Connecting Alaska to the World And the World to Alaska
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Another Likely Race to the Finish

Emily Schwing
/
KUAC

Pelly Crossing, YK - Yukon Quest front runners only have a few opportunities ahead of them to make some big moves before they reach the finish line near Whitehorse.  Three teams have either chased or run from each other since they left Dawson City, but they’re all sticking to their own race plans.

Allen Moore’s team came into Pelly Crossing just as they have at every checkpoint: alert and happy.  A sleep deprived Moore was also pleased to see the lights of the community center. “We’re just sticking to a schedule," he says. "It seems to be working out pretty well, they have a lot of energy so hopefully, they’ll have a lot of energy for the next three runs.” Moore says he has been keeping track over the last 200 miles.
“Actually I was.  When I left, we had six leaving Dawson.”

Brent Sass broke his trip from Dawson into two runs. He only stopped in Pelly Crossing long enough to snack his dogs, rifle through his drop bags and grab some hot water. Sass’s team sat patiently, jumping to their feet immediately when he gave the call to go.  “I’m just looking to keep moving forward," he says. " I’m hoping that we’re going to speed up a  little bit and the dogs are going to sense the intensity of the race kind of heating up and we’re going to keep it positive and keep going.”

Sass says he's very excited to still have 13 of his 14 starting dogs running in front of him.

The biggest effort came from Hugh Neff, who only rested for about an hour and a half between Dawson and Pelly Crossing. "The dogs are looking good.  Realistically, I could probably win this race but the way I'm feeling right now and just looking at the big picture in life, there's more than winning races and my health is one of them," he says.

His dogs came in with wagging tails.  But the Tok musher says he’s having back problems and feeling stiff.