EAGLE, Alaska - It was a mostly smooth ride into Eagle for many of the Yukon Quest's mushers.

With the race more than halfway over, the field has begun to distance itself, resulting in some competitors giving up on catching the leaders.

New Hampshire musher Mike Ellis is one of those mushers. His reason is simple: "It's impossible."

Ellis is currently in 11th place and more than a day behind the pack of frontrunners.

Ellis is battling long-time friend and mushing competitor Normand Casavant for 10th.

Casavant, who was born in Quebec, is a rookie in the Quest, but is no stranger to mushing dogs, having more than two decades of experience in the sport.

"Normand's great," Ellis said about his friend. "He's cheery and happy and the whole French Canadian thing throws a little twist into the conversation."

Despite wanting to finish in the top 10, Ellis said he hasn't reached the point of cutting back on rest or pushing his team to achieve that goal.

"I am trying to get to the finish line as best as I can," he said. "The difference between 10 and 11, at this point, is no big deal."

He said right now he and Casavant are merely travelling together, but added that could change as they get closer to the finish line in Fairbanks.

In Eagle, Ellis said both he and Casavant worked out an arrangement that involved leaving Eagle around the same time.

His reasoning was based mostly because the next section of the trail was a little rough with jumble ice and going with Casavant would help provide a bit of a "security blanket."

So far, Casavant has had a very good race, which has him in 10th place.

Not only has Casavant been enjoying a stellar race, but his team has as well.

Sitting comfortably in the Eagle checkpoint on Saturday, Casavant revealed the secret to why his team has had so much energy when arriving at checkpoints.

"I sing to them a lot of songs," he said. "They really love that, so they come happy. That's the only reason."

Casavant, who in front of a group of print and broadcast journalists, was nice enough to sing and explain one of his favourites.

It was a French Canadian folk song that doesn't translate into English very well, but that is never an issue for the canine members on his team.

Coming into Eagle, Casavant's team encountered some excitement when they saw a moose for the first time.

"We saw a big moose today and that was fantastic," he said. "They were going very fast behind the moose, so I let them go and they were happy to see the moose."

Dan Kaduce arrived in Eagle on Friday and left in ninth place.

Kaduce is competing in his fourth Quest and has cracked the top 10 each time.

His top finish came in 2004 when he placed sixth. He is currently in eighth.

Kaduce said the trip to Eagle was awesome, adding he broke it up into three legs, with equal run and equal rest.

"That's what we have been doing the whole race and it seems to be paying off in some speed at this point," he said. "It doesn't put me in the front of the race, but it puts me in a strong team."

He said he hasn't been dwelling on his position.

"I have been trying not to look at the standings too much and just try to keep my dogs fast and run without major incidents."

The only problem Kaduce had on his way to Eagle was briefly losing his team for about 200 metres.

He said it happened going up a hill, after the dogs smelled or reacted to something and gave the sled enough of a jerk, knocking him off. Luckily for Kaduce, the team stopped running and pulled right over after they lost sight of his headlamp.

"If it was training, they would have been gone for 20 miles," he said.