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Tag Archives: Methow Trails

Methow Trails hosted another Doggie Dash at their new headquarters in Winthrop on Saturday. It was a fabulous, fun event with lots of participants and many spectators. The Doggie Dash is part costume contest and part race. It’s pretty clear that some folks are there for the costumes and others for the race. Volunteers are a big part of the Doggie Dash, helping setup, take registrations, judge, emcee, photograph and clean up when it’s all over.

The event started with warm up laps and then a costume parade before the racing got underway. There were two kids’ heats with the top two in each heat going to the final. Then there were six adult heats with the winner of each heat going to the final. After both finals, there was the all important costume judging. It’s pretty clear that my favorite dog costume did not win. Oh well, there were so many choices. So many people vying for the coveted golden poodle award!

In the races, watch for the German short-haired pointers. The huskies didn’t have a chance against those strong, athletic dogs. And I think this is the first time I’ve seen a woman win the race. In fact, all three top finishers were women!

The girls and I enjoyed a short, slow walk in the woods last week. Luna has missed her outings and was so happy to be on a trail again. She sniffed all the sniffs, saw all the sights and drank deeply from the river. Her attitude is good despite injury and old age.

Once a year in Winthrop, there is a six-legged race where a dog stays attached to a person wearing skis sponsored by Methow Trails! As you might imagine, it is a fun and exciting event. And if racing isn’t enough, it’s also a costume contest! People in the Methow Valley love to play dress up. The day starts with a costume parade and then the judges confer as to who will be in the finals for best costume. The prize for best costume is the coveted golden poodle, a traveling trophy. Then there are the races. This year there was a kids’ race, a ski joring race, a little dogs race and then the big dogs. There are plenty of big dogs (must be another Methow thing) so there were three heats of big dogs and then a final. And after all the racing, the finalists for the best costume, again parade past the crowd and the winner is decided by who gets the most applause and cheering. There are three highly skilled judges for this. All in all it’s a darned good time!

Methow Trails hosted the annual Doggie Dash race at the Town Trailhead in Winthrop on Sunday. It was great fun with terrific snow and good weather. There were three categories of races – Kids, Little Dogs and Big Dogs – and the ever popular costume contest. The Big Dogs category had the most entrants so there were three heats leading to an exciting final race. The prize for the costume contest is the much-coveted Golden Poodle – a traveling trophy. The winner has now won three times in a row!

It was a perfect sunny day with bluebird blue skies on the Methow Trails yesterday. The groomed trails are in good shape despite a lower than wished for snowpack. I’m glad we got out because today it is pea soup foggy conditions! A good day to stay inside.