Eran Menard of Cheboygan races her team of sled dogs in the Great Lakes Sled Dog Races in Newberry Saturday, January 24. She will be racing against her mother in the Mackinaw Mush Sled Dog Race this weekend in Mackinaw City. Races will begin at 10 a.m. on both Saturday, February 7, and Sunday, February 8. (Photograph courtesy of Tanya Menard) Racing sled dogs is a family affair for the Menard family of Cheboygan. Mother Tanya and her two teenage daughters, Brittany, 18, and Eran, 13, have been racing sled dogs for a combined total of 10 years.

The family got into racing sled dogs about five years ago when they moved to Cheboygan after Tanya's husband, Burt Menard, was transferred to the Coast Guard station there. Mrs. Menard said Brittany was told she could race sled dogs if her husband's transfer was to go through.

Sure enough, it did, and now both daughters race sled dogs.

After one year of watching her older sister race, Eran decided she wanted to try her hand at it, too, Mrs. Menard said. This year is the first year she has raced.

"It's addicting," Mrs. Menard said of the races. "It's just something we do."

Eran and her mother will be racing against each other in the Mackinaw Mush Sled Dog Race this weekend in Mackinaw City. Races will begin at 10 a.m. both Saturday, February 7, and Sunday, February 8. The event is open to spectators at no charge.

Brittany will not be participating in the race because she is in Navy Reserve boot-camp in Great Lakes, Illinois.

After attending her graduation Friday, February 27, the family will get home to compete in the Kinross Classic Sled Dog Race the following day. Mrs. Menard started racing this year because, in Brittany's absence, she said, it's not fair to the dogs to let them sit idle.

The Menard family owns eight sled dogs and races them in two teams of four. Mrs. Menard and Eran will each race a four-dog team this weekend in Mackinaw City.

This weekend will not be the first time Mrs. Menard has raced against her youngest daughter. The two also raced against each other in the Great Lakes Sled Dog Races in Newberry, Saturday, January 24, and Sunday, January 25, where Mrs. Menard took third place and Eran took fifth in the four-dog sport division.

The family enters into five or six races each year, mostly in Michigan. The farthest they have traveled for a race is to Merrill, Wisconsin, last February. The family does not plan to attend the race in Wisconsin this year.

The number of races they enter "depends how many there are and the weather," Mrs. Menard said.

She is hoping for good weather this weekend at the Mackinaw Mush, now in its 20th year.

Karla Dann, treasurer of the sixperson committee that has organized the event since 2005, is hoping plenty of spectators will attend the races.

"The best spot to watch is at the parking lot at the start and finish area," as well as in the spectators area on Trailsend Road, she said. The parking area is on East Central Avenue. The races begin just west of the I-75 overpass.

Teams of dogs and trainers will race various distances in seven different classes, depending on how many dogs are on the team and their level of expertise. Two-dog teams will race 1.5 miles; threeand four-dog teams, four miles; six-dog teams, six miles, and eightdog teams, 7.1 miles. Four- and six-dog teams will also be registered in sport and professional classes.

A purse of $2,000 will be awarded to the first four winners in each class, and to a fifth-place winner in certain classes.

Chuck Cullip of St. Ignace, Dawn Soba, Pam Chevalier, Kelly Hanchett, and Lori Alexander are also on the committee that organizes the event.

To Watch the Mackinaw Mush:

The 20th Mackinaw Mush Sled Dog Race is this weekend in Mackinaw City. Races will begin at 10 a.m. both Saturday, February 7, and Sunday, February 8. The event is open to spectators at no charge. The best location to watch the race is at the parking lot, at the start and finish area, as well as in the spectators area on Trailsend Road.