{"id":5992,"date":"2017-03-18T00:02:46","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T04:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/?p=5992"},"modified":"2017-03-18T00:07:49","modified_gmt":"2017-03-18T04:07:49","slug":"born-to-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/photos\/2017\/03\/18\/born-to-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Born to Run"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI never wanted to be out in the snow, but now I want to be out there all time,\u201d says musher Polly Bray. Everything changed for Polly, 52, of Harrison City, when she discovered that her rescued husky, Rookie, loved to pull people on a sled. That first run was improvised. While watching a dog sled race in Warren, Pa., in 2004, Polly\u2019s husband Bill harnessed up Rookie, sat inside a trash bag on top of blanket, and had the dog pull him down a snow-covered road as Polly ran alongside encouraging Rookie to run. \u201cShe freaked out,\u201d remembers Polly of her first sled dog, now deceased.<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday, with six days left in winter, Polly pulled her converted 4-wheel-drive van \u2014 with a vanity license plate reading \u201cOn-By,\u201d a mushing command, \u2014 into a snowy parking lot in Forbes State Forest. Wind gusts blew snow in swirls as the temperature with wind chill hovered in the teens. Polly and five of her dogs were meeting up with three other mushers.<\/p>\n

Matt Philips, 26, of Shaler had already run his dogs Kaskae, Nike and Sitka once, but was waiting for Bray to arrive. The trails hadn\u2019t yet been groomed and they weren\u2019t ideal for his team. Dew, one of Polly\u2019s dogs, was good at breaking trails. Although the powdery snow made the runs slow, \u201cIt was still a very fun day,\u201d said Philips. He \u201clikes to go really fast,\u201d but adds that \u201csledding is fun in a white winter wonderland. You are at the mercy of your dogs to get back to where you started from.\u201d<\/p>\n

“On the snow, it\u2019s so quiet and peaceful. All you hear is the dog\u2019s breath, their feet on snow and their tags jingling. It\u2019s magical,\u201d says Polly.<\/p>\n

–Rebecca Droke<\/p>\n

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Rebecca Polakovsky of Mt. Pleasant mushes her dog sled team including Cali, left, and Luna, along J.E. Miller Road on Wednesday, March 15, 2017, in Forbes State Forest along the Westmoreland and Somerset County Line. “It’s peaceful to be out with just the dogs. I love how excited the dogs get and how natural [mushing] is for them, ” says Polakovsky, who has been mushing for over two years. (Rebecca Droke\/Post-Gazette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Matt Philips of Shaler harnesses Nike, as his other two dogs, Sitka, back left, and Kaskae, back right, wait. Although all his dogs are huskies, at least partially, Philips says other dog breeds, as long as they are big enough to pull, are good at the sport too. “Some of the best times I’ve seen at races are hound dogs. They can pull like champs. And can run in the warmer temperatures.” Dogs need to be about 30-35 pounds to be able to pull, says Polly Bray. (Rebecca Droke\/Post-Gazette)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/i> In Focus Video<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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