Big Beaver Brewing's 'Running of the Wieners' sees record numbers

By Hans Peter

Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

What is the approximate ground-speed velocity of an unladen dachshund?

It doesn’t matter: At Loveland’s seventh annual race hosted by Big Beaver Brewing Company, everyone’s a wiener.

This year’s installment of the Running of the Wieners, a dachshund race, saw a record number of dogs registered Saturday; about 200 dachshunds arrived to scope out the competition, which can be summed up in one word: fierce.

In the hours before the first heat raced across the 75-foot course set up behind Climb Hard Cider’s brewing location on Madison Avenue, wiener dogs stared each other down and smelled each other’s behinds — intimidation made up for leg length.

Meanwhile, owners talked strategy: Peanut butter? Favorite squeaky toys? Special treats? Anything to prompt their pets across the wood-chip racetrack.

“We’ve been training with a ball,” laughed Jamie Herman as she and her husband, John, held their two dachshunds, Harley and Murphy. “This is our first time racing.”

Dogs entered into the races were broken up into heats based on age and breed. According to Big Beaver’s owner, Peter Villeneuve, the event has never had so many heats. He said that seven years ago, he had no clue that wiener dog racing was a coordinated national event when he decided to host a race.

“Originally it was because of our Wonder Wiener Wheat,” he said, referring to the brewery’s Hefeweizen — most of Big Beaver’s tap list includes double entendres for beer names. “Now we’ve got people coming from Nevada, New Mexico, Utah -— everywhere.”

Despite the dreary weekend weather, dachshunds and their owners fired up to motivational music like Europe’s “Final Countdown,” Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust,” and a surprising number of songs specifically about wiener dogs.

Dogs showed differing amounts of gusto as they kicked off the starting line: Some bolted to cheering parents at the other end of the course while others opted to stay close to the starting line, play with the competition, or be distracted by something else entirely.

At one point, a wiener dog made quick work of the race only to wolf down — you guessed it — a hot dog that wasn’t his.

The registration numbers came as a pleasant surprise for Ashley Boothe, marketing manager for the Fort Collins Cat Rescue & Spay/Neuter Clinic. The organization has coordinated with Big Beaver to host the race; proceeds of the event go toward both cat and dog care in Northern Colorado.

Big Beaver’s marketing manager, KatiLyn VanNosdall, said they ran out of iconic “Wonder Wiener” shirts last year, so she ordered plenty extra to keep up with demand.

“They undergo a complete redesign each year,” she said.

She also explained that Climb Hard Cider and Big Beaver are wrapped into the same ownership, using a joint taproom on West Eisenhower Boulevard.

Hans Peter: 970-635-3630, hpeter@reporter-herald.com