They’re Off!
The teams started leaving at 2PM CST [11AM AKST] with 3 minute intervals between teams. Kurt Reich (8)R was a no-show, but no one is sure why at this point.
The initial order is:
1 Allen Moore (1)
2 Kristy Berington (2)I
3 Sonny Lindner (3)
4 David Dalton (4)
5 Misha Pedersen (5)R
6 Hugh Neff (6)
7 Kyla Durham (7)
8 Jason Weitzel (9)R
9 Brent Sass (10)
10 Brian Wilmshurst (11)R
11 Paige Drobny (12)R
12 Jake Berkowitz (13)R
13 Nikolay Ettyne (14)R
14 Marcelle Fressineau (15)R
15 Lance Mackey (16)
16 Joar Leifseth Ulsom (17)R
17 Mike Ellis (18)
18 Yuka Honda (19)R
19 Gus Guenther (20)R
20 Abbie West (21)
21 Trent Herbst (22)I
22 Maren Bradley (23)R
23 Michael Telpin (24)R
It will be several hours before anyone reaches the first checkpoint but you can follow them with GPS tracking using the ‘Live Tracking’ link in the Quest area of my right sidebar.
The Quest 300 will start later this evening with 9 teams. The 300 miles of this race in even years from Fairbanks is over the worst of the Quest’s trail, ending at Circle. That reality and the bad economy are really keeping participation down. Providing 14 dogs with an of 12,000 calories of food apiece every day on the trail really adds up.
Update below the fold:
This is the order of arrival at Chena Hot Springs:
1 Sonny Lindner (3)
2 Kristy Berington (2)I
3 Hugh Neff (6)
4 David Dalton (4)
5 Lance Mackey (16)
6 Gus Guenther (20)R
7 Jake Berkowitz (13)R
8 Marcelle Fressineau (15)R
9 Nikolay Ettyne (14)R
There are different strategies for the race, and the veterans up front tend to have quick times and long rests, while others stick to a schedule that remains unchanged through the race.
The rookies will lose all of the time they think they gained when they have to climb Rosebud with teams that were allowed to go too fast at the start.
The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, the small “I” indicates a Quest rookie who has competed in the Iditarod, and the small “R” indicates a total rookie.
Note: This post will be updated during the day, and the map changed on all posts to reflect the current situation.
All posts on the Yukon Quest can be seen by selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.
