Answer To Question - How Fast Do Sled Dogs Race?

How fast do sled dogs go? This is a question I hear often. The speed at which a sled dog races depends on the distance it is being asked to complete, trail conditions, terrain and the load in the sled. Touring dogs, distance race dogs, middle distance race dogs and sprint race dogs "run" speed is very different.

Tour dogs tend to be the slowest because they are being asked to pull the heaviest loads (i.e. people or cargo). These dogs are usually bigger in weight because they are being asked to pull hard. They are like the "draft horses" of the sled dog world. Their speed is well under 10 miles per hour, usually. They don't go for any real long distances.

Distance race sled dogs are your Iditarod and Yukon Quest types - the ultra marathoners. They can be asked to run up to and beyond 100 miles in a 24 hour period. They can eat well over 10,000 calories in a day (I'm not kidding - they are the epitome of the word "chow hound"). Usually these guys aren't hauling an excessive amount of weight in the sled - hopefully under 200 pounds. They are hauling sled and musher over some of the roughest terrain in the world so their speed is not always consistent. They average between 5-15 miles per hour over the course of the entire 1000 mile race. The speed is averaged with rest breaks included.

Middle distance racing sled dogs are the marathoners. They go distances, 100 to 300 miles, over the course of a long weekend. They have considerably less weight to carry in the sled, because they aren't going as far. The musher can use a lighter weight sled and the speeds are consistently faster than the long distance sled dogs. They are averaging about 8-15 miles per hour over the course of the race. Many middle distance dogs are just in training to be long distance dogs, anyway, so many are just kept to a long distance pace.

Sprint dogs are the fastest of the entire bunch. These guys are the "sports cars" and run at high bursts of speed for not more than 30 miles in a day. They can average 15-20 miles per hour for up to 30 miles in a day. The sleds are lightweight and EMPTY.