Yukon Quest 2013 – Day 3
Hugh is at the Stepping Stones Hospitality Stop on his way to Dawson. This leg is over 200 miles, so changes at the front will have to depend on Live Tracking. Satellites are the most reliable mode of communications in the area. The only ‘grid’ in this area is on maps.
At the temperatures now on the trail, the more teams that run over any section of trail, the worse it becomes. The teams at the back are fighting ruts dug by the runners of the teams ahead of them. If the ruts are deep enough the sled will bottom out.
The Standings at 11PM CST (9PM PST):
Beyond Pelly Crossing
1 Hugh Neff (4)
2 Allen Moore (11)
3 Jake Berkowitz (20)
4 Brent Sass (18)
5 Scott Smith (23)R
6 Kelley Griffin (8)
7 David Dalton (21)
8 Normand Casavant (7)
9 Lance Mackey (6)
10 Susan Rogan (10)R
11 Abbie West (17)
12 Markus Ingebretsen (2)R
13 Cody Strathe (5)R
14 Ed Hopkins (25)
15 Crispin Studer (26)
At Pelly Crossing
16 Denis Tremblay (13)R
17 Brian Wilmshurst (1)
18 Dan Kaduce (15)
Beyond Carmacks
19 Darrin Lee (24)R
20 Rob Cooke (3)R
21 Matthew Failor (14)R
22 Misha Pedersen (16)
23 Dyan Bergen (19)R
At Carmacks
24 Randy MacKenzie (9)R
25 Christina Traverse (12)R
26 Ed Abrahamson (22)
These are the official standings. That means they are official, not that they are correct. Things jump around a lot as people decide to update the standings. This problem is especially bad in the back of the pack, as no one bothers to update those standings when the lead is changing.
The Mushers in bold are former winners of the Yukon Quest, the numbers in parentheses are their Bib numbers, and the small “R” indicates a 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.
2 comments
Wow, it always surprises me the number of people that come out as rookies for the Yukon Quest. I mean, this is the one that’s supposed to be so brutal.
I’m counting 11 out of the 26 above showing rookie status.
I was surprised, also, because this is the toughest run in long distance racing – Whitehorse to Fairbanks. The Even years are easier because you encounter Rosebud and Eagle Summit early in the race when you are alert and fairly rested. That climb up Eagle is always brutal, because the weather can change in a minute. I expect Hugh Neff to have flashbacks to a few years ago when he was certain he was going to die on that mountain.
You notice that Yuka Honda ran the 300 this year. She wants nothing to do with that climb. She finished the Quest going the other way, and doesn’t need to do it again.