newsminer.com

DAWSON CITY — A race for 3rd place — assuming Lance Mackey and Ken Anderson don’t falter — is shaping up between Brent Sass, Michelle Phillips and David Dalton.

Sass, after an epic 16-hour run from the Fortymile River to Dawson City, arrived at 11:55 p.m. Thursday, followed 12 minutes later by Phillips and 99 minutes later by Dalton.

They’ll leave the checkpoint today at 12:43 p.m. (Sass), 1:10 p.m. (Phillips) and 1:40 p.m. (Dalton), an even tighter margin than when they arrived because the difference in start times from Fairbanks is being corrected in Dawson.

“That is shapin’ up to be a pretty good one,” said Dalton, who figures he’ll catch Sass and Phillips when they stop to camp on their first run leaving Dawson.

“I think we’re all watching each other,” Phillips said. “It’s fun to travel with Dave. We stop and have a couple good giggles, which is always fun. It lightens up your race when you’re upset or tired.”

Sass helped offset the 16-hour run in somewhat soft snow — an 11-hour break preceded it — by kicking, poling and running behind the sled to aid his nine-dog team. They were more than willing to go long, maybe because Sass has trained that way this winter in Eureka.

“I gave them a pep talk and asked them if they wanted to go all the way to Dawson,” Sass said Friday. “All they did was respond with yes.”

How they respond after their 36-hour rest remains to be seen, but Sass is looking forward to testing his team against Phillips’ and Dalton’s.

“There’s definitely a race there. It will be fun to see,” Sass said. “It would be great to beat them and get third.”

On another warm day, eight other teams had reached Dawson as of late Friday night. They were Hugh Neff (6:52 a.m.), Kelly Griffin (9:00 a.m.), Jean-denis Britten (11:38 a.m.), Bill Cotter (12:53 p.m.), William Pinkham (2:45 p.m.), Phil Joy (3:58 p.m.), Dan Kaduce (4:16 p.m.) and Mike Ellis (7:25 p.m.).

Cor Guimond (out of Fortymile River at 5:37 p.m.), and Ann Ledwidge and Kyla Boivin (both out of Eagle but not yet to Fortymile) round out the 16 mushers still on the trail.

Mackey and Anderson will be the first to leave Dawson at 1:40 and 1:46 a.m. today, respectively. Mackey said he generally starts slow and expects Anderson, his next-door neighbor, to pass him early in the run, just as he did leaving Eagle.

Mushers were also briefed Friday on trail conditions the rest of the way, and received good news. Canadian Rangers have been working on the route since Jan. 8.

“Last year, we probably had the best Quest trail we’ve ever had,” said John Mitchell, who mushed the 1985 Quest and now heads the Rangers’ trail crew. “This year we have at least as good a trail as last year, and probably better. (But) we can’t control the weather.”

Mushers now embark on a 201-mile section between Dawson and Pelly Crossing that includes the notorious King Solomon’s Dome and the Black Hills but no checkpoints. There is a dog drop 99 miles away at Scroggie Creek, also known as Stewart River.