For any further information, please contact us:

The contact to the race manager:

Pavel Kučera, Nová 303, 38451 Volary, Czech republic, Tel: 00420 602 109 583, E-mail: mueller.kucera@web.de

XI.year of Šedivackův long will take place on 23-27/01/2007 in Deštné in Orlické mountains and will be dedicated to the honour of the International Polar year 2007

Motto of the race 2007: " Let's go towards the polar worlds."

The year 2007 was worldwidely pronounced the "International Polar Year"

The Polar section of the Czech Geographic society decided to organize an art exhibition called "The magic of the polar world". This exhibition will be connected with lots of other important programs and meetings with famous people from the field of science, travellers and the experts on the both Arctic and Antarctic polar world. All the events will take part between 15/11/2006 - 07/01/2007 in Chodovská tvrz in Prague.
The patronage of this event was given to JUDr. Petr Pithart, the first vice-chairman of the Senate of the Czech Republic, RNDr. Libor Ambrozek, the minister of the environment, the Department of Education, Sport and Youth of the Czech Republic, J.E. Jorgen Bojer, the ambassador of Denmark, Austrian Cultural Forum, Czech Geographic society, etc.
Since ancient times people living in the distant lands, where the winter is longer than other seasons, have been using the dog sled to the transport of people and the load. The dog sled has been also used to the exploring of the unknown polar worlds and to reaching of both Poles.
The organizers of Šediváčkův long will take part in the exhibition. They were offered an exhibition space and the possibility to introduce the dog sled, which has always been inseparably connected with the polar worlds, at the exhibition opening on 15/11/2006 and at the following event "Polar day" on 09/12/2006. At the same time there will be a lecture about the dog sled and its use for human being from past till now at the Chodovská tvrz on 08/12/2006.

The dog sled

Since ancient times people living in the distant lands, where the winter is longer than other seasons, have been using the dog sled to the transport of people and the load. For their sled they were using any dogs no matter what race or beauty. The only thing that was important was how the dog worked and how it coped with the bad weather.
At that time there started to be the bets - whose dog will pull the heaviest load, whose dog sled is the fastest. There were lots of sport disciplines coming to our country. In the beginning of the 80's the first excited people started to hitch their dogs to the first prototypes of the sled.
Not all tries were successful but there started to be more fans of this sport. People, or so called "mushers", managed to import the real Nordic race dogs from abroad - the Alaskan malamute and Siberian husky and started to compete with them. And that was the beginning of the sport that we call the dog sledding.

The History of the race

A few years ago a group of dog sledding fans was looking for a region of the Czech Republic that would be suitable for organizing dog sled races. This region had to suit not only in the snow conditions, elevation, profile of the trail but also in the willingness of the local authorities to organize such a long distance race. They found an ideal suitable place for the dog sled race in the Orlické Mountains and in February 1997 organized the experimental "zero" year (later called the "first" year)
One day before the actual start of the race two dogs of Pavel Kučera ran away from him and one of them, Siberian Husky called Šedivák, was shot down at a distant village by a local citizen. In spite of this accident the race started but since then it has always been dedicated to this sad fatal moment and forever named "Šediváčkův Long".
As the time went there have been created two distance trails - 222km and 333km that lead mushers to the mountain ridges same as to the charming Polish side of the mountains. The race is a four-day stage race on the ridges of the Orlické mountains, including one bivouac that traditionally takes place on the meadow behind an old farm house in the village Souvlastí.
The race has always been taking place in the last week of January, which is typical with its freezing weather and plenty of snow. The race itself demands great effort of the organizers, volunteers and could not be organized without the huge help of the sponsors and the local authorities of the villages and the whole region. In the course of time there has been created from a small local race an internationally important event.
When we describe the race we have to use the adjectives such as the longest, the most difficult, the most famous and its name is more and more known among the mushers. In 2004 it was honoured a nomination to the European championship FISTC that also took place in the same year.
In the tenth year of the race took part 64 best mushers from Germany, Austria, Holland, Belgium, France, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. There also took part about 400 Nordic bred dogs - Siberian Husky, Alaskan Malamutes, Greenland dogs, Alaskan Husky, European sled dogs and others. This race catches attention of many visitors of this region; mostly those who want to taste the beauty and the magic of the polar worlds, worlds of freezing weather and the faithful dog helpers.

The adventure on the dog sled, Miroslav Kubeček- Koktejl 2002 text zde

The cooperation with the region

The Šediváčkův Long race takes place on the Czech side of the mountains in the area of towns Deštné v Orlických horách and Orlické Záhoří that both belong to the state administration district Hradec Králové. The organizers cooperate and keep in touch with the region authorities actively. Every year there comes Mr. Helmut Dohnálek- the first deputy district administrator of the Hradec Králové and Mr.Václav Vojtěch- the headmaster of the local school and the leader of the voluntary mountain rescue service to take part in the ceremonial beginning of the race.
Regularly there also comes Mr. Václav Domša- the chairman of the town Deštné v O.h. Another person that cooperates very much with the realization team is Mrs. Ing. Václava Domšová - the lady senator representing the voting region no. 48, whom you can meet actively cheering the mushers on the trail, same as at the closing ceremonial where she gives awards to the winners.
Last year there started the cooperation with the Polish musher club KSPZ Amarok and with the Polish town Duszniki. The organizers prolonged the trail circuit to the Polish area Czarne bagno, where is the spring of the river Orlice, and further more along the river Bystrzyce and back. Thanks to this cooperation it became possible to co-finance the race from the EU sources in the initiative INTERREG IIIA through the Euroregion Glacensis. Unfortunately the Czech organizers did not fulfil all the administration needs and so the money support went only to the Polish side.
In March 2005 the management of the race asked for the financial support for the next year organization and necessary needs at the Hradec Králové district office.