Top to Dog Race slated for Saturday

es and weirdos rocking Hawaiian T-shirts will take to Turner Mountain on Saturday for the annual Top to Dog Race.

The mad scramble starts at 2 p.m. halfway up area skiers’ and snowboarders’ backyard mountain with a hike to the top. Upon ascension, a teammate will be tagged and begin blurring down the mountain through a slalom course to the parking lot below. The next leg calls for a 3.2-mile run down the access road to Pipe Creek Road. The home stretch is a 13-mile bike ride to the Red Dog Saloon.

More than 10 teams —ranging from intrepid individuals to old timers eager to remain involved — signed up for this year’s event, according to organizer Tom Ostrowski, himself a 12-time competitor.

“We have out-of-state teams and even a group from Calgary,” Ostrowski said. “We will probably give the Calgary team an award for farthest trip.”

Reigning champion Ben Bernall, 36, won last year’s race as a one-man show. This time around Bernall will compete with his wife, Shana, and their four-year-old daughter, Zoey, who will ski down the mountain.

“She gets down the hill by herself,” Shana Bernall said of Zoey. “Ben and I have done it together and won in years past.”