Dawson City, YK - Eureka musher Brent Sass was the first musher into Dawson City. When he arrived he was covered in frost. His mustache was caked with ice. He told a small crowd he was ready for the mandatory 36 hour layover all teams are required to take at the halfway point in the race. “Yeah we all are," he smiled. "I’ve been saying to them: 36 hours of straw guys, 36 hours of straw. That was our chant for the last like two hours.”
The Eureka musher ran the roughly 100 mile stretch between Eagle and Dawson in a straight shot. He says he was looking over his shoulder for Allen Moore on his way down the Yukon River. “I don’t know the whole way. My neck is really sore, let’s just put it that way," he laughed. "I thought for sure he was going to catch us.”
When they arrived his swing and wheel dogs jumped in harness. The leaders were tired, but Sass says he was the weakest link on the team. “The dogs definitely kept me going on this last 20 miles into here. They kept their positive energy going," he said. "My legs are completely shot. I’m cramped up and I was juts standing there.” He attributed If Sass finishes the race, he will claim four ounces of placer gold.