News + Events
Welcome to the news section, here we will keep you updated on all the latest news and info regarding the races we are holding for this season! Check here back very soon!
The October Opener and The Dean Doubles! october 23/24 2010!
a fun weekends racing and training in the forest of dean!
please visit the our races page for more info!
sat 23 The Dean Doubles Race / sun 23rd The October Opener Training Trails.
ALL MUSHERS!
WYEDEAN QUEST STAGE STOP SLED DOG RACE
race complete!
congratulations to all mushers and teams who competed in this years race!
2010 wyedean quest stage stop sled dog race 2010 sponsored by joint aid for dogs, speedy hire, collimanor dog feeds, zero one rigs, helen hebbs art and scarlet scorpio images.
next years entry forms now online!
race date feb 25th/26th/27th 2011
PLEASE NOTE RACE RESOURCE PAGE IS NOW TITLED ENTRY FORMS/INFO any one interested in stall holding / race voulenteering please contact matt asap - details on contact page.
please note matts email address has changed to tanglefoot_huskies@yahoo.ca
We are proud to announce we have 2 new sponsors for the wyedean quest race. POSTAL PETS are sponsoring the canicross classes and JOINT AID FOR DOGS is sponsoring the sled dog classes, we hope you will support their products and
We now have a new forum for race chat, team tiara support team page and also a gallery for photos of previous races, please feel free to visit them and join in on the forum.
link to the pages can be found top right on the menu and also in the drop down menu on the left of the screen in the forum gallery section.
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WE WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THE FIRST JUNIOR WYEDEAN QUEST!
After many enquiries we have decided to run the first junior wyedean quest, a 2 trail race, one saturday one sunday, over shortened versions of the Wyedean Quest Race over the same weekend.
hi all junior mushers.
we would like to invite you all to run in the junior wyedean quest 2010!
after chatting to ian on the phone today and after having several inquiries we will now be putting on a junior version of the race for all you junior mushers.
the trails will be shorter so you dont have to run 3.4 miles and you wont have to run in the dark.
we will have 2 trails for you to run,
saturday afternoon after the cani-cross runners, we will put on a special junior only trail starting from speech house ( the finish of the morning trail dads and mums ) which will run on a loop with only a gentle uphill section, wide trails and some single track trail with smooth hard pack gravel and hard pack dirt, good for your teams paws! and lots of turns for you to practice your gees and haws with your teams. we hope to have the trail between 1 mile and 2 miles in length depending on what we can get set out for you.
sunday will be a trail after the cani crossers have left. you will have another looped trail of around a mile or so, big wide trails with smooth surface and some hard pack dirt too.
dad mum or a friend can ride ahead if you need them too.
so you will have chance to run 2 trails over two days, we will use the usual junior class system that you will be used to running in absa races. your times will be added together from the two days and a winner, second and third places with prizes for all mushers.
we would really like to have as many junior mushers enter with their teams, so please tell your friends.
you will also get free burgers at the hog roast / bbq as the senior mushers do!
also each year at the quest we have a big photo for all the mushers to sign when they check in so we can have a record of all the mushers who have run the trails, we would like you to sign it too as junior mushers! so please remember to come to the check in to collect your race numbers and sign the photo.
good luck and we look forward to your entries!
matt, shawn and christina.
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17/09/10
Wyedean Mushing presents………..
The October Opener
A series of 3 two-heat races to take place in the month of October in the wonderful mushing climate of the Forest of Dean.
The races will comprise of a Saturday night heat starting at 8pm (possibility of later start depending on temps) and a Sunday morning heat starting at 6am.
This series has been devised to extend the season in the UK and if successful will be repeated at the end of the season in March/April.
The mini-championship is open to entries for 4 different rig racing classes:
PBS: Purebred Siberian Husky
PBF: Purebred freight (Alaskan Malamute, Samoyed, Greenland and Eskimo)
OPE: Open (This will be a truly open class catering for hound teams and other purpose bred sled dogs as well as purebred non sled dog breeds and non KC registered sled dogs).
It is not possible to enter just one event in the series. In order to compete, you must enter the entire series.
The cost of entry will be £30 per team per race so a total of £90 for the 6 heat series.
The junior teams entry fee is just £10 per race so a total of £30 for the series and will run a shorter trails.
Entry forms are available for download here http://www.box.net/shared/cvs5vkjrij
for more infomation please visit the up coming race pages.
Race entry forms are now available! please go to the following link to download! http://www.box.net/shared/a3z897t0hh
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11/04/09
stop press RACE DATES FOR 2009/2010 SEASON
October Opener - see up coming races for dates and details!
Beechenhurst Trails Iain Hutchinson Sled Dog Rally Jan 16th & 17th 2010
Wyedean Quest Stage Stop Sled Dog Race Feb 26th, 27th, 28th 2010
subject to forestry commision permissions.
more information available shortly!
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29/03/09
Huge Congratulations to the Brawn GP Formula One Racing Team on Jenson and Rubens 1,2 win in the first race of the F1 GP season! We at Wyedean Mushing would like to wish you all the best of luck for the 2009/2010 season!
to support the team please visit their website at: www.brawngp.com
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29/03/09
Race Dates 2009/2010 season
The dates for our 2009/2010 races wil be due out in the next few weeks, please check back for more information soon!
