Normally this year would run from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, the easier run as Rosebud/Eagle would be out of the way while teams were fresh. Between disease and climate change the races are going to be forced to change.

Tomorrow is the first Saturday in February. Normally that would mean the start of the Yukon Quest dogsled race, but not this year.

The border between the Yukon Territory and Alaska is closed due to COVID-19. Vaccinations are in short supply and there is extremely limited medical assistance along the trail. The villages along the trail are populated generally by First Nations, Alaskan Natives and Native Americans. The isolation of these settlements protects them. Transportation along much of the route is limited to dogsleds, snowmobiles, and bush planes during the winter. Communication is primarily via satellite phones and amateur radio operators. The board of directors for the race didn’t believe attempting to run the race was worth the risk.

Rob is about 5 miles from the finish this morning while Olivia is almost 65 miles from Whitehorse.

Olivia arrived and the Red Lantern was extinguished at approximately 10:00PM CST. I can’t give an exact time because the satellite tracker has been saying that she was 365 feet from the finish for a quarter of an hour and she was moving at a speed that would have move her that distance in less than a minute.

Update: the official time is 9:58PM CST.

The Current Standings at 10:00PM CST ( 8:00PM PST):

Finished At Whitehorse
1 Brent Sass (15)
2 Michelle Phillips (11)
3 Cody Strathe (2)
4 Allen Moore (4)
5 Torsten Kohnert (9)
6 Ryne Olson (8)
7 Nora Själin (6)^R
8 Richie Beattie (1)
9 Pat Noddin (13)^R
10 Rob Cooke (12)
11 Olivia Webster (7)^RΦ

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.

Rob and Pat are about 75 miles from the finish this morning while Olivia is almost 25 miles from Braeburn.

The Red Lantern & Olivia are at Braeburn. She can leave at 11:15PM CST.

At 9:45PM CST Rob and Pat are about 40 miles from Whitehorse with Pat in the lead. Rob still has his entire 14 puppy team in harness.

The Current Standings at 9:45PM CST ( 7:45PM PST):

Finished At Whitehorse
1 Brent Sass (15)
2 Michelle Phillips (11)
3 Cody Strathe (2)
4 Allen Moore (4)
5 Torsten Kohnert (9)
6 Ryne Olson (8)
7 Nora Själin (6)^R
8 Richie Beattie (1)
Beyond Braeburn
9 Rob Cooke (12)
10 Pat Noddin (13)^R
At Braeburn
11 Olivia Webster (7)^RΦ

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.

Olivia made it to Carmacks early this morning and is resting. Rob and Pat are about 10 miles from Braeburn with Rob still running all 14 puppies. Nora is about 45 miles from taking the first rookie honors at Whitehorse.

The Current Standings at 5:00PM CST ( 3:00PM PST):

Finished At Whitehorse
1 Brent Sass (15)
2 Michelle Phillips (11)
3 Cody Strathe (2)
4 Allen Moore (4)
5 Torsten Kohnert (9)
6 Ryne Olson (8)
Beyond Braeburn
7 Nora Själin (6)^R
8 Richie Beattie (1)
At Braeburn
9 Rob Cooke (12)
10 Pat Noddin (13)^R
Beyond Carmacks
11 Olivia Webster (7)^RΦ

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.

Cody is almost finished and Olivia and the Red Lantern are resting at Pelly Crossing.

At 5:30PM CST Nora is at Braeburn and Olivia is about a half hour from McCabe Creek.

The Current Standings at 5:30PM CST ( 3:30PM PST):

Finished At Whitehorse
1 Brent Sass (15)
2 Michelle Phillips (11)
3 Cody Strathe (2)
4 Allen Moore (4)
Beyond Braeburn
5 Torsten Kohnert (9)
6 Ryne Olson (8)
At Braeburn
7 Nora Själin (6)^R
Beyond Carmacks
8 Richie Beattie (1)
9 Rob Cooke (12)
10 Pat Noddin (13)^R
Beyond Pelly Crossing
11 Olivia Webster (7)^RΦ

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.

Olivia is making the last climb of the trail while Brent is within 41 miles of the finish. Dawson to Pelly Crossing is over 200 miles with one major and several medium climbs involved. Michelle trails Brent by just under 20 miles.

