What a race week! So sorry for lack of Bluesky posts this week… been a Challenge n a half! Trail changed a week before the race, loss of a checkpoint a day before the race (due to the sad death of a community elder), and a severe snow storm the day of the race with blowing snow and huge drifts…

Sled dogs sign language… this is great.

Vet checks done! Musher meeting done. Bib draw done! #1Kevin Mathis # 2Ryan Clegg #3Stefaan de Marie #4Dallin Donaldson #5Mary England #6Wade Donaldson #7 Jesse Terry #8 Dan Kirkup #9 Garrick Schmidt #10 Shellie Torok #11 Musher Moe Bib number is tracker number too! track.trail.live/event/canadi...

Some of our awesome trail crew… Dave, Derek, Brendon and Sid. Don’t they look official 😊

Last bit of trail grooming is done. Race week is here. Vet checks today. Trackers being warned about misbehaving. Snow in the forecast. We are race ready!!!

Race updates… trail is looking good… sad to see the wildfire impact and those burned trees but… trail is good. #Uglydogs #uglydogs

Name check for our armchair musher community…Spruce View Manor, Alberta are supporting Garrick Schmidt in next weeks 10-dog Challenge. They’ve been learning about sled dogs and we’re thrilled they’re part of the community.

** COMING TO A TRAIL NEAR YOU! ** Proud to share our 2026 race poster. What do you think? We love it, and we're getting excited as our first mass start fast approaches.

A great blog post from Toni. And what a fab line up for the Copper Basin 300. Good news in a week of cancelled races - no Eagle Cap Extreme or YQ (Canada) this year.

OUR RAFFLE IS STILL OPEN FOR THESE GORGEOUS MITTS - a stunning pair of M/Lbeaver gauntlets made with handtanned smoked moose hide that we're raffling off for $25 a spot. Comment below to select your numbers and click through to the payments on this link. (canadianchallenge.com/raffle/)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE In case you've missed the individual race bios ...this is our current 2026 race line up: 10-dog 200 mile race: 1) Shellie Torok 2) Dan Kirkup 3) Jesse Terry 4) Mary England 5) David Riche 6) Garrick Schmidt 7) Monroe Mondor 8 ) Kevin Mathis

**** RACE PURSE AT $16,000 **** We're delighted to confirm that our race purse is currently at $16,000. We currently have a deadline of January 01 2026 to ensure that we have our minimum number of 10 teams registered across our 3 races to enable us to host a viable week of racing. #UglyDogs

SO EXCITED TO WELCOME JESSE TERRY BACK TO THE CHALLENGE. We're so thrilled that Jesse is making time to run our 200 mile race in February, ahead of his rookie Iditarod run in early March. Thanks for choosing us once again Jesse, it'll be great to catch up with you and the team en route to Alaska.

A VERY WARM WELCOME TO JANE DEVLIN, RACING IN OUR 6-DOG RACE**** We're so excited to welcome Jane Devlin, from Bend, Central Oregon, USA as a Challenge rookie to our 6-dog 35/35 mile race. A favourite quote of Jane's is 'Dogs save the people'!

OUR 2026 RAFFLES GET UNDERWAY WITH this fabulous Musher Survival kit. And at only $25 a ticket, who wouldn’t want to ‘be in it to win it’!! Our 2026 Musher Survival kit includes all of this: A Scandinavian Forest Axe A 511 Carbon Steel Knife Mylar Emergency Blanket AND.....(continued)

So… the good news is the merch is up! The awful news is the shipping cost to the US! Which is ASTRONOMICAL! Canada Post international shipping means it pretty much doubles the cost of the item. I am so so sorry. This is so frustrating! Something about tariffs….

OK. Drum roll please! We finally have some merch. Its only taken 6 years. 🤗 We are starting small - a hoodie, t-shirt and toque! We’ll see how it goes and can expand once we test the water! Check out our merch page: canadianchallenge.com/merchandise/ #UglyDogs #Uglydogs

We're delighted to introduce our second competitor in our 10dog 200mile race as Dan Kirkup. Who can forget Dan's inspired 2nd place from this years Challenge, and he's back to challenge for the top spot. Dan has been mushing for 4 years with a great pedigree of races under his belt.

Little podcast treat to get you in racing mode! Dan and Sarah review our 2025 race, and Dan shares some 2026 race news. Let us know what you think 😊 #UglyDogs mushing.com/podcasts/rea...

Our first interview for the season. Reflects the current realities of staging a race after the devastating wildfires. #UglyDogs larongenow.com/2025/09/02/c...

A brilliant ‘one stop’ post by the fabulous Toni Reitter…. Many many sled dog races, dates and all their social links. What a piece of work. Thanks so much Toni…now to plan the armchair mushing diary 🤣🤣🤣

✅✅✅ THREE DAYS TO REGISTRATIONS ✅✅✅ Just saying 😉😉

RAFFLES AND FUNDRAISING We’re thrilled to share a little ‘teaser’ about 2 of our fundraising raffles that'll be ‘coming soon’ after we have opened race registrations. We've some fabulous locally handcrafted beaver gauntlets made with hand tanned smoked moose hide (a stunning seasonal gift maybe?)

