Short Yukon Quest 2007 Report
Many thanks for your well wishes for my Yukon Quest finish. This is just a short recap of the race, a more detailed report will follow sometime in may. I can sum up the race in one short word: COLD. Actually too cold for my liking. While I write these lines I am in Paxson, we finished cleaning up the house and will be on our way to Anchorage tomorrow to get ready for the Iditarod. The race dogs are already down there and had their blood work and EKG check today and have their official vet check tomorrow.
Back to the Quest. On the campout running from Whitehorse to Braeburn it was about -20°C, rather balmy, but than the next night north of Carmacks would already dip down to 35°C below which was just the beginning of the cold to come, peaking at minus 57°C in Circle. By that time I had my fill of being tired and cold and wanted to pull out of the race. A phone call with Libby mellowed me out a bit and I decided to keep on running in the daylight hours, resulting in a 16 hr stay in the little village on the shores of the Yukon River. There were many nice moments on the race one of the nicest was meeting Carl Cokrine who lives on Birch Creek between Circle and Central. In past races my schedule never allowed a stop there, but at 50 below my arm did not need to be twisted to pull over for a few hours. When I left to go back on the trail, it was 40 below at 1 p.m. in the heat of the day. Carl has lived on Birch Creek for the past 37 years, build his cabin by himself with hand tools only. I used to enjoy cold and clear nights, but have to admit that after this race my outlook on those has changed and I see more of the danger in them. At 50 below just changing your gloves or getting something out of your sled bag have to be carefully thought about and weighed if it is worth while the danger of freezing.
The dogs came through the adventure amazingly well. Nobody did get any frostbite. I ran the second run to Braeburn a bit too fast and should have to pay for that for the remainder of the race. I have never finished with a small team, 8 dogs, before. I dropped Gas in Carmacks, Par in Dawson, Franky in Eagle, Callie in Slavens, Inuk in Circle and Roadstreak in North Pole. With me at the finish line were: Tang and Herring in lead, Nemo and Popcorn, Saffron and Skunk, Austin and Diesel. 4 of my “old faithful buddies“ and 4 dogs who had not finished a 1000 miler with me before. The dogs looked great at the finish, as I took some longer breaks toward the end of the race. Good old Tang made it once again. Gerry Willomitzer who was waiting at the finish line sarcastically told me: Geez Tang is here again, better get her a wheel chair. Well maybe she will kick his butt in the Iditarod.
It was nice to have some friends wait at the finish line. The 11 hour run from Chena Hot Springs to Fairbanks seemed very long, and I was glad for the race to be over and to get into the warm, yeahhh, warm and sleep. Finishing 7th did not reach my goal of top 5, but I was glad to have finished at all. The Finishing Banquet had 2 nice surprises in store for me, the vet´s awarded me the Veterinarians Choice award and my fellow mushers the Sportsmanship award. For the later there was a reason, as once I had my team up Eagle Summit, I went back down the steep slope (sliding on my pants like a little kid) to help 3 more teams to the top. But more about that and other adventures on my detailed race report, which will follow sometime in April when the snow has melted. Have fun following the Iditarod on the PC, and stay warm….
Cheers Sebastian
Sab
