FAIRBANKS – Three rookies will start the 37th Yukon Quest 1,000 Mile International Sled Dog Race in downtown Fairbanks on Saturday, all with the same goal: just finish.

To a non-expert, that goal might come across as unambitious. But in a race where about one third of the participants drop out each year, for all of them to finish would be defeating the odds.

The Quest, one of two 1,000-mile races in the United States, is often billed as the toughest in the world. While its counterpart, the Iditarod, is more famous, many experts consider it to be the less challenging of the two competitions.

This is because the Iditarod has more than twice as many checkpoints as the Quest and begins in March—the temperatures are warmer and the distances between checkpoints are shorter.

“Basically as a rookie, the thing is to not be competitive,” rookie Olivia Shank-Neff said Tuesday at SunRa Kennel.

“Just go camping and take your time and love on the dogs and make sure they’re really well taken care of.”

Although officially listed as Webster (because that’s the name that appears on her passport), she goes by the surname Shank-Neff.

She is the granddaughter of LeRoy Shank, a former News-Miner pressman and one of the original founders of the 1,000-mile race. She wants to finish the race before he passes.

She’s also married to Hugh Neff, a two-time Quest champion.

“I told her to take six to eight hours at every checkpoint where other mushers will take four or five. She’s in no rush,” Neff said.

Shank-Neff will be making her second Yukon Quest start.

She entered last year and successfully completed the 460 miles between the start in Whitehorse and the Dawson City checkpoint, but was forced to scratch for receiving too much outside assistance.

When the race started in Fairbanks in 2018, she entered and completed the YQ300 — a 300-mile race that follows the Quest’s trail from Fairbanks to Circle — despite having only started mushing a few months prior.

Although the only part of trail she hasn’t seen is the 310 miles between Circle and Dawson City, she says she definitely still feels like a rookie.

She’s only been mushing for two years after all.

“But I still know what I’m doing,” she assured, repeating the phrase three times for emphasis.

Shank-Neff’s dogs also know what they are doing, as most have completed the Quest before with either Neff or other racers. She says having dogs that know the trail is definitely an advantage.

For rookie Pat Noddin, the lack of experience for both himself and his dog team will be the biggest obstacle standing in the way of his reaching Whitehorse. Only one of his dogs has previously completed the Quest.

“I’ve been mushing for six years, which is a good amount of time, but still with something like this I’m very inexperienced,” 29-year-old Noddin said over the phone Monday while taking his team out on a training run.

“And my team, they’re not a puppy team by any means, but they’re still inexperienced as far as 1,000-mile races go, so I think that is going to be a big thing.

“You can tell at the end of some of the long 50- and 60-mile runs that the youngsters, they like to lay down right away before their booties are even off. The older dogs are still on their feet and still look happy and ready to go. They’ve paced themselves the whole way,” Noddin said, explaining the benefits of mature dogs.

Like Shank-Neff, he plans to take plenty of breaks and ample time at checkpoints to ensure his team is rested and well fed.

The Yukon Quest is the race Noddin has had his sights set on since he first started mushing eight years ago.

Noddin is one of five Canadians attempting the race this year.

“The Quest always excited me a little bit more than the Iditarod, and I think it’s because it goes through Canada. So being able to finish in Whitehorse will be really cool,” he said.

Completing this year’s trio of rookies is 31-year-old Nora Själin, of Sweden.

“It’s been many years planning coming here,” Själin said at Wednesday’s Meet the Mushers event, hosted by the Quest at La Quinta Inn and Suites.

Själin, who lives in Norway, began saving money and attempting the Quest’s mandatory 200- and 300-mile qualifying races in Scandinavia three years ago.

In December, she flew with 10 of her dogs from Sweden to Seattle and then Seattle to Fairbanks, where she’s been completing her training.

She’s borrowing three dogs from fellow racer and 2019 Quest champion Brent Sass. The last one she bought from Neff.

“I’ll be broke but happy,” she said laughing, describing what she imagines she’ll feel like if she finishes.

The first of the 19 mushers entering the YQ300 — a 300-mile race that follows the Quest’s trail from Fairbanks to Circle — will start at 3 p.m. Saturday (2 p.m. Yukon time).

The start order for the YQ300 was to be determined at today’s YQ300 musher and handler meeting.

See related coverage.

By Laura Stickells
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner