10 000 examinations in one week

Finnmarksløpet has grown with record pace, and this has made it difficult for the race veterinaries.

Finnmarksløpet continues to grow and grow. More and more dogs plough their way across Finnmark than ever before, and with more dogs in the race, the need for veterinaries is ever stronger. Charlotte Leschbrandt is a veterinary for Finnmarksløpet for the sixth time, and has now a broad experience of being a race veterinary.

2007 is Leschbrandt's first year as the chief veterinary, and she is ready for the challenge. Charlotte lives in Oslo and took her studies in Scotland. She herself was a musher in Alta from 1992 until 1996. - Between 1300 and 1400 dogs must be checked at each checkpoint, says Charlotte. That means a total of around 10000 exaninations during this year's race. The biggest challenge is to get all the examinations done in time. Luckily, there will be more veterinaries on hand this year than previously, with a total of 8 veterinaries to cover both classes of race. Several of the veterinaries have race experience from Finnmarksløpet or from races such as Yukon Quest.

Charlotte is looking forward to crawling around in the straw, checking tired dogs and experiencing a whole week in fantastic surroundings. - This year, we are so many that it looks like we might manage to get some sleep during shifts, the chief veterinary says.