The Yukon Quest 300, this year from Fairbanks to Circle, started yesterday at 3PM AKST [6PM CST] with 16 teams.

As of 10:30PM CST the standings are:

Beyond Central
1 Aliy Zirkle
2 Chase Tingle
At Central
3 Heidi Sutter
4 Sebastian Schnuelle
5 Amanda Gecas
Beyond Mile 101
6 Laura Allaway
7 Jimmy Lebling
8 Andrew Pace
9 Ryne Olson
At Mile 101
10 Deke Naaktgeboren
11 Simon McLoughlin
Beyond Chena Hot Springs/Two Rivers
12 Jesse Brattrud

Peter Klesper made it to Two Rivers and scratched. Jim Burton returned to Fairbanks and scratched, while Lisa Joinson scratched at Two Rivers. Shaynee Seipke scratched at Mile 101.

The teams from the Yukon Quest and YQ300 will be mixed for a while, as the Quest teams have to pace themselves for about a thousand miles of icy trail.

It’s decision time for the four-hour stop. Brent Sass has chosen Central by blowing through Mile 101, but most will probably rest their teams before scaling Eagle Summit.

If the trail is mostly ice, the descent from the top of Eagle is going to be really nasty, more of an uncontrolled slide with no sure footing for the dogs, and not much control of the sled.

Jean-Denis Britten has scratched at Mile 101. He had already had to drop 2 puppies, so I’m guessing he’s concerned that the team may have health issues. Respiratory illnesses pop up in warm weather, even among dogs.

Standings at 10:30PM CST (7:30PM AKST):

Beyond Central
1 Allen Moore (8)
2 Cody Strathe (10)
3 Dave Dalton (5)
4 Hugh Neff (14)
5 Brent Sass (2)
6 Matt Hall (3)^R
7 John Schandelmeier (17)
8 Ken Anderson (6)
9 Normand Casavant (1)
At Central
10 Mike Ellis (7)
11 Curt Perano (16)^R
12 Torsten Kohnert (13)^R
13 Hank DeBruin (18)
14 Jerry Joinson (4)
15 Brian Wilmshurst (9)
16 Mandy Nauman (11)^R
Beyond Mile 101
17 Tony Angelo (12)^R

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.

It’s Groundhog Day and some of the militant marmots object to being disturbed.

If they were looking for bad weather advice, instead of annoying hibernating rodents, they should just ask the current governor of Georgia. [/snark]