With the 2008/2009 season coming to a close, we would like to thank everyone for your support over the past season. Our races all went off better than expected and showed some exciting competition here in the Wye Valley.
Our races for next season are well into planning and dates will be released shortly, The Beechenhurst Trails will again be held in January with the Wyedean Quest Planned for February.
The Quest race is looking to be very popular after the success of this year and we hope to gain a leading sponsor very soon! This race will once again be something different and will challenge both dogs and mushers! We already have trails planned and a major local hotel has offered to host the teams! Classes will more than likely include both and open class and canicross class as well as purebread classes....more details soon...
enjoy the off season!
Matt, Shawn, Christina and Team Tiara.
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27/03/09
Wyedean Quest competitors.. your free photo CD packs will be mailed shortly! just putting the finishing touches to the pack.
if you didnt enter but would like a copy of the photos from this years event, please contact Matt via the contact us page.
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WOW!!! WHAT AN EVENT!
Well the event is over and what a total resounding success!25 mushers and their dogs all completed the 4 trails set down for the race. The reports from mushers are that it was a top notch event, something they have never seen before in the <country-regionw:ston><placew:ston>UK and had a fantastic time running their dogs and mingling with the other mushers. We would like to extend our thanks to all the dogs, mushers, handlers, trail volunteers and sponsors involved in the race, its you guys who made it such a great weekend!
i must apologize for not posting daily results but our internet connection would not work! opps.
day 1 - Speech House to Mallards Pike. The stages was set for the first race with competitors frantically trying to arrange lifts with vans to the finish, setting out snub lines and getting dogs ready, the start time was put back 1/2 hour for temps to cool off further and to allow the timing guys to get set up after a break down on the motorway. mushers signed in at the Hotel and were greeted with audio interviews with leading mushers from around the world and all competitors and handlers signed a large sled dog print to record attending mushers of the first ever wyedean quest race.
team then headed to the start line leaving at 2 minute intervals, it was hectic to say the least with teams and handlers dashing to and from the start with rigs, dogs lights etc but all got safely away on time. Cathy Croman lead the first day in the Q1 class followed by Leigh Marsden.
teams returned to the hotel for the over night stop where tactics were being talked and many drinks sunk.
Day 2. - Day two started with the decision to cut the distance of the trail from 5 to 3.4 miles, it was done as the temps were due to pick up during the day and some of the later teams might have suffered from the warm day. Teams started to arrive early and first off were the fastest from the day before, Cathy croman. Teams started to pore through the start chute at 3 min intervals which seemed quite leisurely after the night before mayhem. Mushers started to use tactics, Dathan Trent ran 4 fresh dogs, Leigh Marsden added fresh dogs and Rob Henbury decided to give his dogs a little more head and quicken the pace. Graeme Good also swapped some dogs around as did a few mushers putting different leaders up front and moving others to the swing position, Cathy kept her stead 4 swifts on the team and in the Q2 class mushers swapped places to run the dogs adding or removing fresh dogs. No one knew what affect this would have and a few mushers jumped up the leader board, Dathen went up to third spot 3 seconds behind Leigh, and Dave Hemmins dropped a place or two as did Graeme Good. Further down the field the mally teams ran stead runs Stuart Marle keeping a similar pace throughout the days 2 stages. Rob Henbury put in a good time to jump up the leader board and put distance between him and the other teams running freight teams!
the afternoon was spent with teams chilling out, mushers chatting about the forth coming trail and one musher was even spotted curled up with his dogs in a the dog box of his van. Dogs were all sleeping the mornings trails away, some mushers popped into the village for a bite to eat and all was quiet.
The evening trails were a reverse of the mornings, the crowds lined the start chute and finish chutes under huge flood lights and the trail to the start and finish area was lit by a long line of spot lights, the whole place was awash with light and had an exciting atmosphere. With the wonderfully funny Emma Overend commentating on teams and keeping the crowd amused with facts on each team, dogs names and information on the dogs. I think Steve Banks Scooby do team was the crowds favorite of the weekend with shaggy and scrappy Thelma and the whole team with scobby do themed names the crowd was shouting the count down along with the start timer and cheered when his team set off into the night. As teams arrived back into the finish area, trail times were shouted out to the musher and quick looks at the big LED scoreboard let mushers see instantly where they were in the overall results table. A few cheers and a few muttering were heard by the mushers as they spotted places gained or lost...the atmosphere was electric!
The mushers handlers and support teams all headed back to the speech house hotel for a musher banquet, i ve never seen so much food disappear so fast! everyone sat around eating drinking and enjoying the evenings merriment, a birthday cake was produced for team tiara's trail volunteer and snubber for the weekend Alan Heaton and everyone enjoyed a good bit of cake...Stuarts Marles comments on a balance diet was greeted with toots of laughter as he proclaimed to have a balanced diet you needed a piece of cake in each hand! Teams left for hotel rooms and vans to walk dogs and enjoy the cool night air to the sounds of the disco from a wedding party.
