Whitehorse Daily Star

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Photo by John Tonin

A LONG STRETCH AHEAD – Hans Gatt and his team take the first steps of the 255-mile Yukon Journey on Wedneday in Pelly Crossing.

Busy day continued long past sunset

Wednesday was a busy Yukon Journey race day, and it continued into the night.

By John Tonin on February 25, 2021

CARMACKS – Wednesday was a busy Yukon Journey race day, and it continued into the night.

Connor McMahon only took an hour of rest at the McCabe Creek time station and was the first into Carmacks at 8:22 p.m.

McMahon left Pelly Crossing with Mako and Grotto in the lead, and he said they were excellent in heading the team into Carmacks.

“They were spectacular, man,” said McMahon. “Especially coming into Carmacks, the trail is a little bit difficult to follow when you are crossing roads and intersections and stuff like that. It was challenging and fun.

“Getting the dogs to see the trail and yeah, it’s a pretty long run for us. They were a little bit tired and not wanting to listen and look too hard, but we got through.”

McMahon said the start of a race is always tough as teams jostle for their spots with lots of passing. After putting McCabe Creek behind him, he said, he enjoyed the run much more.

“It felt really nice to have the trail to myself and be out there alone,” said McMahon. “I was kind of crowded on my first run. Yeah, the second one was beautiful and it was nice to be back in Carmacks.”

In Carmacks, mushers are required to take at least three hours of their mandatory 20-hour rest.

McMahon took 30 minutes in McCabe before continuing through. He planned to take eight hours in Carmacks.

“I’m just making it up as I go,” said McMahon. “It is what the dogs and the trail conditions say.

“In McCabe, I took advantage of having a checkpoint there to change my booties and get a snack.”

If he is the first musher to leave, McMahon said, he wouldn’t bothered if he is the musher to lead and break the next stretch of trail.

“The trail is going to be what it is,” said McMahon. “Any extra energy spent worrying about it is just going to burn me out.”

When he does leave, McMahon said he will be leaving with all 12 dogs on the gangline.

“Everybody on the team is right where I want them to be,” he said.

“This distance is about the average distance of a training run. I could see them working off all the adrenaline from the start line and settling in and getting to work, so I just let them work.”

Hans Gatt was the second musher into Carmacks at 9:25 p.m. Wednesday. Jason Biasetti arrived third at 9:42, with Martine Le Levier only a minute behind.

Ed Hopkins, Nathaniel Hamlyn and Susie Rogan had also all arrived at the checkpoint.

Comments (1)

Up 2 Down 2

No opinion on Feb 25, 2021 at 5:30 pm

Go musher!

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