 2008. On the last day in February the committee made the final decision to cancel the races for 2008.

The Rosebud Run committee is a resiliant lot, or maybe an insane lot, and trail preparations for the 2009 edition of the races started early in November. By the time we switched our calendars to December, the entire trail was dressed and marked. Heavy snow falls in early part of December had the trail crew working overtime attempting to pack as much of the white stuff on the trail as possible. By mid month, the trail had more snow on it than it had ever had and the forecast called for continued cold temperatures and even more snow. The committee began to entertain the notion that for the first time in its history, Rosebud Run would take place without a postponement.

Test running of the trail was scheduled for January 1, 2009 and amid temperatures fluttering around the -30°C mark, 4 teams took to the trail. Rachel Wannamaker ran a 4-dog team and 6-dog team on the 4-mile and 6-mile trails, Dena Wannamaker ran a 5-dog team on the 4-mile trail and Jesse Byiers ran a 4-dog team on the 4-mile trail. Reports from the mushers indicated that the trail was race ready. Dena even commented that this is the best trail she'd ever run on. It's amazing what you can do to a sled dog race trail when you have the right raw material, snow.

The early part of January saw brutal winds drifting the snow in various places along the trail. The north end of the 4-mile trail, along a fenceline, was difficult to keep open as snow 3 and 4 feet deep piled in on the trail. The drop back to the valley floor on the 4-dog and 6-dog return run saw bumps that were a concern while laying out the trail, smoothered under 8 foot drifts. The rise off the river bed immediately before the 2-mile/4-mile split was becoming a tunnel through the 6 foot drift that redeveloped almost daily. Scoop shovels were becoming the Trail Crew's best friends as huge amounts of snow were moved to maintain the trail over and through the drifts.

This was most certainly virgin territory for a Trail Crew who, in years gone by, had to search for snow to shovel onto the trail. Instead of the practice they had become accustomed to, shovelling snow onto the trail, the crew was shovelling snow off the trail and extending drifts across low spots. Because of this, the trail was exceptionally smooth, a situation the Trail Crew would like to suffer through every year.

Preparations for the 2010 edition of the races started early in the fall with heavy equipment leveling the trail and a drastic change to the the trail route. Modifications to the trail route would place the entire 4-mile trail on the south side of Highway 582. A bridge was set in place on the second creek crossing outbound and all creek crossings were dressed for a smooth entry and exit. Trail markings were set before the ground was frozen and by mid-October the wait for snow began.

The first weekend in December delivered a ferocious blizzard dumping huge amounts of snow and incredible drifts all around Didsbury. By December 9th, the race trail was set and groomed, the earliest the race trail has ever been in. With a odometer check, both the 2-mile and 4-mile trails were slightly under their intended length and on December 10th a minor adjustment in the trail route was made. December 11th saw the first dog teams on the trail and trail markers for the alteration were set.

With an early opening of the trail, organizers decided to host a just-for-fun race, Mush Rush, and scheduled it for January 2nd, 2010. This race was intended to extend the use of the trail and heighten awareness of dog-powered sports. Additional preparations began immediately.

