Yukon Quest 2017 – Start
The race preliminaries started at Noon CST [10AM PST] with a field of 21. While they are Quest rookies, Jessie Royer and Ed Stielstra are Iditarod veterans. The members of the field planning on competing in the Iditarod should leave the bulk of their equipment in Fairbanks, because there is a lack of snow in the Alaska Range and the racing will probably use the 2015 trail.
The racing begin at 1PM.
Beyond Whitehorse
1 Jessie Royer (1)R
2 Yuka Honda (2)
3 Ben Good (3)R
4 Rob Cooke (4)
5 Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (5)R
6 Jason Campeau (6)
7 Paige Drobny (7)
8 Allen Moore (8)
9 Hugh Neff (9)
10 Gaetan Pierrard (10)
11 Laura Neese (11)
12 Ed Stielstra (12)R
13 Dave Dalton (13)
14 Brent Sass (14)
15 Ryne Olson (15)
16 Brian Wilmshurst (16)
17 Hank DeBruin (17)
18 Ed Hopkins (18)
19 Katherine Keith (19)R
20 Matt Hall (20)
21 Torsten Kohnert (21)
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 clicking on the sled dog or selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.
2 comments
I guess the teams to watch out for is Allen, Brent, & Hugh, as they seem to have dominated the wins in the past several years.
But I have to say, I really enjoy following Jessie Royer. She’s signed up for the Iditarod as well, so she’s got a full plate going this winter. These people are tough. I mean, one race is not enough?
I can’t believe that Yuka is making another odd-year attempt. She has finished even year runs, but the last time she tried the odd year she spent over a day trying to get over Eagle Summit and had to scratch at Mile 101. This is the tough route because of that double climb [Eagle/Rosebud] about 100 miles from Fairbanks. In even years it occurs at the start with everybody fresh, not after more that a week on the trail.
Jessie has to love it to keep doing it. She may be running the Quest because of lousy training conditions elsewhere. Anchorage has snow, but the Alaskan Range didn’t get it.