The Canadian Challenge is living up to its name.
Several sled dog teams have scratched from the event and one musher has withdrawn since the races started at noon Tuesday.
The event features two races across northern Saskatchewan — a 320-kilometre, eight-dog race and a 520-kilometre, 12-dog race.
The shorter race, which crowned Earl Stobbe as its winner Thursday, takes teams from Prince Albert to La Ronge. The longer event sees teams travel the same route but continue to Grandmother’s Bay before looping back to La Ronge.
Stobbe, a retired teacher from Christopher Lake, Sask., first raced the Canadian Challenge in 1998. He crossed the eight-dog finish line Thursday, just under 48 hours after the 2015 race started.
Two of four teams in the shorter event scratched while several mushers in the longer race also left the competition.
Veteran musher Stefaan De Marie and two other teams scratched from the 12-dog race after pulling into the first La Ronge checkpoint, and the race marshal made a decision to withdraw Laquasha Laviolette from the competition.
Laviolette, who is from Quebec, was this year’s youngest competitor at age 17. The marshal said she was no longer running in a competitive state and was falling too far behind to beat the race’s official deadline.
Rick Wannamaker from Didsbury, Alta. was leading the 12-dog pack as of late Thursday afternoon.
Teams have until Saturday at 6 a.m. to complete the 12-dog competition.