Brent made it to the finish just before 5PM CST.

There is fresh snow on the trail between Braeburn and Whitehorse.

At 9PM CST Olivia is resting at Stepping Stone while Pat is at McCabe’s Cabin and Michelle finished at Whitehorse.

The Current Standings at 9:00PM CST ( 7:00PM PST):

Finished At Whitehorse
1 Brent Sass (15)
2 Michelle Phillips (11)
Beyond Braeburn
3 Cody Strathe (2)
At Braeburn
4 Allen Moore (4)
5 Torsten Kohnert (9)
Beyond Carmacks
6 Ryne Olson (8)
At Carmacks
7 Nora Själin (6)^R
8 Richie Beattie (1)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
9 Rob Cooke (12)
10 Pat Noddin (13)^R
Beyond Dawson
11 Olivia Webster (7)^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 clicking on the sled dog or selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Michelle and Brent are leap-frogging each other and resting on the trail. She had an hour lead out of Carmacks and the tracker says that he’s within a mile of her now. They have about 150 miles to go to Whitehorse.

At 8PM CST While Brent and Michelle are taking an 8-hour mandatory stop at Braeburn, Olivia is resting at Scroggie Creek, and Nora is about 8 miles from Pelly Crossing.

The Current Standings at 9:30PM CST ( 7:30PM PST):

At Braeburn
1 Brent Sass (15)
2 Michelle Phillips (11)
Beyond Carmacks
3 Cody Strathe (2)
At Carmacks
4 Allen Moore (4)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
5 Torsten Kohnert (9)
6 Ryne Olson (8)
At Pelly Crossing
7 Nora Själin (6)^R
Beyond Dawson
8 Rob Cooke (12)
9 Richie Beattie (1)
10 Pat Noddin (13)^R
11 Olivia Webster (7)^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 clicking on the sled dog or selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Live Tracking shows Michelle at Pelly Crossing with Brent about two hours behind at 10:25AM CST. Dave is set to leave Dawson in a half hour with Chase leaving in the afternoon and Olivia in the evening.

The Canadian Rangers reported an excellent trail out of Dawson, but significant moose activity on the trail to Pelly Crossing.

Brent blew through Pelly Crossing to take the lead back from Michelle who was resting there. Dave Dalton scratched at Dawson because some of his dogs had contracted a stomach virus. Chase Tingle also decided to scratch at Dawson for the “good of his team”. [Dawson has road connections and the dog handlers and truck were there for the 36-hour break.]

The Current Standings at 7:30PM CST ( 5:30PM PST):

Beyond Pelly Crossing
1 Brent Sass (15)
2 Michelle Phillips (11)
At Pelly Crossing
3 Cody Strathe (2)
Beyond Dawson
4 Allen Moore (4)
5 Torsten Kohnert (9)
6 Ryne Olson (8)
7 Nora Själin (6)^R
8 Rob Cooke (12)
9 Richie Beattie (1)
10 Pat Noddin (13)^R
11 Olivia Webster (7)^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 clicking on the sled dog or selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.

Brent and Michelle are approaching Scroggie Creek. Olivia made it to Dawson early this morning, she won’t be leaving until afternoon tomorrow. Allen Moore and Rob Cooke are the only ones still running with all their dogs in harness.

Nora is the last to leave Dawson tonight. Tomorrow Rob and Richie will be out at about 3:20AM CST. Pat gets to leave at around 5:30AM; Dave at 11AM, Chase just after 3PM (the one hour penalty); and Olivia gets back on the trail at 6:45PM. All times CST, Subtract 2 hours for the local time zone.

The Current Standings at 9:15PM CST ( 7:15AM PST):

Beyond Dawson
1 Brent Sass (15)
2 Michelle Phillips (11)
3 Cody Strathe (2)
4 Allen Moore (4)
5 Torsten Kohnert (9)
6 Ryne Olson (8)
7 Nora Själin (6)^R
At Dawson
8 Rob Cooke (12)
9 Richie Beattie (1)
10 Pat Noddin (13)^R
11 Dave Dalton (10)
12 Chase Tingle (14)
13 Olivia Webster (7)^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 clicking on the sled dog or selecting “Yukon Quest” from the Category box on the right sidebar.