The dogs bolted, paws scrabbling against pavement as they pulled their human companions the way huskies have done throughout the ages — on a sled.
But the sleds used during a demonstration Saturday morning at Winterfest, an annual dog sledding event, held this year at Sugar Hollow Park, had wheels.
Some, like the one ridden by 12-year-old Rylan Brown, were scooters — two-wheeled contraptions with a flat space to stand.
"I love the adrenaline rush you get doing it," Rylan said, after he and rescued husky Hachi made a run. "There's nothing else like it."
Rylan said he has been training Hachi on the scooter-sled for about eight months.
In addition to the dog sledding demo, Winterfest featured a walk for people and their pets to raise money to spay and neuter animals, a working dog demonstration, clogging, pet contests, a pet micro-chipping event and a fundraising spaghetti dinner.
"I just like seeing all the dogs — watching them run and do what they were bred to do," said Marcia Horne, president of the Siberian Husky Assist Rescue, the Bristol-based group that sponsors Winterfest.
Some simply came to watch the festivities.
"I have huskies, and we come out every year to the dog sled race," said Cheryl Rhey of Abingdon, who was watching the sled race with her dog Schroom. "Schroomie; this is his first visit to the event."
She said she adopted Schroom — so named because of the black mushroom-shaped mark on his back — from the husky rescue group, and had brought him to see if she could find any of his litter mates.
Rhey has been rescuing huskies for about 10 years and has four of them at home.
"They're so smart and so intelligent," she said of the breed. "And they (can) reason and they're so bad and I love that."
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