They came from Texas, California, even Germany and it was hard to tell whether the whippets fed off their owners' energy or vice versa.
Close to 120 of the "mini-greyhounds" arrived in Squamish last weekend for the second national championship race to be held at Centennial fields in four years and participants could not have been happier, said organizer Penny Wilmot.
"They think they've died and gone to heaven," she said.
Participants loved being surrounded by the tiny, abundantly energetic dogs, they also enjoyed reuniting with other longtime whippet enthusiasts, but the best part for many was the quality of the field.
"The dogs have really delicate toes," said competitor Pattie Burt of Paso Robles, California. "If there's crabgrass or holes, they could catch a toe. This place is well, what can I say? I wish I had somewhere like this closer to home."
The race is run under the B.C. Whippet Racing Club, the Whippet Club of B.C. and the Vancouver Island Whippet Association, but credit for the quality of the field can only be taken by Brennan Park staff, said Wilmot. It also helps that the major annual maintenance occurs in Aug. between softball and soccer season.
"It's really at is best now," said Wilmot.
Dozens of whippet-crazy photographers were also on hand to capture their favourite subjects in action. Amateur photographers such as Celeste Wilcox, an oncologist from Paris, Texas, attends whippet races for passion, and dog owners can purchase pictures from her website.
"An owner will pay good money for a good shot," said Wilcox.
This year's event was all the more exciting for enthusiasts because it combined the oval track nationals with the 200-yard nationals.
"With the two nationals together, we got lots more entries," said Wilmot.
The event - dubbed "Northern Exposure 2005" - began Friday (Aug. 26) with a fun match starting at 1 p.m. Longtime whippet fans were thrilled to watch a "legends" race that brought former top dogs back. Whippets no younger than 10 and up to 13 years old took the field to relive past glories.
On Saturday (Aug. 2)7 the competition held the 200-yard sprint racing. The dogs competed in four heats of six dogs running after an artificial lure. On Sunday, Aug. 28 oval racing took place with four heats of five-dog races, running a 300-yard oval track. A 14-month old named Spin Doctor - or Griz - owned by Janet Stigum Trowbridge of Ridgefield, Washington, won the North American straight racing championships just moments ahead of his father, Talk Is Cheap, owned by Adrienne Basset of Oregon City, Oregon.
"An unbelievable effort to win the championship at that age," said Wilmot. "Griz went undefeated for the meet."
Cooper-U, owned by Lynne Underwood of Walnut Creek, California, took third place in the straight race championship and the oval track championship. Second place in the oval track went to Windyglen On Black's Watch, or Blacky, owned by Patricia Burt of Paso Robles, California. Third place went to India owned by Elaine Pillows of Portland, [email protected]
