Yukon Sports Report

The second wave of Yukon Quest races, the Yukon Quest 300 and the Yukon Quest 100, are both scheduled to start at 3 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2022, from Shipyards Park in Whitehorse.

It was also a busy day on Feb. 18, with teams going through vet checks for the dogs during the day and wrapping with a mushers meeting and the bib drawing.

The mushers meeting, which was closed to media, also included an update on trail conditions from the Canadian Rangers. The warm weather is generally not ideal for racing and overflow is expected at points along the trail, but the later start time will see teams running in the cooler overnight periods. Forecasts for Feb. 19 in Whitehorse are calling for a high of -2 C and a low of -15 C.

Trail and rest rules

This year’s race features a course similar to typical Quest races beginning in Whitehorse, but differs in checkpoint and time station locations.

From Whitehorse, mushers in both races will begin the race towards Braeburn and the first time station, located 48 miles (78 kilometres) from the start. For mushers in the YQ100, the first time station is a mandatory four-hour stop and also where those teams will serve their respective start time differentials.

After the first time station is the only official checkpoint of the race in Braeburn. For YQ100 mushers this marks the finish line, while YQ300 mushers have six hours of mandatory rest to serve in Braeburn either on the out leg of the race or on the return.

YQ300 mushers will continue on to the Mandanna Lake time station where teams will have access to straw and additional food. At the time station, teams will turn around and begin the second half of the race back to Whitehorse.

Following a second visit to Braeburn, teams will be racing back to Shipyards Park for the finish with a dog drop setup near where the Dawson Overland Trail intersects the Yukon River along the race trail in lieu of the time station.

Mushers in the YQ300 are required a total of 28 hours rest, with teams able to take 22 of those hours along the trail. Mushers are required to track their rest in 30-minute increments and those records are then compared to GPS tracking for additional verification.

This system was in place earlier this month for the YQ350 and YQ200 in Fairbanks, Alaska, with mushers speaking in favour of the ability to rest when and where their teams need it.

Mushers

This year’s YQ300 features nine mushers while the YQ100 has a field of seven.

Three of the mushers racing – Brent Sass, Connor McMahon and Deke Naaktegeboren – are also eligible for the Quest Cup, an additional $5,000 prize for teams that raced in both Alaska and Yukon events this winter.

Following the bib draw, it will be Sebastian Dos Santos Borges starting the YQ300 while Ilana Kingsley will start first in the YQ100.

Teams will leave the starting chute in three minute intervals beginning at 3 p.m., with the last team set to start at 3:48 p.m.

YQ300 mushers	YQ100 mushers
1 Sebastian Dos Santos Borges	21 Ilana Kingsley
2 Brent Sass	22 Jonathan Alsberghe
3 Mayla Hill	23 Martine Le Levier
4 Connor McMahon	24 Nathaniel Hamlyn
5 Paul Hamlyn	25 Katherine Lapointe
6 Aaron Peck	26 Lori Tweddell
7 Deke Naaktegeboren	27 Louve Tweddell
8 Jerry Joinson
9 Michelle Phillips

Vet Check photos