- Title: Dog sled racers from all over Europe gather for Czech challenge
- Date: 26th January 2017
- Summary: DESTNE, CZECH REPUBLIC (JANUARY 25, 2017) (REUTERS) DOG SLED RACER GETTING READY FOR START DOGS MUSHER AT STARTING LINE DOG-SLED RACING OFF JUDGES LOOKING AT DOG SLED RACERS DOG SLED TEAM STARTING MUSHERS WEIGHING THEIR SLED SCALE SHOWING WEIGHT (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) MUSHER FROM WARSAW, KINGA, SAYING: "We came from Poland for the second time. We like it here very much - great atmosphere, fantastic people and super tracks." MUSHER FROM ITALY, CRISTOF BRUNNER, WEIGHING HIS SLED (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUSHER FROM ITALY, CRISTOF BRUNNER, SAYING: "Last year we had a lot of water - rain, not much snow, but this year looks really good. Hopefully I think we will have four nice days here and we will enjoy with our dogs this Sedivackuv long race." PEOPLE STANDING AROUND WITH THEIR DOGS DOGS PLAYING (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) SEDIVACKUV LONG DOG SLED RACE ORGANISER, PAVEL KUCERA, SAYING: "This is the 21st run of the race this year. After four years we finally got a real winter. The track is long, 239 kilometres long, 82 dog sleds and more than 600 dogs are registered. The conditions are ideal and that's why we keep the rule of seven kilograms weight for each dog in the hitch, 70 kilograms total as a maximum. " DOG SLED RACERS STARTING VARIOUS OF DOG SLED RACE UNDERWAY ORGANISERS WAITING FOR DOG SLED RACE PARTICIPANTS WITH TEA AND BOTTLE OF RUM AT REFRESHMENT CHECKPOINT DOG SLED APPROACHING AND MUSHER DRINKING TEA WITH RUM DOGS (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH MUSHER FROM PODBORANY, ROMAN HABASKO, SAYING: "Finally after six bad years it is splendid - lots of snow, well prepared tracks, real frosty winter weather, marvellous. The dogs are doing well - we are just in the beginning, but we had the chance to do some training, so I think we will be good until the end." HABASKO LEAVING CHECKPOINT ON DOG SLED TO CONTINUE RACE
- Embargoed: 9th February 2017 10:48
- Keywords: dog sled racing Czech Republic
- Location: DESTNE AT ORLICE MOUNTAINS, CZECH REPUBLIC
- City: DESTNE AT ORLICE MOUNTAINS, CZECH REPUBLIC
- Country: Czech Republic
- Topics: Sled Dog Racing,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00160PWP4P
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: More than 80 dog sled teams from Europe take part in the annual long-distance race in the Czech Republic's Orlicke mountains near the Polish border.
Participants from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and over 600 dogs compete in this year's race.
"This is the 21st run of the race this year. After four years we finally got a real winter," said one of the organisers, Pavel Kucera.
The event is called "Sedivackuv (She-deeh-whatch-koow) Long" after a sad incident which happened during the first race when one of the participant's dogs ran away and was shot by a local. The dog's name was Sedivak.
Various dog breeds take part in the race, such as the Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamutes, Greenland dogs, Alaskan Huskies, European sled dogs and others. The race lasts for four days and is 239 kilometres long.
According to the organisers Sedivackuv Long is the longest and the most difficult dog sled race in Central Europe.
Kinga from Poland takes part for the second time already. "We like it here very much - great atmosphere, fantastic people and super tracks," she said.
Also Christof Brunner from Italy was looking forward to the race. "Last year we had a lot of water - rain, not much snow, but this year looks really good. Hopefully I think we will have four nice days here and we will enjoy with our dogs this Sedivackuv long race," Brunner said.
Local authorities are doing everything they can to help the organisers of the race. Police cars have been deployed along the route of the race to ensure safety of the participants and dogs and helpers wait along the track with some rum-induced hot tea for the teams to warm up with during the race.
Traditionally the race takes place in the last week of January. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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