Rosebud Run Sleddog Classic Winners

6-Dog Purebred

2009 - Rachel Wannamaker – Didsbury, AB

2007 - Rob Bryce - Prince George, BC

2006 – Dena Wannamaker – Didsbury, AB

6-Dog Open

2009 - Jennifer Peebles - Pickardville, AB

2007 - Doug Ebbert - Broderick, SK

2006 – Doug Ebbert – Broderick, SK

4-Dog Purebred

2009 - Hans Appelman - Westerose, AB

2007 - Laurie Bryce - Prince George, BC

2006 – Rachel Wannamaker – Didsbury, AB

4-Dog Open

2009 - Richard Crittenden - Whistler, BC

2007 - Briar Gonie - Pierceland, SK

2006 – Doug Ebbert – Broderick, SK

2-Dog Skijoring

2009 - Bruce Young - Williams Lake, BC

2007 - Bruce Young - Williams Lake, BC

2006 – Detlef Onderka – Spruce Grove, AB

Juniors

2007 - No Class Entries

2007 - Karly Bittner - Canmore, AB

2006 – Taryn Kokesch – Sexsmith, AB

Sled Dog Racing History

The heritage of the sled dog is a long and proud one, stretching back thousands of years in the northern regions of North America and Siberia. Archeological evidence puts the earliest date at over 4,000 years ago. Some anthropologists suggest that human habitation and survival in the Arctic would not have been possible without sled dogs. In the Southwest of what is now the United States, the first Spanish explorers encountered Indians who used dogs as draft animals pulling travois. They remarked that these dogs were an integral part of the Indians' culture. In fact, in many North American Indian cultures the relationship with dogs was central to their style of life and the introduction of horses occurred in parallel without replacing or diminishing the cultural importance of dogs as respected associates and partners.

The people of the North were dependent on these animals for protection, companionship, hunting, trapping, and, most of all transportation. Sled dogs enabled explorers such as Byrd, Peary, and Amundsen to explore the frozen wastelands of two continents and played a vital role in bringing civilization to the snowbound areas of the world.

Sled dog activities as recreation and friendly competition may have existed for almost as long as the relationship between dogs and humans in the regions where snow was a seasonal probability. The first written account of a race was an informal challenge between travelers on the route from Winnipeg to St. Paul in the 1850s. In 1886 the first Saint Paul Winter Carnival featured sled dog races and ski competitions as part of the festival to glorify the attractions of winter in Minnesota. Sled dog races have been part of the Winter Carnival to the present day.

As early as 1873, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were bringing government to northern frontiers with dog-team patrols. Throughout Alaska and Canada, mail teams delivered the news to outlying settlements.

At the turn of the century the attention of the outside world had been drawn to the far North, Alaska and the Yukon, by the Gold Rush. The first major sled dog races to receive world wide attention were organized in Nome, Alaska as the All-Alaska Sweepstakes in 1908, a distance of 408 miles from Nome to Candle and back. The winning driver that year was John Hegness, with a time of 119 hours, 15 minutes, and 12 seconds. By 1910, entries had increased considerably, as had the speed of the teams. The winner of that race was John (Iron Man) Johnson, with an (as yet) unbroken record time of 74 hours, 14 minutes, and 37 seconds.

Scotty Allan was a Scotsman who had come to North America as a handler for work horses and then joined the prospectors in the Klondike as a dog musher freighting supplies in to the remote mines and camps. He played a major role in the organization and focus of the early races in Alaska. It was Scotty Allan’s experience and understanding of working animals that helped to determine the course of the first races in Nome and of the sport these races inspired, insisting on the paramount importance of dog care. The All-Alaska Sweepstakes races and the concurrent festivities were reported in the New York Times and other major newspapers. In addition to Scotty Allan, another musher who first came to prominence in Nome, Leonard Seppala, went on to have a major influence on the development of the sport.

In 1917, the first race ever held in the "Lower 48" was staged in Ashton, Idaho. The most memorable event of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival (mentioned earlier) was the 1917 race from Winnipeg to Saint Paul on which a recent Walt Disney movie (Iron Will) was loosely based. In reality the race that year was won by Albert Campbell, a Metis from The Pas, Manitoba followed by his brother in second place.

By the 1920's returning gold miners had brought sled dog racing to New England where it prospered. The Gold Rush influence was felt throughout North America, even where mushing was already a popular sport. In the region around The Pas, Manitoba, where racing had continued since the teens, the style of harness changed from the traditional trap line tandem hitch with horse collar harnesses to the new Alaskan gangline with dogs in pairs and lightweight harnesses entirely made from webbing or lamp wicking. These were the glory years for sled dog racing during the 20’s and 30’s. The top professional mushers were often sponsored by prominent businesses or businessmen and the teams traveled across the continent by rail in boxcars, from New England to races as far west as Ashton, Idaho.

