Midnight Sun Gold Run 2022

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - The Midnight Sun Gold Run (MSGR) sprint mushing race, wrapped up on Feb. 20th at the Alaska Dog Mushers Hall.

While the sport of dog mushing has seen less impact from COVID compared to other sports, the MSGR certainly saw more faces in 2022, which is a good sign for the upcoming Limited North American Championship (LNAC) and Open North American Championship (ONAC) races.

The two day even as usual had four categories for racing plus the addition of the Purple Prize, which saw a larger group of competitors this year. The winner of which was Hailey Dunaway with her Unicorn onesie.

As for the races, the top three spots per discipline go as follows:

Skijoring:

1. Pam Schamber: total time 43:48.3

2. Becky Childs: total time 45:10.4

3. Alyeska Callis: total time 46:27.9

4-dog:

1. Pam Schamber: total time 36:26.3

2. Kriya Dunlap: total time 37:46.9

3. Annie Grenier: total time 38:24.4

6-dog:

1. Mathieu Devred: total time 46:18.8

2. Alexandra Rochat: total time 47:05.0

3. Kim Wells: total time 49:28.7

10-dog:

1. Jason Dunlap: total time 80:39.1

2. Becky Childs: total time 80:58.2

3. Mari Hoe-Raitto: total time 82:46.7

Now for the two days, the weather was wonderful with temperatures warm but not so warm that the many inches of snow on the ground would melt away leading to dogs breaking through the top layer. However, with the warm weather of the approaching spring, this will be a concern and the Alaska Dog Mushing Hall (ADMA). To counter the issue, ADMA will be breaking through and removing much of the upper layer of snow. This will bring the trails back down to the base layer and decrease the possibility of injured dogs. Among other concerns faced during the MSGR and the upcoming races at the ADMA, moose have been present in a higher than usual quantity on the trails and while there have have been few incidents of hostility, there is still a concern of of dogs and mushers getting injured by aggressive moose.

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