Trail routes and trail proposals where done in the summer/autumn 04, with the much appreciated help by club members and co-organiser.
Preparation of the rally was one day in advance, the only problem found was that we had a shortage of blue markers - this was quickly amended and some temporary blue markers were made in order for the rally/ trial to continue successfully. We also marked all connecting paths that joined the trial, with warning signs for the safety of the dogs and Mushers not forgetting the public themselves. With regards to the class times, start times and minutes apart for each musher this was discussed with club members. A who kindly gave plenty of advice which worked well on the day.

The general feedback was very good and approved of by the 4 - 6 dog teams, the larger teams enjoyed the trail as there was plenty of turns, and also a good mixed of up hills, down hills and flats. Their was good feedback from the smaller teams (3-2 dogs), they found the trial fun but hard work. As this was our 1st rally and only for 1 day most Mushers preferred to do the same trial distance as the larger teams i.e.: 4.2 miles but as mentioned no bad complaints. (Please note: We are able to shorten the trail for the smaller teams in future rallies).

Due to this being our very first rally and for the amount of entries received, we were aware early on that we would need a lot of hands on help in order for the rally to run successfully. We contacted each individual and asked them if they had any objections to helping out with Marshalling, snubbing, start times, finish times etc, luckily everyone was more than happy to help and with all of the support enabled us to run the rally as smoothly as possible.

There were two accidents on the day which were as follows.. 1) A fall from a rig on the third turn of the trail which scratched and bruised there left arm due to the fall – They were checked over by the first aider and deep heat was applied. 2) Another fall from a rig due to the front wheel breaking and falling off the mount, they bruised there left side and had a small cut above the nose but otherwise fine, also checked over by first aider.

The Mushers conducted themselves very well on the day. Unfortunately some Marshals had complaints from the walkers about the rally being held but they remained calm and controlled the situation very well. (Please note: Public announcements were placed throughout the forest one week before the event and home owners were also notified by ourselves and the forestry commission)

We did have a Marshal that did not return from the forest after the last class went out, this was because he had left the ignition of the quad bike on and flatten the battery; leaving the Marshal unable to restart the quad bike later. The problem was quickly resolved by driving to the Marshal point and collecting him and the quad.

The main problem was the 3rd turn on the trial - this was a very sharp left turn of which was also in line with an turn star gate - this was marked off with warning tape but we would have been better to have used ski netting to make the turn clearer - this will be corrected for future rallies.

By Donna Wightwick 10th April 05 (Revised 15th May 2005)