Day 3 - all was quiet in the forest around 6am as I headed out to mark the trail; deer were skipping along and the sounds of the purr of Rob Henburys scared any remaining wild bore from the trail. As I pulled into the start chute I could see mushers walking dogs around the lake, rigs being readied, bacon being cooked and lines being checked. Mushers ferried each other to the finish line with vans and stake outs left to be used when the team arrived home under the burled arch. It could have been <placew:ston><statew:ston>Alaska with tall pines and a hint of mist hanging off the waters surface. Soon the crowd was gathering and the mushers started to arrive ready to tackle the final days trail. a mix of fast winding trail some uphill sections, fast hard packed dirt and some interesting turns. Again Cathy set of first with Leigh and Dathan hot on her heels. Some mushers had saved their fastest dogs for this stage to try and gain a few vital seconds and places. Reports from his finish line over the radio were of teams arriving looking really good, a few mushers skidding across the finish line with crowds of people lining the chutes towards the finish. Mushers staked out dogs and waited to cheer others in, to see mushers who had just run returning after watering dogs to cheer other teams in was fantastic and a first for many of the freight teams! The spirit of the sled dogs shone through as the mushers whether running 6 dog or 3 dog teams were helping each other at and looking after teams as mushers hitched lifts with each other to pick up dog vans from the start. the final team in was Brain Wakely running his malamutes, after a long weekend his two dogs still looked keen to run and loped over the finish line...Brian look happy but tired, Phil Neales Akita team had taken off fast from the start line and 3.4 miles later ambled in with big smiles you could tell even these giant dogs had enjoyed themselves.
The prize giving was held shortly afterwards in the field of the hotel with teams stretched out in the warm mid day sun. Dogs played and everyone looked tired but happy. Some spot awards were given to the happyest looking musher of the weekend and tow for teams who wanted to do the 5 miler without their mushers.
In the Q1 class Cathy Croman won first place and a trophy and £50 vouchers and goodies from Cotswold Outdoors, Leigh Marsden came second not quite able to catch Cathy who had lead all the 4 stages wit the same 4 dog team a true feat of stamina, speed and good dog care! Dathan came in third place.
Q2 was won by Lee and Zara Wooliscroft who also received a £50 voucher and a sled dog statue trophy, Husband and wife team Graeme Good and Sue Blake came in a close second place with Lynn and Mike Harrison coming in 3rd place.
Freight Class was won by Rob Henbury a full 15 minutes ahead of Second place Stuart Marle and received a goody bag and Sled dog trophy. Kevin Aiston came in third place just over a minute behind Stuart.
Two fantastic identical one and half foot tall engraved glass vases with a scene of two huskies running in harness through the forest of dean were presented, these two very special prizes were awarded to red lantern winner Brian Wakely with a time of 124 minutes and 18 seconds and over all winner Cathy croman with a time of 47 minutes and 44 seconds.
One final and very special award was made by international musher Nick Evans who had to scratch pre race due his to dogs not sufficiently recovered from their third place win in the Alps the week before in the European sprint championships to the mushers musher for the event. This was awarded to someone the mushers, trail volunteers and race organizers to someone who showed true sportsmanship through out the weekend. Nick Evans presented his 'le grandee oddessee' winners French bell from 2006 to be kept for a year, amid a fantastic round of applause hoots and cheers from all the mushers to Mike Holbourn for his efforts help and determination in this years race, well done Mike.
I returned to the trails to strip them out and on return a good hour later found mushers stretch out, dogs being massaged by Emma Overend our race canine physio and folk milling around not wanting to leave. It was a very successful race made doubly so by the help of all the trail volunteers from team tiara. These guys dont run dogs but turned out to help marshal, snub, handle and work on the event giving up their own time and efforts to see the race was a success and made easy for the mushers as possible we could not have done with out their help! Mikrotime did a fantastic job with the timing, willingly altering start times for deal with the prospective temps, and giving up to the minute results. We must thank the Speech House for hosting the mushers and dogs and of course our wonderful sponsors Cotswold Outdoors and Speedy Hire.
We hope to see you all again next year where it is hoped it will be even bigger and better! If you didn’t enter this year...you defiantly don’t want to miss next year!
Matt, Shaun and Christina
Results can be found via this link for now but will appear in full on the website...
http://www.mikrotime.com/husky/absa/wyedean09.html
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less than 24 hours to go...
There is less than 24 hours to go till the start of the Wyedean Quest, last minute trails changes have been made as the local wild boar population have destroyed a small section of two of the trails, alternative routes have been found and the trails have stayed the same length and quality. We hope teams dont encounter many on the trails!
The start arch has been put up and trails are being marked tomorrow. Teams will start to arrive from 12pm with many mushers walking the first two trails.
Teams will check in around 4.30 and get there rigs scrutineered. Parking is limited for the friday night stage so please park in the speech house hotel car park and head in for a warm drink after the teams hav left the start areas. If you can do not park in the small wooded car park as this will be used for competitors and teams moving to the start line.
