Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Jan 18/06) - The 2005 annual Qamiqsiqtiit Christmas dog-team race was one of the strongest to date.

The race was held Dec. 31.

The course has the youth leave Johnson Cove and race out and around Woman's Island before making their way back to the finish line.

The total distance of the race is about six kilometres.

Organizer John Hickes says the race is mainly focused on kids aged 10 to 14 years, but that's not strictly enforced.

"If a kid wants to go we'll do everything we can to accommodate him because this program is about inclusion, not exclusion," says Hickes.

"We have too many kids come out to just run one race, so we hold elimination heats to get our final field."

This year started out with eight teams, with five solo racers eventually advancing to the final race. Qimiqsiqtiit had eight dog teams available for the race, so when 16 kids showed up for the trials it was time to improvise.

"Instead of turning any of the kids away, we decided to pair them up and put two kids to a team.

"Both had to ride. We wouldn't allow the passenger to be dropped.

"That's how we narrowed it down to our eventual finalists."

The top five finishers were Spencer Nakoolak, Sidney Nichol, Robbie Jo Tudlik, Leroy Bruce and Simon Kolit, who took home $300, $200, $100, $50 and $25 respectively.

There were also a number of other prizes given out, with the youth picking their prizes in reverse order from their final finish.

The top finishers in the race are all members of Hickes's Saturday youth dog-mushing program.

He says even though prizes are awarded, the race is all about fun and there was no shortage of chuckles in the 2005 event.

"We had one kid lose his anchor, so his team was running loose, full bore, the entire length of the race.

"Another team got their anchor caught underneath the sleigh, so they were dragging their anchor around with all this snow flying in their face.

"One of the handlers finally stopped the team and got the anchor out and the kids just said, "See ya'" and off they went again."

Hickes says he owes a lot of credit to the handlers who support his program every year.

"These people volunteer their time for the kids and you can't buy that kind of help."