The Dog Powered Sports Association of the Yukon hosted a poker run on Dec. 19, starting and ending off the Fish Lake Road in Whitehorse.
Held on the McIntyre loop near Icy Waters, the 25-mile (40-kilometre) event had a prize of one cord of wood for the winner.
Racers stopped at five stations along the trail to draw a card, with the best hand at the end of the event taking first place. Mushers were also able to draw a sixth card if they were willing to commit to organizing a DPSAY event this year.
A total of 21 mushers took part in the event, all competing with up to eight dogs.
Times to finish the course ranged from two hours and eight minutes up to three hours and eight minutes.
Like most things in 2020, the event happened with a number of COVID-19 protocols in place.
Online registration for the event was encouraged as a way to reduce in-person interactions, with masks required for all during the pre-race meetings and post-race prize distribution.
DPSAY also made it clear that any participant disregarding COVID-19 precautions could be banned from all future events this season.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com