Saturday is recommended as the best day to spectate with ample parking available and you may walk the trails to see the dogs on route. PLEASE keep all dogs on leads!!!
The best way to get the the race sites is to follow the ABSA signs, or the 'go ape' road signs.
We have published a provisional start list below, please note this is subject to change!
At this time we have had only one team withdraw, sadly Colin Drever has puled out citing a dog coming down with a bug. We hope he feels better soon colin!
We hope to have a regular update during the weekend with current standings and timings for each stage, please bear with us as the wifi connections might not be brilliant so some updates might be late evening.
best wishes to all dogs, mushers and handlers, have a great race and safely happy and health to the finishline on sunday!
Cotswold Outdoor Wyedean Quest Provisional start list Only
Run under ABSA rules
Organisers: Matt Hammersley Shaun Thompson Christina Heaton and ABSA
Forest of Dean, Glos
Sponsored by Cotswold Outdoor and Speedy Hire
Friday 27th Feb to Sunday 1st Mar 2009
Results: www.mikrotime.com
No. All Mushers Class Town/Team Start Time
1 Dave HEMMINS Q1 Buckingham 18:30
2 Pete Kay KAJAWSKI Q1 Ringwood 18:32
3 M HOLBOURNE / Ems S-LANGLEY Q2 Bristol 18:34
4 Lee/Zara WOOLISCROFT Q2 Zarchenski 18:36
5 Graeme GOOD / Sue BLAKE Q2 SW Trailblazers 18:38
6 Lindy/Stuart HANSON Q2 SW Trailblazers 18:40
7 Shaun THOMPSON Q1 Forest Of Dean 18:42
8 Mike/Lynn HARRISON Q2 Ringwood 18:44
9 Rob MORLEY Q1 Inverness 18:46
10 Barbara TERRY Q1 Dorking 18:48
11 Leigh MARSDEN Q1 Derbyshire 18:50
12 Dathan TRENT Q1 Taunton 18:52
13 Cathy CROMAN Q1 Fleet 18:54
14 Steve BANKS Q1 Yateley 18:56
15 Mark BUSBY Q1 Okehampton 18:58
16 Wayne DAVIS Q1 Worcester 19:00
17 Mel REEVES Q1 Blackcross 19:02
18 Nick EVANS Q1 F Mid Wales 19:04
19 Mark SMITH Q1 F Salisbury 19:06
20 Stuart MARLE Q1 F Somerset 19:08
21 Natalie LOVEGROVE Q1 F Wantage 19:10
22 Colin DREVER Q1 F Pont-Y-Pridd 19:12 - WITHDRAWN
23 Brian WAKLEY Q1 F Bridgend 19:14
24 Diane JACKSON Q1 F Oxfordshire 19:16
25 Rob HENBURY Q1 F Dorchester 19:18
26 Kevin AISTON Q1 F Devizes 19:20
27 Phil NEAL Q1 F Malmsbury 19:22
Timing and Results
© Mikrotime Sport Systems 2009
www.mikrotime.com Page 1 of 1 ---------------------
matt 20th feb 09
One week to go...
This time next week teams will be gathering for the 1st ever Cotswold Outdoors Wyedean Quest!
27 teams have entered the race and we have several championship winning teams from the last few years, teams from as far away as Inverness Scotland, Cornwall and Mid Wales and we even have an entry from top international musher Nick Evans ( who has just got 3rd place in the grand odyssey race in the alps this weekend - well done Nick!!) who is returning from a long distance race in the Alps early to attend the race! the first time in 17 years Nick has raced back in the UK! very exciting..
Cotswold Outdoors will also have a mobile outdoor equipment store at mallards pike on saturday for anyone wishing to buy warm gear, fleeces and equipment they have forgotten
start times and venues as follows:
Friday night start at Speech House Hotel 1st team off 6pm.
first team expected to arrive at mallards pike finish area around 6.20pm
Saturday Am Mallards Pike Lakes first team off 9am ( if it is due to be a warm day i.e temperature forcasted over +10C by 10am, then teams may start earlier at 8am) first team due into Mallards Pike finish area around 9.30am
Saturday Pm Mallards Pike Lakes first team off 6pm ( subject to delay of 1 hour if weather is above +10c at 5pm) . first team expected back at the lakes finish for around 6.20pm
Sunday Am start Mallards Pike Lakes first team off 9am ( 8am start if temperature due above +10c by 10am) first team due into Speech House finish around 9.30am
prize giving due around lunchtime on sunday once all teams safely off trail and back into Speech House - Prize giving in field next to Speech House hotel - or inside pavillion if wet.
please be aware of dog teams moving around the finish and start areas particulay on the saturday am trails as they will be returning to holding areas via the mallards pike entry and exit road - please observe all marshals instructions if requested to do so. Please keep ALL dogs on a lead and under control, loose dogs can cause accidents for the sled dog teams and mushers!
Feel free to take photos, meet the mushers on friday and saturday nights after racing at the speech house hotel, there will be mushing videos to watch on saturday night ,we hope in the marquee, and please show the teams some support by attend the prize giving.
please approach mushers before stroking dogs! ask lots of questions and enjoy the weekend!
you can view competing mushers at the up coming races pages.
best wishes and good luck to all dogs, mushers and handlers!!!
