Records fall at local mushing club

Twenty-nine mushers met at the Aurora Dog Mushers Club in Big Lake Saturday to compete in the second week of the club's weekly sled-dog races.

With season points up for grabs, senior division mushers competed in four-, six- and 10-dog races on trails that run in the Big Lake area between Echo Lake and the Iditarod trail.

"We have had good snow and trail conditions this year," said club president George Shell. "We didn't get the rain that Anchorage had recently."

John Schultheis of Burma Road broke track records in both the six- and 10-dog races Saturday en route to victories in both races.

Schultheis won the 5-mile, six-dog race with a time of 14 minutes, 2.11 seconds. Tom Moseley finished just behind with a time of 14:02.56 and Jeremy Keller took third with 14:36.62.

Schultheis won the 6.5-mile, 10-dog event with a time of 21:42.63, ahead of second-place finisher Roxanne Dayton, who completed the race in 22:09.75. Matt Hayashida took third with a time of 23:15.51.

"The course was drug nice and flat and the colder weather made the trail slicker," said Schultheis. "This made the track faster."

Although the senior division is for mushers 18 and older, the 17-year-old Schultheis is allowed to race because of his mushing and racing experience.

Schultheis began racing at Aurora when he was 3 years old, competing in the one-dog division.

Moseley won the 3-mile, four-dog race with a time of 9:28.18, followed by Kari Skogen with a time of 9:52.78 and Hayashida at 10:13.69.

Season points races began at the Aurora Club Jan. 5 and will run every Saturday, culminating in the final season races and point totals Feb. 2.

Lengths of each race will increase starting in tomorrow's race, with the four-dog race increasing to 5 miles, the six-dog race to 7 miles and the 10-dog race to 10 miles.

"We keep the first two week's races shorter to help get the dogs in condition," said Shell.

The club also races junior division races for mushers age 18 and younger. One-, two-, three-, five- and seven-dog races are offered in the junior division.

Mushers ages 4 to 6 race the one-dog event and 7- to 10-year-olds race three-dog events.

The club encourages junior division mushers and will even provide a sled and dogs to children wishing to race.

Season points races continue tomorrow, with junior races beginning at 10 a.m. and the senior division starting at 11 a.m.