⭐⭐ THANK YOU ⭐⭐ Your generous donations have raised $2400 so far...which is STUNNING....and are already making a huge difference. Thank you for every cent that you have donated, you're all fabulous. And every cent makes a difference. (Info below if you're able to support us.) #UglyDogs 🏆🏆

RACE REGISTRATION OPENS IN 14 DAYS So excited to be thinking of snow, dogs, and racing! September 1 2025 is THE date for your diaries to register for our 2026 Canadian Challenge. Here's what you need to know...... #UglyDogs

HALL OF FAME UPDATE This is for our awesome #Uglydogs community of race donors. We've had some incredibly generous donations, and I'd love to add you to the Hall of Fame. I've been sending personal 'thank you' emails asking for a photo/message ...think the emails may be going into SPAM...

Canadian Challenge Hall of Fame. We want to thank our brilliant race donors, so will be keeping a Hall of Fame going. Once we receive emailed agreement to mention names they'll be added to the Hall (we won't assume it's ok to do so) Here we go - huge thanks so far to: Carole Czoernie #Uglydogs

We have received our first donation. I am deeply humbled by this persons generosity and have to confess to shedding a tear of amazement at their kindness. Thank you so much. You have paid for a whole trail worth of stakes. The mushers will be guided safely. #Uglydogs

🌟🌟NEW WAYS TO SUPPORT THE CHALLENGE 🌟🌟 We're so excited to share that we have a new way for you to help support the race. We’ve added a ‘DONATE’ button to our website & we’ve joined the modern world in being able to accept credit card payments, Apple & Google pay & our usual e-transfer option.

2026 Race news Thrilled to confirm Feb 17 is 10-dog race start! Feb 18 is 8-dog and 6-dog race start, with Feb 19 restart for 8 and 6-dog races. Awards breakfast Feb 20!! How exciting is that?!?! As a result of the terrible wildfires, we will confirm trail details as soon as we’ve inspected routes.

Finally some better news. More rain and lower temperatures, plus preventative firefighting means that the La Ronge communities can start heading home from Thursday 12 June. We wish everyone safe journeys home and courage to face whatever lies ahead. Rebuild, regrow, and hope. #Uglydogs

Thanks for everyone’s support over the last week. La Ronge had some rain yesterday, which was most welcome. Some power lines have been restored. To the south fires are still raging. Let’s see what this week brings. Evacuated communities are spread far and wide. People are desperate to get home asap

youtu.be/VHT8InvEaA4 Just south of La Ronge headed towards the town.

www.redcross.ca/how-we-help/....

Not great news today for our host checkpoint town of La Ronge. The fires have reached downtown, and the legendary Robertsons Trading Post Stores is destroyed. This store continued to trade furs and traditional crafts right next to groceries. It was also an art gallery and a museum.

Our race host town of La Ronge is now being evacuated and is in imminent danger. The escape route south is slow through fires continuing to burn. Our hearts are breaking for all our friends and Challenge community.. and their animals fleeing this horror. Praying you all keep safe 🙏🙏 @Uglydogs

Wildfire update… firefighters have spent 56 hours battling the fires around Weyakwin. The hamlet is safe for now, which is amazing news. No homes lost. Fires continue to rage along the highway, the fight continues protecting other small communities. The Town of La Ronge is in a state of readiness

Sending love and prayers to all our friends in Northern Saskatchewan. Wildfires are raging. Our host checkpoint of Weyakwin was evacuated today. Many of our Challenge community are firefighters. We are all praying for rain and for protection. We stand with you. @Uglydogs

Our 2026 Head Race Vet will be Dr Romany Pinto and we’re thrilled! Dr Romany has been a core part of Challenge community for many years. She’ll be leading our vet teams once again, delivering exemplary dog care for every canine athlete. Hurrah for Dr Romany 👏👏👏 @Uglydogs @sleddogs

INTRODUCING OUR 2026 CHALLENGE BOARD We're excited to introduce our Board as President -Jim Williams Vice President -Dan Kirkup Board members - Dana Robertson Dexter Mondor Garrick Schmidt Sarah de Brion

CANADIAN CHALLENGE AGM - Sunday May 11 2025 10:00 Sask. This'll be a Zoom meeting making it easier than ever to join us. Please get involved and have your say. If you have ideas for improvement, don't keep quiet. Want to be part of the Board? Come along and tell us. Interested in volunteering?

mushing.com/podcasts/bet... Just saying….

There is another, smaller sled dog race happening today/this weekend - It's the Hudson Bay Quest in Churchill, Canada. They are not on Bluesky yet, but are on Insta and FB. Some really interesting reels...the dogs/sleds/teams etc are all transported there by train. #Uglydogs #mushersky

Some more gorgeous race photos...this time in black/white format. What do you think?

Some more race piccies. Enjoy 😊 #Uglydogs

MISSING THE CHALLENGE? FINDING YOURSELF THINKING LONGINGLY ABOUT DOGS, SNOW AND FAB FRIENDS??? We’re adding photo galleries to our website regularly to take you back to this years race. Take a look. Check out some gorgeous race photos, transport yourself right back to that fun February week.

What a special story of an amazing dog team and a courageous musher. A triumph over adversity. Told with dignity and enormous respect. Q and team - legends. We 💕 you. #uglydogs youtu.be/PeCELG4aDuw

A little follow up about our 2025 10-dog 200 mile race winner Garrick Schmidt....who you will all remember severed his tendons during the race this year, and who underwent an op the week after to repair them!

It’s the John Beargrease Marathon this weekend too. Very best of luck to more Challenge Alumni- Jesse Terry, Mary England, Rhonda Heerschap and Clayton Perry. Sending love and safe trails to northern Minnesota for this great race.