One of the men credited with founding the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog race has died.
A post on the Yukon Quest Facebook page Sunday said, “We’re incredibly saddened to learn of the passing of Yukon Quest co-founder LeRoy Shank. LeRoy has made such a profound impact on mushing and will be greatly missed.”
According to Yukon Quest history, Shank and friend Roger Williams launched the first running of the thousand-mile race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse in February 1984.
At 79 years old, and sick with Parkinson’s disease, Shank followed his granddaughter Olivia Shank Neff along the Quest trail this past February and saw her finish the race he helped start.
