Becky V. called last week and asked if I wanted to go with her and Dave to a skijoring event at the Willow Winter Carnival, in Willow, Alaska (about an hour and a half north of Anchorage). The only catch, she said, was that they needed a volunteer to help with the race. What a cool, cool opportunity! I went today and it was so much fun!

For the skijor race, Becky took two dogs, Atla and Roxy. The start was a little out of the ordinary for skijor; all the racers started with their dogs but without equipment. They had to run, en masse, to where their skis and poles were laying, get their stuff on and then attach the dogs. What a gorgeous melee! Dogs were barking and straining to run (or running!) the race while racers tried desperately to get their skis and poles all situated. There were two routes, one 5 miles and one 11. My job was to list the racers as they came across the finish line, which wasn't too tricky. I did manage to step in some water and had to run and find some dry shoes (Dave's, about 10 sizes too big but toasty dry!) mid-race. The skijor and snow machine events were all held ON the lake.

Also fun to watch was the dog weight pull contest! There were little dogs with huge heart and big solid dogs. I missed the kids' Homesteader Race (something to do with chopping and stacking wood?), but I did buy some kettle corn and listened to the high school jazz group that was entertaining in the gym :).

The Carnival reminded me a lot of the Fourth of July festivities I went to this summer in Petersburg, Alaska. Both were just sweet with love and energy from local people, and replete with truely Alaskan fun.