Matt Shaun and Christina
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SNOW and ENTRIES
Well with the heavy snow falling over the last week or so, we are praying that it will last until the race and we get some snowy trails for the Quest!....many mushers have been out training or running sled in the snow, matt and shaun checked the saturday morning trail in snowy conditions and found it to be excellent! the dogs loved it...so less than a month til the race weekend.
there is ojust over a week until entires close so please get entries in asap!...and keep praying for more of the white stuff!
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WYEDEAN QUEST NEWS...
We have two notible items of news so far this week...firstly we have made a change to the saturdays stages to make the event easier on teams and handlers.
The saturday stages will now be based entirely at Mallards Pike Lakes. Mushers will now be able to remain situated for both the day and night stages on the saturday with out having to move between different start and finish areas. We will now be running two looped trails, one out from the lakes using part of the finish trail from friday night and returning to the lakes and the night stage a reverse of this trail with an extra few turns to keep it exciting! Mushers will now be able to stake out dogs and park vans for the whole of saturday at the lakes. The sunday trail will remain the same, a reverse of the friday night trail back to Speech House!
Cotswold Outdoors, Pet Food Pronto and SnowPaw Store will all have mobile stores at the lakes for the saturday stages selling everything from fleeces to head torches, winter sleeping bags to running shoes, dog food and mushing gear! There will also be a burger van on site for the day, so bring your wallets! If anyone wants to pre order gear for collection from Cotswold Outdoorsthen please contact matt on 07778 534124.
The second bit of news is that we have is that the fantastic guys and girls from SPEEDY HIRE are sponsoring the Quest race with over £5000 of lighting!!! They are supporting the event by providing all the lighting requirements for the night stages. This will consist of two 6 meter tower lights to flood light the start and finishes, 15 tripod lights for the musher and parking areas with 5 generators to power the lot! so you wont have to scrabble around looking for neck lines with head torches ont he start lines! So a huge THANK YOU to SPEEDY HIRE for their fantastic support!
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matt 20/1/09
Beechenhurst results
This years Beechenhurst Trails Iain Hutchinson sled dog rally has been deemed a great success. 88 mushers from all over the country arrived bright and early in the Forest of Dean to clear skies and cool temperatures. The rain over night had left some water on the trail in places but nothing the teams couldn’t handle. The trail ran 2.75 miles through the Beechenhurst enclosure twisting its way up hill past the giants chair and through the woods to white gates and back towards the chair to finish. Reports back from mushers were that of a top class trail and a well run event! Prizes were donated by GARMIN, NEILSEN KELLERMAN, SNOWPAW STORE and by the rally organisers.
The B class teams comprising of up to 6 dogs left first posting some fast times, a little over 9 minutes to complete the trail. C classes’ 4-5 dog teams were next out with Cathy Croman’s 4 dog Siberian team completing the trail in 9 minutes 14 seconds, 5 seconds ahead of Alex Marvin. Stuart Murray led the 2 -3 dog class ahead of Julie Platt. Mark Smith from Devizes and Kevin Hale from Gloucester battled it out in the 2 dog Siberian husky class, Mark was running injured musher Iain Muncaster’s puppy leading in Kevin’s puppy team by less than a second! Something usually seen in formula one rather than sled dog racing! These two yearling dog teams are proving to be some of the fastest young dogs on the trail at the moment…it’ll be fantastic to see how these two teams develop over the next few years. Kevin again proved his worth later in the day with the fastest time on day one in the 2 -3 dog veteran class with Stuart Murray hot on his heals.
Lisa Marson running partner Stuart Murray’s 2 dog team in the 2 – 3 dog open class lead Matt Hammersley, whilst in the Alaskan Malamute and Freight dog classes Justin Houghton lead Stuart Marle and on form Rob Henbury looked set to continue his unbroken run of wins this season if he could stay ahead of Adam Johnson on sundays trails.
The junior classes ran late in the afternoon and again showed many of us mushers how it should be done, these kids show fantastic sportsmanship and ran their dogs with great dogmanship. Its not easy hanging on to a fast moving rig with a very keen, fully fit Siberian husky pulling you along! Some of these mushers are only 8 years old and venture out on the trail by themselves with their dogs. In junior 2 class for over 12 year olds, Rebecca Steadman put in a time of 3 minutes 43 over the 1 mile trail to win over sister Lauren. Kyle Harkins coming in third place. The Junior 1 class of 8 to14 was competed in by Rhianon Aiston, Amber Barsby, Rohan Hodgson, Ayla Lovegrove and Callum Steadman.
Saturday night saw very high winds and torrential rain, but with the mushers all safely gathered in the Speech House hotel for food, beer and a viewing of last years Iditarod race from Alaska, the weather was avoided until dog walking duties when the bar closed saw more than a few soaked mushers making their way around the field to give their dogs a leg stretch before climbing into their dog trucks and vans for the night, a few spent the night in the luxury of the Speech House Hotel!
