ASHTON – There’s more to the American Dog Derby this week than highly trained sled dogs and their mushers.

Sure the derby is the oldest sled dog race in the country. Sure it draws dozens of quality dog teams from all over the country competing for cash and the prestige of winning. Sure it’s a race many musher would never miss. And sure, it drawn hundreds of people to Ashton every February to catch the excitement only a hundred yelping, excited dogs can create.

But it also includes many other events that require less commitment in time, money and energy.  Among the events are celebrity and mutt races, weight pulls and kids’ snowshoe races.

For the past three years the derby also has included a growing sport, skijoring.

Skijoring was introduced to the derby by Mindy and Matt Reymann, who took up the sport sort of in lieu of dog team racing after moving to Idaho about eight years ago.

“We always wanted malamutes,” Mindy said. “But you have to work them. Maintaining sled dogs was not an option,” she said.

They enjoyed cross-country skiing. And one thing led to another. Soon the malamutes they bought were pulling them on skis, a kind of skijoring. Through their interest in dog sled racing, they linked up with the dog derby and run the skijoring event.

This year for the first time the skijoring races will be held both Friday and Saturday, with the races starting after the last of the dog sled racers take off each day, about 11 a.m.

The schedule and more information about the full slate of events can be found at www.americandogderby.com.

A musher’s welcome dinner is set for tonight (Thursday) at 6 p.m. at the Ashton Community Center.

This year’s derby will start and end at the Y near the railroad tracks on the north side of Ashton.

Each day dogsled racing starts at 8:30 a.m. with the teams running the longest races starting first and a new team heading out of the starting gate every two minutes.  It’s fast-paced and exciting, with many of the dogs jumping high and yelping, eager to run.

After the skijoring event Friday, a celebrity race will be held at noon.

Friday evening, the Ashton Chamber of Commerce Soup Challenge will determine the best soup cook in the city, with hungry diners paying $2 for a chance to try out the soups and have supper. The event will be held at the Ashton Community Center.

Saturday will be a full day of activities for mushers and the community. After the derby and skijoring races, kids snowshoe races, mutt races and weight pulls will be held, with food venues and souvenirs available.  And wagon rides will be offered to downtown Ashton for shopping and dining.

At 3 p.m., a raffle will be held. The final official event will be the awards ceremony set to begin a half hour after the last musher crosses the finish line at about 4 p.m.