February 24, 2009

• I know I said the Yukon Quest would be won last night.

   

  I was not calculating on the mandatory eight hour layover in Two Rivers.  It is about a six hour run from Two Rivers to Fairbanks for the fastest teams.  Sebastian Schnuelle (left), of the wild hair and (usually) wide grin, left Two rivers at 5:02 AM with ten dogs.  Hugh Neff followed at 5:37 with nine.  Jon Little dropped a dog at Two Rivers, departing at 6:00 with eight.

  Brent Sass will be eligible to leave Two Rivers about the time the champion crosses the finish line, followed by Martin Buser (undisputed Rookie of the Year if he doesn’t blow it somehow out on the trail), Michelle Phillips (right, the leading woman in this year’s Quest), and William Kleedehn, who dropped back from the lead into seventh position after his main leader went into heat.

  That leaves three “money” positions.  Two of them are likely to be taken by Dan Kaduce and Warren Palfrey, who are on the trail between Mile 101 and Two Rivers.  The prize for tenth place will probably go to Normand Casavant, Mark Sleighthome, Jamaican musher Newton Marshall, or Colleen Robertia, currently on the trail between Circle City Checkpoint and Mile 101 Dog Drop.

  

  • 1:27 pm
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