A hundred mushers and ten bikers from 11 countries battled frost and snow at a five-day sled dog race in the Czech Republic, which organisers call one of the toughest in Europe. The 23rd year of the Czech Long Trail has attracted mushers from countries across Europe — including Austria, Croatia, Germany the Netherlands and Serbia. Mushers can choose one of two tracks — 300 kilometres with five stages and an elevation topping 9,000 metres or 200 kilometres with four stages and an elevation of 7,000 metres. In Czech, the race is called Sedivackuv long — bearing the name of a dog that strayed and was shot by a local man just before the first edition of the race in 1997.