February 24, 2009
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An Unexpected Championship
Early this morning at Two Rivers Checkpoint, Matias Saari of the Fairbanks News-Miner interviewed Sebastian Schnuelle, who had suddenly and surprisingly gone to the front of the pack in the Yukon Quest.
“It wasn’t even the wildest dream of my mind, I have to say,” Schnuelle said. “You know how I approached this. I said I want to go camping.”Before the start of the race, Saari had published his picks for the top 15 teams in this year’s Quest, and compared his picks with the top 15 picked by KUAC reporter Dan Bross and Lance Mackey, the only musher to win the Quest four times and to win both Quest and Iditarod in the same season (twice in a row). Saari had rated Schnuelle eleventh and both other men rated him seventh.
Schnuelle last night at Twin Bears Camp,
using a screwdriver to loosen a frozen buckle.
Photo credit: Eric Engman Fairbanks News-MinerEveryone expected Sebastian Schnuelle to take it easy on his dogs and save their best effort for the more lucrative Iditarod next month. That is what he did, too, at first. On the way to Carmacks, he got more serious about the race. (More details in Gerry Willomitzer’s profile article today.) He left Central Checkpoint in fourth position, 8 1/2 hours after Hugh Neff and William Kleedehn, and 6 1/2 hours after Jon Little. All three leaders had trouble on their way through the mountains. Additionally, Hugh Neff was penalized for having left the trail and traveled more than 5 miles on a roadway.
Hugh Neff finished a close second, and expressed resentment for the penalty imposed on him by race marshal Grillot. He said he has issues with the way the Quest is run and doesn’t see himself returning without better race organization. That sounds to me a lot like rhetoric heard occasionally from Iditarod old-timer Rick Swenson who bitched and moaned and threatened to quit a few times, but ran in the Iditarod every year from 1976 through 2008, becoming the only 5-time champion. Swenson is registered for the ’09 Iditarod, starting eleven days from now, as are Schnuelle and Neff.
Jon Little finished third, about an hour behind Schnuelle and Neff. Brent Sass is expected in Fairbanks after 5 this evening. Prospective Rookie of the Year Martin Buser will be eligible to leave Two Rivers around 4 this afternoon, expected in Fairbanks before midnight, with Michelle Phillips half an hour or so behind him and William Kleedehn about the same distance behind her.
Newton Marshall is in Central Checkpoint now, in eleventh position. If he pushes hard or someone ahead of him falters, he still has a chance to finish in the top ten.