The morning was bright and clear with the temperature dropping steadily to hover around +2C,. the dogs loved it and most teams headed out to put in some inspiring times, Mark Smith only 3 seconds slower running Iain Muncaster's team, Kevin Hale tried to snatch the win from him but was 3 seconds slower giving Mark the win by 3.5 seconds! A heart stopping incident by Matt Hammersley when his rig somersaulted him over the handle bars led to the gap being closed from 50 seconds to only 2.5 seconds over Simon Molloy in third place behind winner Lisa Marson. Rob Henbury managed to keep his clean sweep of wins intact beating Adam Johnson over 2 minutes. Cathy Croman took the win over Alex Marvin and Wayne Fisher in the very competitive C class, less than a minute separated the top 3 mushers and teams. Wayne Davies kept hold of 3rd place in B class 50 seconds behind Andy Steadman in 2nd and winner Paul Keene. Justin Houghton’s Alaskan Malamutes beat Stuart Marle and Caroline Bodleys fine looking teams. And Kevin Hale got his win with his 3 dog Veteran team a fantastic result on home turf and a good showing for the local mushers.
All the mushers reported safe but fast trails and a fun filled weekend, the dogs all ran well and nearly every musher came in with big smiles and happy dogs. The red lantern was won by Kirsty Parker in 2 -3 dog open class after a problem with her lead dog left her taking a slow run round on the Sunday. A blonde award was also awarded to yours truly having been witnessed calling GEE instead of HAW at the first turn by some friendly marshals! I’m sticking by the story that I was merely testing my lead dog’s response to my commands…honest!
We would like to thank all the mushers and their dogs for taking part in another great rally in the Forest of Dean and to all the folk who helped marshal, snub and start time for the event, especially Mike and Lynn Harrison and Lindsey and Alan Deddan who ran the finish timing for the whole weekend! We are very grateful to you and an excellent job well done!
see you all back for the WYEDEAN QUEST!
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matt 11/01/9
Its only days away now till the mushers and teams head off up the trail, past the famous giants chair and into the Dean with their dogs! we have some pointers for specatators on the upcoming races pages and recommend you get there early! the first teams to leave the start chute ( to be found on the main trail leading up to the giants chair - just follow the dogs and handlers - behind the gavellers cafe) will be the impressively fast 6 dog teams, they will leave at 2 min intervals through out the morning with the number of dogs per team decresing after that. Please stick around to see the juniors off with their 1 and 2 dog teams, these kids all show fantastic dog handling skills and sportsmanship and deserve some support, they are the champion dog mushers of tomorrow! we invisage the racing to be done for the day by 2.30pm, they start again on sunday morning around the same time.
Please beware that teams moving up to the start can be very very excited and may jump up with out warning, please ask the mushers and handlers before greeting the dogs. often its best to leave the questions till the mushers are back at the vans where they will happily chat to you.
We would like to wish Ian Muncaster, a local musher from Hereford, a big get well soon. Ian was on his final training runs before this weekends race with his super fast 2 dog team when he suffered a fall from his rig fracturing his hip, he has now got 2 screws in place to hold it together and has lost his chance of racing this wekend and a clean sweep of winning every race this season and maybe the championships. Mark Smith has kindly stepped into run his teams for him, but the points will sadly not be available for his dogs as its the musher who is given the points for the championships. Please wish Ian well if you see him hobbling around on his crutches this weekend!
You are all welcome to come to the Speech House Hotel in the evening, Most of the mushers are staying there over night, there might even be the odd dog in the bar. We also will be holding our free annual Beechenhurst trails Race Film Show in the residents lounge around 8pm with a showing of some 2008s leading Alaskan sled dog race dvds!
We wish all this years mushers and dogs a succesful, safe and fun filled race! see you on the trails!
Matt and Shaun
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Martin at the Gavellers cafe would like to welcome everyone to Beechenhurst and let you all know his cafe is open for breakfast early on saturday and sunday for mushers and specators alike!
Great for Full on English Breakfasts!
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matt 3/1/09
BBC radio gloucestershire has just aired the interview on the sport of sled dog racing and the localraces this year with matt,
to listen to the interview please click the link below
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2008/12/31/sled_dog_racing_feature.shtml
We also have some great news for mushers signing up for the COTSWOLD OUTDOOR WYEDEAN QUEST, photographer and sled dog fan, Liz Kendrew of Scarlet Scorpio Images is attending the race as an event photographer and has offered to give any musher entering any photos of the event they would like for free! Fantastci news, so please remember to smile and show her your best side!
Local youth development organisation 'MAKING OUR MARK'' is also sending a team of kids to the Beechenhurst Trails Iain Hutchinson race to make a short film about the event. Ros Davis and her team will be out and about with cameras filming mushers and dogs through the weekend. It would be great if we could find a few friendly mushers to chat to the kids and talk about their dogs and the sport for the film.
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matt 30/12/08
Media coverage:
we are getting lots of media coverage for the 2009 races, BBC radio Gloucester is airing an interview with matt on friday and saturday morning this week ( jan 2nd & 3rd) in 'Faye Hatchers' morning show - times to be confirmed, you wil be able to listen live or on their website after the weekend. we will post a link later.
