Q&A with musher Michele Boyd
Although Westbrook has opted not to host an official Winter West festival this year, arguably the most popular event is still coming to the city.
After being postponed and rescheduled twice due to poor winter conditions, sled dog racing is slated to return to Sunset Ridge Golf Links on the weekend of Feb. 6-7.
For each of the past few years, the New England Sled Dog Club has hosted the races during a two-day event. The club’s vice president and musher Michele Boyd looks forward to the Westbrook race each year.
Boyd, 41, began mushing in her late 20s, and mentored for a few years with well-known regional mushers Keith Bryar and Ivan Belliveau. She and her husband, Bill Boyd, then formed their own kennel, Midnight Run Racing Kennel. The couple live in Merrimack, N.H.
When she’s not training her dogs, racing or running the sled dog club, Boyd works full time as a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua, N.H. For the club, Boyd coordinates race schedules, the race purse, insurance, sponsors and more.
The American Journal spoke with Boyd this week about the upcoming races in Westbrook, the dog training process, and weather difficulties.
Q: The New England Sled Dog Club has made it a yearly tradition to host races in Westbrook? What about the city and the course keeps you coming back?
A: The race course is well groomed, technical, with rolling hills. It is a joy to run it. Also having the staff at Sunset Ridge make a timing hut and indoor food and drink facility available to us is a huge bonus. The owners of Sunset Ridge are so welcoming and friendly to all of us. Spectators love watching the races from the porch and balcony. The city of Westbrook donates the race purse, which is a big bonus for us as well. I am also partial to this race as I went to the University of New England, which is just around the block from this race.
Q: Does the course at Sunset Ridge have any unique challenges?
A: The course is pretty technical. You can’t just stand on the runners so to speak. There are lots of turns and rolling hills. It is a fun course to drive a dog team on.
Q: Tell me about the racing formats. You race in the 4-dog event?
A: Our club offers many racing catagories: 3-dog for juniors, 4-dog professional and sportsman, 6-dog professional and sportsman, 8-dog,oOpen/unlimited, skijouring, and a rec category. I race in the 4-dog professional category.
Q: How many dogs do you own? Do they live in your house with you?
A: My kennel has been all over the place size wise from two to 24. We currently have 14 adult dogs and four puppies. My husband, Bill Boyd, races a 6-dog professional team. Emily Golumb, our all-grown-up junior musher, races a 6-dog professional team. She has been racing with us since she was 9, and she is 18 now. We also have a new junior musher who is 14.
Some of our dogs live in the house full time, some come in and out, some live only outdoors. All dogs come inside in crates when it gets really cold – or in the house.
Q: What is the training process like?
A: We train most of the year with the exception of the hottest summer months. During non-training times, our dogs free run in fenced-in areas in our almost 4-acre yard. My husband runs with dogs. I use a four-wheeled training cart to train them. We run light miles late summer and early fall and work up to the mileage that they will be racing in for the winter.
Q: What breeds are your dogs? Are there certain breeds that are born to race?
A: Our dogs are mostly pointer, eurohound, and a small percentage of husky mix.
Yes and no. People choose their mix of dog based on the type of climate they live in and the distance they are racing. People race Alaskans, border collies, pit bull mixes, pointer and hound crosses, just to name a few.
Q: How has the New England Sled Dog Club dealt with the lack of snow so far this winter?
A: We have had to go further north to train our dogs, often hours of driving to train. We have also had to postpone the January races to later dates in February.
Musher Michele Boyd takes a moment to hug her dog, Mr. Twister, during a training session. Boyd, along with many other mushers from the New England Sled Dog Club, will be racing at Sunset Ridge Golf Links in February. 
Michele Boyd races her 4-dog team during a previous race at Sunset Ridge Golf Links in Westbrook. Members of the Westbrook Trail Blazes snowmobile club have been working hard to get the race course ready for February 6-7.
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