At the start of the Yukon Quest's awards banquet last Saturday night, no one seemed to know who Regina Wycoff was.

She had barely finished her run in the race, which was 88 kilometres short of its usual 1,600 km, fewer than 12 hours before dinner was served at the Yukon Convention Centre.

But by the time Wycoff had been called to the stage to receive the Challenge of the North Award, given to the musher who most exemplifies the race's spirit, and the Red Lantern Award for her last-place finish, the room knew who Wycoff was.

Children, and some adults, swarmed her asking for autographs. She was a good sport about it, signing programs and casually saying, 'There you go, young dog mushers.'

Her face was still red with fatigue and almost two weeks of being out in the winter elements. But she still managed to pack away three plates of food at the buffet-style dinner, followed by two pieces of cake.

It wasn't because of lack of food on the trail, though, she said. The volunteers at the checkpoints had fed her well along the way, but she still had managed to work up an appetite on her long rookie run on the Quest.

The recovering alcoholic kicked the habit eight years ago when she started mushing after having a dog with a litter she didn't know what to do with. The puppies became her first sled dog team.

'I gave up an addiction to alcohol for an addiction to dogs,' she told the Star. 'They both cost about the same, but this one is sure healthier.'

Wycoff had a rough start to the race, race marshall Mike McCowan said as he presented her with the Challenge of the North Award.

She had arrived to the food drop in Fairbanks late and had to chase the trucks down to get her bags onboard and to the checkpoints, he said.

She then had her dog truck break down on the way to the Fairbanks starting line on Feb. 11, he said, and had to travel back to her home in Healy, Alaska to get another.

At the race's first banquet in Fairbanks, McCowan said, he told her that after what she'd gone through just to get to the starting chute, 'Scratching (in the race) was not an option.'

Wycoff pushed through the trail, travelling at the back of the pack until the checkpoint in Eagle.

She was the last Quest musher to make it over Eagle Summit in the midst of whiteout and blizzard conditions, and she continued to push on with a positive attitude throughout the race.

Even the storm and the poor trail conditions were an 'experience', she said.

'I did the best I could with what I had,' Wycoff said of her race.

She started the Quest with only 12 dogs rather than the usual 14 due to minor wrist and muscle injuries. She also had to drop a dog with a broken tail in Angel Creek and another in Dawson City after it tore its Achilles tendon on the trail.

In Circle City, she said, even though she was bringing up the rear, she was 'keeping (her) eye on the prize' and was pushing to get out of the Red Lantern position.

And she did, pushing ahead of local musher Kyla Boivin while coming into the Dawson City checkpoint.

She maintained the place throughout of the rest of the race. If Boivin hadn't had to scratch after fighting through severe back pain until Pelly Crossing, Wycoff wouldn't have been last.

But Wycoff said all she really wanted out of the race this year was to finish, and to be honoured with the Red Lantern was 'most excellent.'

After passing Boivin, Wycoff's closest competitor then became Wayne Hall, who won the Red Lantern in 2002.

Arriving into checkpoints and hearing from hosts and volunteers what a 'great guy' Hall is only drove her to try to catch up and try to met the man.

They didn't actually meet until the banquet in Whitehorse.

Hall said the two shared a special bond, because of being at the back of the pack during this year's race and having both won the Red Lantern.

Hall also won the Challenge of the North Award in 2002. He was honoured with the Sportsmanship Award this year.

He added Wycoff's Red Lantern was 'a lot nicer than the one I got.'

Wycoff said she became more and more impressed with her dog team as she worked her way through the course.

The team was just 'boogying' down the trail, said Wycoff.

'I was asking a little bit more of them than I had been,' she said. 'We're all in this together. They were giving me 110 per cent.

'I wish I went to work with that kind of enthusiasm.'

Wycoff works as an equipment operator for the State of Alaska.

She said the only thing she really missed on the trail was having a cup of coffee each morning.

'A lot of things are difficult (on the trail),' she said. 'You're through that, well, then something else comes along.'

Wycoff was involved in the rescue of Quest 300 musher Randy Chappel off of Eagle Summit after he lost his team. She let the competitor ride down the rest of the mountain on her runners.

Also, in Eagle, she waited for Boivin and crossed American Summit with her.

Boivin had been concerned that with her back pain she might not make it over the summit. The veteran musher had also run out of batteries for her headlamp and didn't want to go over the mountain in the dark.

'She's tough. She's got a great attitude,' Wycoff said of her competitor.

When Wycoff accepted her $2,900-plus cheque at Saturday's banquet, she said her first Quest had been 'awesome.'

'There was so much support on the trail and it made it so much easier for me to keep flogging away at it even on those bad days.'

Wycoff reached the finish line in Dawson at 6:39 a.m. last Saturday in 11th place. She completed her rookie year on the Quest in 13 days, 17 hours and 57 minutes.