Category — Yukon Quest

Hugh has about a three-hour lead for the last 90 miles into Whitehorse, which is not comfortable with Brent and Allen behind you having completed a solid rest.

The Winners are: the nine puppies pulling Hugh Neff from Fairbanks. Brent cut Hugh’s lead in half, but couldn’t make up the last hour and a half. Allen will be in at about 7:30PM CDT.

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

Finished At Whitehorse
1 Hugh Neff (22)
2 Brent Sass (9)
3 Allen Moore (4)
Beyond Braeburn
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
At Braeburn
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
Beyond Carmacks
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
At Carmacks
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Seth Barnes (17)^R
10 Mike Ellis (2)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Luc Tweddell (21)
At Pelly Crossing
13 Laura Neese (1)^R
Beyond Dawson
14 Andrew Pace (18)^R
15 Cody Strathe (14)
16 Paige Drobny (5)
17 Rob Cooke (20)
18 Tore Albrigtsen (11)^R
19 Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (23)^R
20 Gaetan Pierrard (7)^RΦ
[Read more →]

Tony Angelo has been withdrawn by the Race Marshal. Tony didn’t break any rules, but the officials felt they were acting in the best interests of Tony and his puppies. While Tony is officially listed as a rookie, this is his third attempt to complete the race. Tony’s puppies are all AKC registered Siberians.

The leaders (Hugh, Brent & Allen) have arrived for an 8-hour mandatory rest stop at Braeburn before the dash to the finish tomorrow.

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

At Braeburn
1 Hugh Neff (22)
2 Brent Sass (9)
3 Allen Moore (4)
Beyond Carmacks
4 Matt Hall (15)
Beyond Pelly Crossing
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
Beyond Dawson
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Seth Barnes (17)^R
10 Mike Ellis (2)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Laura Neese (1)^R
13 Andrew Pace (18)^R
14 Luc Tweddell (21)
15 Cody Strathe (14)
16 Paige Drobny (5)
17 Rob Cooke (20)
18 Tore Albrigtsen (11)^R
19 Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (23)^R
20 Gaetan Pierrard (7)^R
[Read more →]

Tony Angelo is the last team on the trail to Dawson. Ten teams have already left Dawson and ten are still resting there. Carmacks and Whitehorse are already in the 20s this morning which is warm for sleddogs.

Allen has about a hour lead on Brent which is not significant at this point in the race.

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

Beyond Pelly Crossing
1 Hugh Neff (22)
2 Brent Sass (9)
3 Allen Moore (4)
At Pelly Crossing
4 Matt Hall (15)
Beyond Dawson
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Seth Barnes (17)^R
10 Mike Ellis (2)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Laura Neese (1)^R
13 Andrew Pace (18)^R
[Read more →]

The Yukon provided some snow for the teams to move over, although it wasn’t packed so it slowed things down. Mike Ellis runs a team of Siberian huskies that are always the best looking team on any course. Mike and Sue’s puppies win at dog shows as well as sleddog races.

Hank DeBruin (10) returned to Eagle and scratched with 9 puppies. He has been having problems since Central and was well behind the field, which was not normal for his team.

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

Beyond Dawson
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Hugh Neff (22)
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
At Dawson
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Seth Barnes (17)^R
10 Mike Ellis (2)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Laura Neese (1)^R
13 Andrew Pace (18)^R
14 Luc Tweddell (21)
15 Cody Strathe (14)
16 Paige Drobny (5)
17 Rob Cooke (20)
18 Tore Albrigtsen (11)^R
[Read more →]

Today will be a matter of everyone gathering at Dawson, while tomorrow they’ll dribble back on the trail. It will be a matter of getting a good night’s sleep, fixing equipment, eating a few hot meals, and having a beer or six.

Tony and Hank are the only teams still in Alaska, the other 20 teams are in the Yukon. Tomorrow times will be Central time for me and Pacific for the Yukon.

The Current Standings at 8:00PM CST (5:00PM AKST):

At Dawson
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Hugh Neff (22)
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Seth Barnes (17)^R
10 Mike Ellis (2)
[Read more →]

Brent is about 3 hours from Dawson and an extended rest. He is getting ready to drop down into the valley, so it might not take the full 3 hours.

The Current Standings at 6:00AM CST (3:00AM AKST):

At Dawson
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Hugh Neff (22)
Beyond Eagle
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Seth Barnes (17)^R
9 Andrew Pace (18)^R
10 Yuka Honda (6)
11 Mike Ellis (2)
12 Dave Dalton (8)
[Read more →]

The race took just over 2 days to find a winner, with 16 of 23 starters finishing. This the tougher of the two 300s because of the mountains, Rosebud & Eagle, so two-thirds of the field finishing is really good.

The finishing order was probably:

1 Jessie Holmes (62)
2 Aliy Zirkle (51)
3 Joanna Jagow (54)
4 Ryne Olson (58)
5 Josh Skerritt (72)
6 Shaynee Traska (65)
7 Melissa Stewart (66)
8 Benjamin Good (55)
9 Olaf Thurau (57)
10 Chase Tingle (53)
11 Dr. Joe Carson (60)
12 Tim Muto (67)
13 John Dixon (69)
14 Mary Helwig (59)
15 Maliko Ubl (63)
16 Otto Balogh (52)

No guarantees beyond 10th place.