BBC radio gloucestershire will, we hope, be live from the race start onthe friday night of the wyedean quest! they will record the start for broadcast later if they cant get a good enough signal for a live broadcast!
we also have a 2 page feature in this months herefordshire life magazine as well as matt being featured as the page 3 cotswold portrait for jan 2009 for the cotswold life magazine..yes he does keep his clothes on!
any media wishing to feature the race please contact matt or shaun on 07778 534124
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matt 3rd Dec:
We would like to welcome COTSWOLD OUTDOORS as the leading sponsor of the 2009 WYEDEAN QUEST STAGE STOP SLED DOG RACE!
COTSWOLD OUTDOOR are the countries leading outdoor equipment supplier with shops countrywide. They specailise in leading brand outdoor equipment such as THE NORTH FACE, JACK WOLFSKIN, MOUNTAIN HARDWEAR, BERGHAUS, REGATTA, SOLOMAN and many more.
They have come on board to sponsor the WYEDEAN QUEST for 2009 offering a great package of prizes and the sponsorship of 2 local teams. Mike Holbournes polaris sled dog racing team and Matt Hammersley and Ems Scott-Langleys tanglefoot sled dog racing team have been equiped with clothing for the season and will be racing as 'team cotswold outdoors' in the team musher class.
1st prize in each class will be awarded with £100 voucher to spend at any COTSWOLD OUTDOOR store.
2nd place will win a top of the range Soloman raid revo rucksac with hyration system
3rd place will win North face and Cotswold Outdoor branded clothing
they will also be on hand with a mobile store selling outdoor clothing and equipment during the event. The store will be located at the Mallards Pike Lakes area of the trail which incorporates the starts or finishes of each stage! They will also be offering a discount scheme for ABSA competitors for all their stores nationwide so you can buy equipment and clothing at a discounted rate (available soon).
We will also be holding a prize raffle during the event so please buy some raffle tickets to win some great prizes!
Once again many thanks to Rachel of their Cirencester store and to COTSWOLD OUTDOOR for supporting our sport and the WYEDEAN QUEST!
COTSWOLD OUTDOOR website can be found at
www.cotswoldoutdoor.com
matt sunday 30th nov:
Please visit the 'race resources' page to see our new online 'weather widget' giving live trailside weather conditions!
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matt 30th nov:
QUEST SPONSOR TO BE ANNOUNCED!
keep an eye out over the next few days for our new Wyedean Quest Sled Dog Race 2009 sponsor!
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shawn nov 27th
Beechenhurst trails prize donated
Nielsen Kellerman one of the world leaders in mobile weather reading technologies has donated a fantastic prize for the C class winners of the Beechenhurst Trails Iain Hutchinson Sled Dog Rally.
The have very kindly donated a state of the art weather / wind watch the Kestral 3000
This amazing device reads: wind speed, wind direction, wind chill, barometric pressure, humidity, maximum wind gust, heat stress index, dewpoint, air and snow temperature.
a fantastic tool for any musher in todays climate and unpredicatable weather! get training, who knows which team could win this amazing prize!
Thanks to monica of Neilson Kellerman for offering us this great C class winners prize!
Please visit their website at: www.nkhome.com
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matt nov 23rd
Timing for Quest race:
We have now booked mikrotime for the Wyedean Quest race. They are very experianced in the field of timing and have worked on many sled dog races over the years. They will have computer timing on all stages of the race with instant times available on a monitor as well as a large LED 3 colour scoreboard on the finishes of the night stages displaying the fastest 3 times and the times of the finishers as they come through, Print outs of each teams times will be available during the event! more details of their timing systems are available from their website.
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matt nov 23rd
Temp guages for races:
We have just bought a digital thermometer for the start line for this years races.
It gives 2 readings one on the start line and one we hope if the signals as good as it says, further down the trail. These will be positioned on the start line by the start timers clocks.
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matt nov 19th:
New Cafe open for Beechenhurst race:
We would like to say a big welcome to Martyn and Mark who have re opened the old cafe in the log cabin at Beechenhurst Trails race site and who will be on hand to offer a great range of hot food for the race goes, mushers fans and event staff and helpers.
They are offering us use of their meeting room in the Log cabin to holder mushers meetings and prize giving as well as food for those helping the event with race support.
It will be open from early saturday morning for those wanting breakfast or hot drinks!
The cafe can be found inside the log cabin near the start of the race trails at the end of the car park. It also has a childrens play ground to keep the 'mini-mushers' busy, toilets and a water tap for those needing to fill water buckets for dogs. Please give them our support during the race weekend! They do a VERY good burger! Please visit their website for more details, menus etc!
www.gavellerscafe.co.uk
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shawn 18 oct 2008:
Latest news for the Beechenhurst race in January: We have written permission to run the trails requested for this years race from the forestry commision and the event is taking shape, we have a few entries comming in already and have picked up some assistance from the world leader in GPS units, GARMIN. They have donated a great prize for the fastest 6 dog team of the weekend! THANK YOU GARMIN! so, get your entries in soon! this is a great race with fantastic trails!
