Race to be fastest dash-hund at Masham ‘Bavarian’ beer fest!

By Graham Chalmers
One of the contestants in the Dachshund Dash at Heck Sausage and Beer Festival.One of the contestants in the Dachshund Dash at Heck Sausage and Beer Festival.
One of the contestants in the Dachshund Dash at Heck Sausage and Beer Festival.

The pitter-patter of little feet will be heard in Masham this Saturday, October 3 - but it’s not what you may think.

The first-ever Dachshund Dash will see a selection of these lovable miniature dogs take part in a sprint race in the grounds of the White Bear Hotel.

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Normally these popular hounds with the short, stubby legs, long snouts and velvety brown smooth skin are happy to trot along as family pets.

But Saturday will see five of the fastest Dachshunds in the county racing at top speed along a 50ft-long course for the glory of receiving the Wiener Winner’s Cup.

The race, which will take place at 2pm, is part of Hecktoberfest, a new collaboration between local sausage makers HECK and Theakston’s Brewery.

This new event is the first of its kind in North Yorkshire and aims to offer the public a flavour of the world’s largest beer festival, Germany’s legendary Oktoberfest - without having to travel quite as far.

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HECK’s Andrew Keeble says “The new festival is a fun and different take on the traditional German ones. With our sausage-making heritage and Theakston’s beer brewing expertise, we thought it would makes the perfect fit. “

Inspired by the annual Bavarian festival, Saturday’s Hecktoberfest will serve up a feast of food and beer and live music between noon and midnight.

Despite all the lederhosen, oompah bands and tasty sausages, the most popular ‘hot dogs’ are likely to be the dachshunds themselves.

Five dogs have been specially selected to follow in the paw prints of other global pups that race to celebrate Oktoberfest across the world, from Melbourne to Munich and, now, Masham.

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The dogs may look a little comic but they are built for speed - their deep chests originally developed to provide increased lung capacity for stamina when hunting prey underground.

For fans of the Rugby World Cup, please note games will be live on the big screen.

For more information and tickets visit www.facebook.com/heckfood

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