Grande Prairie, Alberta’s Aaron Peck is the winner of the 12-dog portion of the Canadian Challenge Sled Dog Race.
Peck was first across the finish line early Friday morning in downtown La Ronge. This isn’t Peck’s first Canadian Challenge win, as he captured the top prize back in 2017.
“We’ve got the dogs in a nice spot right now, their conditioning level is at an all-time high,” said Peck. “They’re just really coming into their own here, we feel in the last couple of weeks. They’ve just been impressing us all the time.”
The Canadian Challenge can be used as a qualifier for the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. Peck says he will be in Alaska for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
“It starts on March 7th, so that’s a 1,000-mile race in Alaska, basically, you could call it a warmup,” said Peck. “So, we are looking at the dogs, evaluating them, deciding which dogs are best suited to go on the 1,000-mile race.”
Connor McMahon from Grande Prairie was victorious in the eight-dog event, while Amanda Grant from Unity, SK came out on top in the open race.
The Canadian Challenge will officially come to a close Saturday with an awards breakfast at the La Ronge Hotel and Suites.
(PHOTO: Aaron Peck. Photo courtesy of Canadian Challenge, Facebook.)