Mushers put pen to paper at a sign-up event in Fairbanks on Saturday, looking to cement their spots in the 2026 Yukon Quest Alaska (YQA).
An ensemble of paperwork, small group conversation and the occasional door prize announcement set the casual but enthusiastic tone at YQA office. A couple dozen people filtered into the log cabin on First Avenue Saturday, among them mushers, race fans, staff and board members. They mingled, standing around merch displays and the snack table or huddled in a cluster of folding chairs, as the glow of an ever-shortening November afternoon spilled in through windows.
Some of the competitors are locals. Some are experienced Quest Alaska mushers. Some are both, like defending champion Jeff Deeter and runner-up Josi Shelley.
Others are neither.
“I’m a fishing guide in the summer, and love running dogs, and living out away from people, and just trying to let dogs have a good time,” said Shane Blumentritt.
Blumentritt lives on the Kenai Peninsula and drove up to Fairbanks for the in-person sign-ups, which marked the first day mushers could enter the 2026 YQA. He’s inked his name on the list of competitors for the marquee event: The 750-mile race. Blumentritt, who’s also signed up for the 2026 Copper Basin 300, is a Quest rookie. He said he thinks the mileage will be a good introduction to a longer race, and that he’s looking forward to competing on the new route – while also trying to exercise caution and have a good time.
“It’s going to be a challenge of learning a new trail at the same time as well as trying to trust my dogs to let them go to what they think they’re capable of, not holding them back too hard,” he said.
The course still won’t go as far as the storied, 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. That’s been on hiatus ever since the Alaska and Canada sides parted ways in 2022.
But at 750 miles, the 2026 Alaska event will feature the longest race distance in the short solo history of the Fairbanks-based nonprofit that organizes the new Quest. And the trail will run along a looped route that covers new terrain and that both starts and finishes in Fairbanks.
The slate of races for 2026 also includes only short- and long-distance races, as opposed to the short, middle and long distances offered in previous years.
Lisa Mackey is the board president for YQA, which is currently without an executive director.
“Different board members, different trail, different race mileage, a lot different this year,” Mackey said.
But it’s that very difference that makes the 2026 YQA similar to its recent predecessors. Counting the upcoming 750-mile event, the Alaska organization’s premier races have covered three different distances, using four different routes, in four years.
In no uncertain terms, Mackey said the board is ready to bring that unpredictability to a halt. She pledged that the variable distance of their signature race is a thing of the past, and they expect whomever they bring on as executive director to commit to the 750-mile race. But she said they don’t plan to hire for the role ahead of the 2026 event.
“So, hopefully, after this year, we can get an executive director that is passionate and driven, that wants to see this race grow and succeed,” she said. “Because the 750 is here to stay. It’s not going anywhere. That’s going to be our race.”
Mackey said she wants that stability to grow the field and make it easier for mushers to plan each year.
She said that, for the 2026 event, the board is hoping for at least 20 teams to hit the trail for the long-distance race when mushers leave the chute in February. YQA staff said Monday afternoon that seven mushers had signed up for the YQA 750 so far. The window for new entries is scheduled to close on Jan. 9. According to the race rules, if there aren’t at least 15 teams signed up by Dec. 19, the YQA “may decide to run a different format” or cancel the race.
Entry fees were $1,000 on Saturday only; the fees are $1,250 from Sunday to Dec. 19, and $1,500 from Dec. 20 to Jan. 9.
Here are the seven mushers who’ve signed up for the 750, according to YQA:
-Shane Blumentritt
-Jason Mackey
-Patrick Mackey
-Jeff Deeter
-Josi Shelley
-Jonah Bacon
-Dereck Starr