BRAEBURN – Nathaniel Hamlyn has won the 2022 Yukon Quest 100.

The 100-mile race began at 3:30 Saturday afternoon, running from Whitehorse to Braeburn.

Seven mushers were entered in the race.

Hamlyn crossed the finish line at 5:39 Sunday morning with all 10 dogs.

Ilana Kingsley, 54, was racing in her first Quest. She came in third in the 100 at 9:01 Sunday morning with nine dogs.

“It was awesome. The overflow was very exciting, on the Yukon River. I was up to my knees. The dogs were swimming.”

Kingsley said the trail was pretty bad in some spots.

“I think the other teams that went through probably made it worse for us. My sled kept on getting stuck in it, so then I would step down and then it would just go to my knee and – try to get out of it.

“We made it, through. I’ve never done a race with these dogs before, so I’m really totally impressed that they dealt with the overflow like this. It was amazing,” Kingsley added.

“And then the Overland Trail was quite bumpy, and the best trail was the Braeburn Trail, from the lake up to here. It was fun, it was smooth, it was nice.”

Kingsley said the race didn’t seem too long to her.

“It wasn’t bad. I’ve done 100’s before, and I was really tired, but I don’t know, maybe because I’m older now, I don’t get tired. I haven’t slept; I’m not tired at all.”

Kingsley said her dogs are “awesome.

“They’re amazing. I was worried about the mileage, because we don’t have good trails where we live and the longest run I’ve done is 60 miles with a four-hour-run, four-hour-rest, four-hour-run, so I was kind of worried about this, but they did great.

“But Martine (Le Levier) and Nathaniel (Hamlyn) had given me some pointers before like, ‘don’t feed them as much’ as I was gonna bring, so I ditched half my food, and that worked.

“It made it lighter, and then one thing Martine had said is that ‘if you feed them every hour, they’re gonna have that food in their stomach, and they won’t be able to digest it,’ so I didn’t snack them as much as I usually do. I think that helped a lot.”

Kingsley said it was a great race overall.

“There weren’t any Northern Lights ... the stars came out for a little bit and then the moon was out. It was very cloudy.

“I was sweating. I was hot. I wasn’t sure at first if I was either sweating or wet from the overflow. It was hard to tell,” she added.

Kingsley explained why she was finally racing her first Quest.

“I signed up for the 300 twice and I never made it to the start because I didn’t feel confident, so this is great. A really well-organized race compared to the ones I’m used to.”

As far as tackling the Quest 300, “I would do it – I think I need a mentor. But I need more dogs, and I need to know the trails in Whitehorse, like, where do people train to do that, because I don’t really know.

“I did the Copper Basin (300) in 2014, but then we moved to Ontario. I’ve done tours, races in Alaska ... so I’ve been racing, but this is my first race since 2014. So I was kind of nervous.”

Kingsley added, “my dogs were awesome. They were just wonderful. I didn’t switch my leaders out. They just ran and they were great.”

Martine Le Levier finished the YQ100 in second place at 5:41 Sunday morning with 10 dogs.

The twin sister act, Louve and Lori Tweddell, followed Kingsley, with Louve crossing the line in fourth at 9:04 Sunday morning, followed by Lori in fifth at 9:06, both with 10 dogs.

The last-place finisher was Johnathan Alsberghe, a 37-year-old native of France, whose “Fluffy Team” (his kennel name) finally made it in at 1:35 p.m. Sunday with eight dogs.

“It was magical,” exclaimed Alsberghe.

“We got a bit of ‘slightly humid conditions,’ he laughed.

“I was glad I did put everything in dry bags. Very glad. I just got one foot wet, which is good, but other than that, it was beautiful. Got a beautiful sunset last night.

“We saw the moon after that coming up. It was long to arrive (at the time station) and I was tired.

“But the weather was great. And (Sunday) morning the Fluffies were in top shape. I got a beautiful sunrise on the mountains, the moon coming down the other way – it was beautiful ... that was great.”

Alsberghe said the trail was better than expected.

“I was thinking it would be way worse than that ... there was maybe 600 metres knee-deep, but that’s it ... I was ready for swimming!” he laughed again. “I didn’t.”

Alsberghe said the “Fluffies” were doing well.

“They are done now, but they did great. That was the first time long-distance like that for them, like on the racing mode, but I just did like I was going for a camping trip with them, so that’s it.

“They didn’t sleep much, they didn’t rest in bed very long,” he laughed again.

Alsberghe added, “I just wanted to do that and that’s enough. For me, that’s enough, 100 miles, and for them, that’s enough.”

“I don’t want to do two (hundred) more, I’m thinking next year, I would do the 300, but, no, I won’t. I don’t have enough dogs.

“More would have been too much for them. They arrived happy – that’s what I wanted. Mission accomplished.”