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We would like to welcome 2 new sponsors for the 2009 season
Both Snow Paw Store and Wyevale Garden centres are coming onboard to help sponsor our races for the 2009 season!
We are very pleased to welcome them to the site and the sport of sled dog mushing! please visit there websites and give them our support! many thanks to both sponsors for their assistance in the forthcoming season!
www.snowpawstore.co.uk www.wyevale.co.uk
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matt oct 12th 08
Canine therapists come onboard for quest race.
We now have canine touch therapist Amanda Rothwell on board for the Quest race.
Amanda has a back ground in and has made a career in animal therapy is attending the event to assist vets, mushers and dogs in case of any physiological injuries, sprains and tweeks that they feel they need looking at over the course of the weekends racing. Amanda will support the event by giving free advice and help to any competitor and will have magnetic pulse therapy units on hand with her. for more info on what she can offer please visit her website at:
www.horse-massage.co.uk
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matt oct 3rd 08
International mushing site listings!
Our races are now advertised on the www.dogsled.com as a front page news artical and www.sleddogcentral.com websites under their events listings. We also got a mention on the Sled dog podcast show!
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matt and shaun oct 2nd
National magazine articals for wyedean-mushing events 2009
Please look out for two articals coming up in the leading country life magazines. 'Cotswold Life' where matt will be their cotswold portrait for nov issue and in the 'Herefordshire Life' as an artical on our races and up coming season with a great artical and some stunning photos! also on sale in november!
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STOP PRESS! - 1st aug 08
date change for quest race!!!!
Due to crufts being on the same weekend we have moved the QUEST stage stop race a week back. the new dates are feb 27th/feb28th/march 1st.
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TRAILS GRANTED ! - 5th sept 08
We just got word from the Forestry Commision today that they have ok'd the trails in principle for the Quest race!!! We have got to have a meeting to finalise a few things, but other wise the trails we wanted have been granted... phew!
We are getting loads of interest in the race and rooms are getting booked up fast at the speech house for both the quest and the beechenhurst trails race...we'd advise giving them a buzz asap if you want to stay in comfort for the races. Ask for Moria ( the manager) and mention you are coming to the races as we have negotiated a discount for mushers! ( you also get use of the sauna and jacuzzi as well!), theres always the camping field as well, you wont need to book for that with the hotel but let us know on your entry forms.
I'm also getting lots of queries for the race on questions around classes, please go and have to look at the 'race resource' pages, but if you still have any questions please email me.
matt
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HANDLERS - 4th sept 08
We are now in the process of setting up a handling team to assist with anyone needing help to get to the start line especialy later on in the stages as teams waiting to go reduce in number as do willing helpers. If you wish to help out as a handler for teams please let me know. We have several volunteers already - dog gloves provided - and we can let you know whats involved, please be aware that the dogs can be very excited, very noisy, very strong and very bouncy! you will need to be experienced with dogs and physicaly fit!
Any team needing help should let the handling team know well in advance stating the location of your van and any dog issues and how many handlers you need. We wont be able to help everyone but if you need help please ask.
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Trail staff
We now have a list of trail staff and marshals up on the resources page and welcome anyone wishing to volunteer to help, please get in contact!
matt
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Accomodation - 8th aug 08
Accomodation is being booked up fast at the Speech House Hotel, please give them a ring and book a room if you need one, there is a weddingon over the same weekend so alot fo rooms have been pre booked by them. We are trying to get a discount for rooms, but have nothing confirmed yet, will keep you posted on that one.
please give the speech house a call on 01594 822067 to book and let them know you will be coming to the event - matt
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27th/28th Feb/1st March - new quest dates!!!!!!!!!!
The camp site will be open from the thursday before the race start for anyone wanting to arrive early - please let matt know in advance!
the forestry commission are looking at the trails and we have a dead line of Aug 15th for them to OK the routes for each stage.
more soon....
matt
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July 2008
Hi and welcome to the Wyedean Mushing website! we hope the trail here wasnt too bumpy!
We are busy trying to build the site as well as organising several races this season so please bare with us in the initial few weeks!
The site is designed to help seasoned mushers and dog teams as well as the new runners and spectators wishing to attend races in the wye valley. Please check here for regualar updates on races, pre race news and info as well as for the results post race!
The Wydean Quest race is currently being put together as a new style of race in the uk! Stage Stop Style with 4 trails over 3 days! very exciting and totaly different! There is more info on the up coming races page!
We need volunteers for our races so anyone who can lend a hand with timing, vet support, snubbing, marshaling etc etc please get in contact with us via the contact us page! we need all the help we can get!
matt
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SPONSORS NEEDED for the Wyedean Quest race!
We are currently seeking sponsorship and race support for the Quest race in our endevor to make it a top class event. We have gained the interest of TV production company and the Transworld Sport programe with regard to the event and hope that a major sponsor will be onboard soon! We have race vet support on site for the saturday currently being finalised and are also looking for onsite race vets for the friday night and sunday morning. we will update you as news progresses!
