On Thursday, Oct. 15, Liberatore Field in Morgantown will host the City of Morgantown's First Annual Wiener Dog Races. The city is staging the race as part of its 2026 Municipal Government Week, and the rules the city published make clear it is taking the whole thing seriously.
The idea is simple enough. Dachshunds, the low-slung, long-bodied dogs affectionately known as wiener dogs, race off leash down a roughly 50-yard course. The city's official contest rules and registration form lay out a structure that reads less like a casual afternoon and more like a real sporting event. Heats are capped at six dogs each and organized by age group, with separate divisions for senior, adult and puppy wiener dogs. Only the registered dog is allowed in the racing area, and each dog must be handled by two people.
Eligibility is where the city's sense of humor shows through. Competing dogs in the dachshund divisions must actually be dachshunds, though they do not need to be registered or certified by the American Kennel Club or any other organization. Dachshund mixes are barred from the senior, adult and puppy races. But the city also created a catch-all division called the "I Wish I Was a Wiener Dog" race, open to any breed or mix weighing 20 pounds or under. Owners must submit a photo of their dog along with proof of a current license and rabies vaccination, and the city reserves the right to verify a dog's weight and eligibility at check-in. Any dog over the 20-pound limit is out. Judges have the final say on eligibility.
For anyone without a four-legged competitor, the city has built out an afternoon of activities around the racing. There is a costume contest for the pups, and owners can connect with local pet-related organizations. Food trucks and vendors will be on site, along with children's activities. And in a nod to the civic purpose behind the whole week, attendees can step into an interactive "Vote for your Favorite Weenie" polling booth experience, designed to give residents a taste of the voting process ahead of the upcoming election. City staff will also be on hand with information about voter registration, becoming a poll worker, or running for City Council.
That civic thread is the reason the race exists at all. Municipal Government Week is an annual observance, held in Morgantown during the third week of October, meant to highlight the role local government plays in daily life and to recognize the employees, elected officials and volunteers who keep a city running. The Dominion Post reported in 2023 that the city marks the week each year with events like Touch-a-Truck, where students explore fire trucks, police cruisers, bucket trucks, dump trucks and airport snowplows, and a mock city council meeting in which Morgantown High School students role-play as the council and city administration. The tradition stretches beyond Morgantown; as the paper noted, from the steps of the State Capitol to the smallest towns and villages, public servants mark the occasion with ceremonies, information fairs and parades.
For 2026, the city scheduled Municipal Government Week for Oct. 13 through 15, describing it as a series of "educational, interactive, and family-friendly events designed to connect residents with local government and the employees who serve the community every day." Alongside the dog race, the week included a community coloring contest for Monongalia County students in kindergarten through eighth grade, with entries judged in three age divisions and the top three in each division displayed at City Hall and recognized at a future City Council meeting. Entries opened Sept. 14 and were due by 5 p.m. on Oct. 8. A mock city council meeting, with Morgantown High School students taking on the roles of council and administration, rounded out the schedule.
The Wiener Dog Race is the newest addition to that lineup, and it fits the week's mission in a way a coloring contest or a mock council session cannot quite match: it puts residents and city government in the same field, on the same evening, for no other reason than a shared laugh. The city's own framing of the week notes that local government is at its best when it works together with the community, and that residents' voices and participation help shape the future of their community. A polling booth staffed beside a pack of racing dachshunds is one way to make that point land.
Liberatore Field will host the races on Oct. 15. Bring a lawn chair, or bring a wiener dog, or bring both.