Congratulations, Hans Gatt, 2010 Yukon Quest Winner!

What a fun race.  What a great finish, with two of the Quest's legendary competitors dueling it out to the very last day.  From the Dawson City halfway point, Hans Gatt and Lance Mackey, along with Hugh Neff, had taken and given the best each other could throw.  But on the home stretch, Hans pulled away and arrived in Whitehorse 57 minutes ahead of Lance and roughly 2.5 hours ahead of third place Hugh. Thanks, gentlemen, for a week and a half of great fun and exciting racing.

Here's the kicker, sports fans, all three top finishers as scheduled to line up in Anchorage the first Saturday in March for the other 1000 miler, the famed Iditarod.  Several other Quest participants will also enter the Iditarod. The are truly the iron men (and dogs!) of the mushing circuit.

Next up for this race fan is the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, Feb 26-28.  The "Rondy" is a three day Speed and Stamina event that will highlight some of the fastest and fittest canine athletes in the world.  I would love to be there in person, but at least I will get to listen to some of it on the radio, thanks to the World Wide Web.

Yukon Quest Update - We've Got a Race on Our Hands

At the Carmacks checkpoint, with only the Braeburn checkpoint left before Whitehorse and the finish line, a mere 5 minutes separates the first three places held by, Lance Mackey, Hugh Neff and Hans Gatt.  These are three gutsy, savvy mushers and anything is still possible.  This race is a fan's dream come true.  I'm pulling for all three of them. 

Yukon Quest Reaches Halfway Point

The mighty Quest is half over now and the real racing begins.  At the Dawson City checkpoint, Hans Gatt holds a slightly less than three hour lead over second place Lance Mackey and a three hour lead over Hugh Neff.  Folks, these are three mushers who can just plain get it done.  I'm really getting excited now.  Follow the race at www.yukonquest.com

Yukon Quest Begins Today.......Yahoo!

Mushing is a part of me.  I don't/can't participate these days, but training and running sleddogs is never far from my thoughts.  I suppose some people get over hobbies and interests, but this is one I will never shake.  But then again, I don't try.  I love the sport.  And we are in the heart of racing season.  There are a few dryland fun events in the late fall.  The early season races get going in December in those regions with enough snow.  Things heat up in January.  But February and March is where the real muscle is.  Apologies to the very good races that run in January and April, but my favorites, The Yukon Quest, Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, Laconia World Championships, CanAm Crown, Iditarod and Open North American all fall in the Feb/March Window.

Don't get me wrong, there's no such thing as a 'bad' race in my book.  I remember some pretty sloshy, muddy messes back in Scotland and England, but I loved every single one.  Those listed are simply my favorites.

And today, the Yukon Quest begins.  24 teams are slated to leave Fairbanks, AK today with Whitehorse, Yukon Territory as their ultimate destination.  1000 miles of mountains to climb, frozen rivers to navigate and innumerable adventures along the way.  The Quest is a true test of fitness, strategy, stamina, speed and pure pig headedness.  It is not a race I was ever even slightly tempted to consider.  Those people are nuts!  And I love every one of them.

Several good books have been written about the Yukon Quest.  Two of my favorites are "Honest Dogs", by Brian Patrick O'donahue, and "Running North", by Ann Mariah Cook.

You can follow the Quest on the race's official website.  Let the games begin!