One of the proudest chapters in sled dog history was written in 1925. In January of that year, a case of diphtheria was discovered in Nome, Alaska, and the supply of antitoxin in that city was inadequate to stave off an epidemic. A relay of 22 native and mail teams forged through the rough interior of Alaska and across the Bering Sea ice to bring the serum to a grateful citizenry. In New York City's Central Park stands a statue of Balto, who led one of the relay teams, commemorating the Nome Serum Run. The inscription reads: Dedicated to the indomitable Spirit of the sled dogs that relayed the antitoxin 600 miles over rough ice, treacherous waters; through Arctic blizzards from Nenana to the relief of stricken Nome in the winter of 1925. Endurance. Fidelity. Intelligence.

Since 1927, sled dog racing has been a Fairbanks area tradition that has captured the minds and hearts of many. Although no longer unique to Alaska, dog mushing has its roots there and continues to be identified throughout the world as "Alaskan." The history of dog mushing is ingrained deeply in the history of Fairbanks and the villages scattered along the Yukon, Tanana and Koyukuk Rivers. Dog teams once were vital to transportation in the Interior and have been the focus of the area’s major sporting events for many years.

The attention given to mushing and its popularity in the news media made it a natural consequence that the first Winter Olympics held in North America would feature sled dog racing as representative of sports that originated on this continent. The 1932 Lake Placid Winter Olympic Games included Sled Dog Racing as a Demonstration Sport. The contestants ran 7-dog teams 25 miles each day for two days. The winner was a French Canadian from The Pas, Manitoba, Emile St. Goddard whose duels with Leonard Seppala on the trails were already legendary. Second was the Norwegian by way of Alaska, Leonard Seppala, and third was a Russian by way of Brooklyn and Manitoba, Shorty Russick.

Despite the international character of the participants in the race in Lake Placid there was little activity outside North America except in Norway where the use of dogs for military supply and ambulance work beginning at the time of the First World War had been transformed into a sport. The influence of Nansen and Amundsen who used sled dogs in the North and South Polar regions was also important in establishing a Scandinavian sled dog sport. In the 1952 Oslo Olympics sled dogs were featured again as a Demonstration Sport this time in the form of pulka races where the driver accompanies the dogs on skis behind a toboggan or pulka.

In the 1950s and 60s the use of working dogs was gradually disappearing throughout North America. Airplanes and snowmobiles eliminated the need for sled dogs as transportation. One person, Joe Redington Senior and one race, the Iditarod, more than any other factors were responsible for preserving mushing and continuing its traditions. Critics at the time said the only reason he and Dick Mackey started and put so much effort into the Iditarod was that their dogs and teams were too slow to be competitive in the existing sprint races like the Open North American Championship and Anchorage Fur Rondy. It is believed that Joe Redington more than anyone else sustained and revived the true spirit of dog mushing as a way of life and the joyful working partnership with sled dogs that it had always been, at a time when, with the use of snow machines and other machinery, the dogs' traditional role in transportation and subsistence and the tradition itself was disappearing. The Iditarod is not simply the most reported and recognized sled dog race in the world; it is a living monument to Joe and his vision and appreciation of the spirit of mushing.

Mushing in its many different forms has gradually spread around the world since that period. In 1992 the International Federation of Sleddog Sports was officially incorporated as a way to focus the efforts of many national, local and international organizations on the goal of Olympic recognition and alignment of mushing with other mainstream sports through the General Association of International Sports Federations. IFSS is recognized by GAISF and in all countries as the world governing body of sled dog sports.

Today, few of the inhabitants of the Far North are dependent on dogs for basic survival. However, the same intimate relationship between driver and dog still exists and is demonstrated in the sport of sled dog racing.