Friday, February 5, 2016

Yukon Quest Begins!

The Yukon Quest will take off from Fairbanks early tomorrow afternoon Alaska time. The twenty three racers in the 1000 miler will leave first and then those running the 300. I do not yet have a count or start order for the 300 but the main race is now posted on the YQ site and Facebook pages. I am sure the shorter one will be up soon.

Allen Moore--Mr Aliy Zirkle ;-)--will be fourth to start. He is followed by Paige Drobney, one of the ladies I met when I was in the Fairbanks area in 2014. She and her partner, Cody Straith are both racing. He starts somewhat later, I think in the teens. They are going to try to be the first couple to finish both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod in the same year. They are not seriously trying to win but plan to make a good race and to complete it. At least two other women are racing the 1000 miler, Yuka Honda of Japan who ran last year's Iditarod and a new name, at least to me, Linda Neese, who gets to start first.

Everyone agrees this is one tough race with many fewer checkpoints than the Iditarod and a great deal of up and down as they go through several major mountain ranges. The route of both YQ races has been modified some this year. The 300 has cut out a return on a stretch of the Yukon river where these is some very wicked jumbled ice that will be hard on dogs, equipment and mushers. The 1000 mile route is also changed some but I am not aware of the rationale yet. I expect it will be discussed more.

At any rate all the fans are excited and by tomorrow they will all be off and running. You seldom see big clues about who is going to win that soon but by the second or third day a few mushers often scratch out and then the field gets narrower and tighter. Those who really want to win being to apply their strategies and the tough get going!

A few old timers are running this one. I noted Ed Hopkins, Hugh Neff, and Brent Sass, last year's winner. There are racers from Norway, Japan and I believe Spain so as well as the US and Canada so it is truly an international race. Not a lot of mushers opt to do both 1000 milers in the same season but it has been done and one man even won both the same year, Lance Mackey.  I'm not sure if we will see him in the Iditarod this year or not. He was going to retire after the frost bite problems last year but it's hard to get mushers off that sled! He is not running the Quest, at any rate, no surprise.

I wish all the racers a smooth, safe and fun run but of course am rooting for my favorites to come to the finish line first! With mostly a new team--the only veteran in the fourteen dogs Allen is driving is Scout--it's going to be a challenge and a test. We'll see if fine bloodlines and the special SPKennel brand of training pays off. I have a hunch it will and expect to see them in the top five if not better.


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