Hank DeBruin is the only one left at Circle as Brent Sass pulled into Eagle this morning. Hank had a problem with a dog yesterday and it has really slowed him down.

The jumble ice is reported to be really fierce on the rivers this year. The winner may be the team with the strongest sled.

Brent Sass crossed the border into the Yukon just before 10PM CST [7PM AKST]

The Current Standings at 9:30PM CST (6:30PM AKST):

Beyond Eagle
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Hugh Neff (22)
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
Beyond Circle
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Seth Barnes (17)^R
9 Andrew Pace (18)^R
10 Yuka Honda (6)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Mike Ellis (2)
13 Cody Strathe (14)
14 Paige Drobny (5)
15 Luc Tweddell (21)
[Read more →]

Jessie Holmes (62) has won the 300 with Aliy Zirkle (51) coming in second. The manner in which the 300 is reported makes it difficult to rank teams until they have finished.

Rookie Jay Levy scratched at Mile 101 for the well being of her dogs. She is from Durham, North Carolina.

The Current Standings at 7:30 CST (4:30PM AKST):

Beyond Circle
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Hugh Neff (22)
4 Matt Hall (15)
5 Ed Hopkins (3)
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
8 Seth Barnes (17)^R
9 Andrew Pace (18)^R
10 Yuka Honda (6)
11 Dave Dalton (8)
12 Mike Ellis (2)
13 Cody Strathe (14)
14 Paige Drobny (5)
[Read more →]

The 300 starts six hours after the Quest to separate the two races, but the fastest 300 teams, like Aliy, will often pass the slowest Quest teams.

Out of Fairbanks this was the start order, but with a 3 minute separation between teams Aliy is going to spend more than an extra hour at the mandatory stop at at Central.

1 Aliy Zirkle (51)
2 Otto Balogh (52)
3 Chase Tingle (53)
4 Joanna Jagow (54)
5 Benjamin Good (55)
6 Jason Mackey (56)
7 Olaf Thurau (57)
8 Ryne Olson (58)
9 Mary Helwig (59)
10 Dr. Joe Carson (60)
11 Patrick Mackey (61)
12 Jessie Holmes (62)
13 Maliko Ubl (63)
14 Fabian Schmitz (64)
15 Shaynee Traska (65)
16 Melissa Stewart (66)
17 Tim Muto (67)
18 Stephanie Ehlenfeldt (68)
19 John Dixon (69)
20 Lia Amundsen (70)
21 Giordano Tarara (71)
22 Josh Skerritt (72)
23 Meredith Mapes (73)

The former winners have jumped to the front and are climbing Eagle. This is looking like a a slow course. The temperature is cold enough, but there is not enough snow to cushion the trail.

The Current Standings at 7:00PM CST (4:00pM AKST):

Beyond Central
1 Brent Sass (9)
2 Allen Moore (4)
3 Matt Hall (15)
4 Ed Hopkins (3)
5 Hugh Neff (22)
At Central
6 Torsten Kohnert (12)
7 Dave Dalton (8)
8 Yuka Honda (6)
9 Luc Tweddell (21)
10 Cody Strathe (14)
11 Paige Drobny (5)
12 Mike Ellis (2)
13 Rob Cooke (20)
[Read more →]

The race has started, but it is going to be rough because of a lack of snow on the trail and jumble ice on the rivers. It is going to be hard on the sleds, the dogs, and the mushers.

The Current Standings at 8:00PM CST (5:00PM AKST):

1 Laura Neese (1)^R
2 Mike Ellis (2)
3 Ed Hopkins (3)
4 Allen Moore (4)
5 Paige Drobny (5)
6 Yuka Honda (6)
7 Gaetan Pierrard (7)^R
8 Dave Dalton (8)
9 Brent Sass (9)
10 Hank DeBruin (10)
11 Tore Albrigtsen (11)^R
12 Torsten Kohnert (12)
13 Tony Angelo (13)^R
14 Cody Strathe (14)
15 Matt Hall (15)
16 J. Jay Levy (16)^R
17 Seth Barnes (17)^R
18 Andrew Pace (18)^R
19 Tom Frode Johansen (19)^R
20 Rob Cooke (20)
21 Luc Tweddell (21)
22 Hugh Neff (22)
23 Sébastien Dos Santos Borges (23)^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.

Fairbanks 440 feet [134 meters] Start
Two Rivers 1550 feet [472 meters] 72 miles [116 km]
Rosebud Summit 3640 feet [1109 meters]
Mile 101 Steese Highway 2250 feet [686 meters] 42 miles [68 km]
Eagle Summit 3685 feet [1123 meters]
Central 435 feet [133 meters] 33 miles [53 km]
Circle City 597 feet [182 meters] 74 miles [119 km]
Eagle 880 feet [268 meters] 159 miles [256 km]
American Summit 3920 feet [1195 meters]
Dawson City 1050 feet [320 meters] 147 miles [237 km]
King Solomon’s Dome 4002 feet [1220 meters]
Pelly Crossing 1558 feet [475 meters] 202 miles [325 km]
Carmacks 1722 feet [525 meters] 73 miles [117 km]
Braeburn 2326 feet [709 meters] 77 miles [124 km]
Whitehorse 2089 feet [637 meters] 100 miles [161 km] Finish

The total distance is approximately 1000 miles [1600 kilometers]

[Two Rivers is also called Chena Hot Springs.]

[Read more →]