Photos: Chugiak dryland sled dog races

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Michael Teo placed third in the men's 1-Dog Canicross race during the Chugiak Dog Mushers Association's 2-mile dryland sled dog races in various classes at Beach Lake Park on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014.

Jenni Van Muijen was a mess from head to toe Sunday. Everything she wore was in need of a washing machine, her face was caked with mud and her right shoulder was in pain from the fall she took on Chugiak's Beach Lake trails.

Good chance she'll be back for more.

Van Muijen and teammates Chevy, an Australian shepherd, and Elim, an Alaskan husky, were among the competitors at what is believed to have been Alaska's first dryland sled-dog races.

About two dozen humans and even more dogs participated in the event, which included four kinds of racing --? four-dog carts, two-dog scooters, one- and two-dog bikes (also called bikejoring) and one-dog running (also called canicross).

Van Muijen competed in the two-dog bikejor race, and even though she claimed the red lantern for finishing last in the nine-person field, she couldn't stop smiling when it was over.

"Just seeing how much my dogs love it," she said. "They are so happy, and that makes me happy."

READ MORE: Alaska dogs get taste of dryland racing