Sled dog racing is more than just puppy love for musher Betsy McGettigan.

The skijorer and sled dog racer from Norway has been traversing the snowy trails and braving frigid temperatures for the past seven years. She has also competed in races throughout New England and New York.

She has invested time and money into a sport where training is a year-round challenge, but all that hard work is secondary to the joy and loyalty she receives from her dogs that have taken her great distances over the years.

“”We really have to take care of these guys,”” said a soft-spoken McGettigan, 40, a dog lover since she was a child. “”These guys are athletes.

“”They are great comrades. They are really fun to hang out with. It’s like having a bunch of kids except you put the dogs out in the kennel.””

McGettigan now finds herself qualifying for next year’s World Cup skijoring in Dawson City, Yukon. Unlike dog sledding, where a team of dogs pulls a driver, skijoring involves one dog towing a musher on skis.

She began skijoring four years ago and calls the sport “”a blast.””

“”I really miss driving a four-dog team,”” she added.

But the clinical social worker for Tri-County Mental Health isn’t sure she have the cash to finance the trip.

“”It depends if I can raise the money,”” she said. “”I am terrible at self promotion. Skijoring is huge in Europe.

“”We have to do four races and you have to place well in the four races.””

Getting started

Soon after she moved from New Hampshire to Maine, she and her friend, Ben Woodard, inherited a sled dog kennel from a couple from northern Maine. The dogs’ former owners enjoyed the great outdoors, taking the intrepid canines on 1,000-mile trips in Labrador during harsh winters.

“”These people’s dogs were seasoned travelers,”” said McGettigan, whose kennel includes nine hardy dogs. “”It was overwhelming (raising the dogs) at first. But I got used to it.””

Long after the snow disappears, you will still find McGettigan being pulled along a dusty trail on a four-wheeled cart, or taking her dogs for a swim on a hot summer day to keep her canines in shape.

In the winter, McGettigan will often pack up the dogs and head to Evans Notch State Park in Gilead, where there is more snow and breathing room to train for a race.

“”In terms of working with the dogs, they are great characters,”” she said. “”I really like training dogs. With big dogs, you have to keep them in condition.””

But there’s a bonus to working out with these huge hounds that can pull a musher at speeds of 20 to 25 miles per hour on a cold winter day. “”It forces me to train year-round,”” said McGettigan, who puts in five to 10 hours a week to ensure her brood of canines can cover great distances.

Always on the run

McGettigan, who races with the Downeast Sled Dog Club, recently competed in the Adult 1 Dog Speed class at the Northeast Championship in Jackman in early March. She finished the 21-mile skijoring course with a total time of 1:33:50 and took third place.

“”We had people fly in from Colorado,”” said McGettigan.

And yet, she is still amazed at how the popularity of skijoring has grown throughout the world.

“”It’s huge,”” she said. “”There is really some competitive dog kennels.””

In February, she won a pair skijoring races in Island Pond, Vt., and Farmington. She also finished fourth in the Adult Sled 4 Dog speed in the Maine Highlands Challenge at Dover-Foxcroft in February. She covered the eight-mile course in 27:03.75.

Despite the hours of training and the demands of taking care of nine big dogs, McGettigan still hasn’t lost her enthusiasm for dog sledding or skijoring.

“”I’d love to do it for a long time,”” she said. “”We are really committed to the dogs we take on.””

That commitment works both ways.

tblasi@sunjournal.com

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