Fairbanks, AK - The Yukon Quest International Sled Dog race got underway in Fairbanks Saturday.
18 mushers left the start line headed for Whitehorse. 13 of them are veterans and many of the dogs themselves are also well-experienced when it comes to the Yukon Quest Trail. Despite ice and a hard trail, they had no problem finding their way to the Two Rivers checkpoint.
This is the 14th Yukon Quest for Tok musher Hugh Neff and he’s not the only veteran on his team. Nine-year-old Walter is among the fourteen dogs that left the start line in Fairbanks.
“He’s still - he’s like a puppy in his head.” Neff says this is Walter’s 11th or 12th thousand mile race. Walter won’t be running in lead, but he does have a specific job. “It’s called Rosebud and Eagle Summit," eh says. "Believe me – it can be a little bit dicey this year and I will definitely use him for going up those hills.”
John Schandelmeier is also no rookie to the Quest. He’s run the race 16 times, placed in the top ten 13 times and won the race twice. He has enough experience on the trail to know exactly when to push and when to hold back. “I don’t know how competitive I am," says Schandelmeier. "I can tell you this: I will never run the dogs harder than they can run. So, this race suits that sort of philosophy actually, because you can’t be looking at your competitors. It doesn’t matter how fast I want to go. It only matters how fast the dogs can go and what kind of care I give them.”
70 miles of icy trail to Two Rivers had Eureka mushers and seven-time finsiher Brent Sass riding hard on the brake. “The whole way. My foot hurts," laughs Sass. "You know we got a thousand miles to go, so it’s not time to race quite yet!”
Sass stopped just long enough to load up on methanol for his cooker and straw for his dogs – he planned to camp before climbing over Rosebud Summit.