Carmacks, YK - Brent Sass and Allen Moore continue to battle it out on their way to Braeburn, the final stop on the Yukon Quest Trail. Overnight the two ran within a quarter mile of each other. This is as close as it gets in a thousand mile sled dog race.
Allen Moore’s team came trotting into Carmacks in the midday sun, with perky ears and upright tails. Moore was still ticking off his runs as he edged closer to Braeburn. “Two more runs," he smiles.
While Moore napped in the checkpoint, Brent Sass stopped just long enough grab more food for his team.
“These things eat a lot of food!” jokes Sass.
Sass says he’s still sticking to his race plan. “This is how it is at the end of all the races," he says. "Your feet hurt, your brain’s tired. But, our spirits are high, their attitudes are great, they’re eating awesome, we’ve been smiling the whole way going five-and-a-half miles an hour.”
He says he’d like to see team move faster, but after following Allen Moore’s tracks for miles, he knows the two teams are moving at a similar pace. “Your brain is pretty focused on that stuff and I was kicking just ahead of his or right on his foot every time, so I know that he was going about the same pace as me.”
As Sass grabbed at snacks, and tied straw to his sled he asked about Allen Moore’s team. Moore remained inside. He says he doesn’t need to look to know what kind of team Sass is running. "When you have 13 dogs, they would be pretty strong or he wouldn’t have them," says Moore.
When he passed through McCabe Creek Dog Drop late Friday night, Sass left behind a broken ski pole. He’d used it to defend his team from a moose. He said it only had one antler. Allen Moore says an incident like that might be what he needs to win the race. "Something has to happen. I’m going to give it all I have and if something does happen, I’m going to be right there,” Moore says.
Teams rest for a mandatory eight hours in Braeburn, before running a final 70- miles stretch. The finish line has been relocated to Takhini hot springs outside Whitehorse due to poor trail conditions and weak river ice.