For the first time in a decade, the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race will be increasing its purse.

The 1,200-kilometre race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, Alaska will be upping its pool of prize money by $25,000 US to $150,000 US.

But even though the announcement has been made, the money hasn't actually been raised yet.

'We have to go out and find the money,' Claire Festel, co-chair of the Quest's international council, said this week. 'It just shows our level of commitment.'

The Quest hasn't enriched its purse since 1997.

For the 2007 race, the first-place winner will receive $38,000 US, up from the $30,000 that has been awarded the past 10 years. The second-place finisher will take home $30,000 and the third team to cross the finish line will get $22,000.

The remainder of the pot will be distributed among the remaining 12 spots that make up the top 15 teams in the Quest.

'By focusing on the top five finishers, we hope to encourage more competitive kennels to enter the 2007 Yukon Quest,' said Phil Streeter, chair of the Quest's council.

Overall, though, Festel said the ultimate goal is to attract more mushers to the race. This year saw only 22 mushers at the starting line in Fairbanks and only 11 teams finished the odyssey.

For the last decade, there has been a variety of complaints from mushers about the Quest, she said, but the most consistent is the amount of prize money.

The change is a 20 per cent increase for the Quest, but it still pales in comparison to the Iditarod's purse. On the race from Anchorage to Nome, the first 30 teams finishing the Iditarod share approximately $794,800 US in prize money. Also, any musher completing the race in position 31 and beyond receives $1,049 US.

This year's third-place Quest finisher, William Kleedehn, previously told the Star, after running the race 10 times, for him one of the only real incentives to keep coming back to the Quest is to win some money to pay the bills.

'But there's only about three spots in this Quest race where you could recover enough money where you could go race again next year,' he said.

'All the other mushers there, I don't know how they can afford it. It costs them just as much money to run the race as it does me.'

Three-time Quester Gerry Willomitzer agreed, telling the Star it costs him about $30,000 just to keep a kennel year-round.

The award money given to the top 15 teams doesn't come anywhere near to even being cost recovery, Willomitzer said previously.

'No one in the Yukon makes money running dogs,' he said. 'You're just trying not to be 100 per cent broke in the spring. That's all it is.'

The Quest had hoped to have a larger pot for this year's race, but ended up leaving it at the $125,000 US mark after a major sponsor pulled out.

There have been discussions about hiking the purse for several years, said Festel. But the international council never wanted to make the announcement until it had the money in hand, she said, describing the disappointment and frustration that came with the stagnant amount over the last decade as a vicious cycle.

'Everyone within the organization knew that we needed to move ahead on the issue of prize money,' said Streeter.

By announcing the purse increase early in the pre-race season, it is hoped sponsors, communities along the trail and race enthusiasts will step forward and help in securing the new amount, he said.

'It just has to be done and one way or another it has to work,' said Festel.

She added the council is not yet considering the possibility it may not reach the purse goal. Right now the focus is on securing new sponsors and fundraising planning, she said.

Over the 2006 pre-race season, it had been hoped the raffle of a Hummer on the Canadian side of the Quest would help secure the money needed to boost the purse.

The raffle netted approximately $60,000, said Festel, but the impact of Mother Nature on this year's race has eaten up almost all that money.

'Changes in plans always seem to cost more,' said Festel.

The initial failed ground rescue attempts for the five mushers who got trapped on top of the 1,105-metre Eagle Summit in blizzard-like conditions cost a significant amount of money, said Festel.

The necessity to change the finish-line of the race to Dawson City and relocate the final eight-hour layover to the remote Scroggie Creek checkpoint also meant the Quest had higher costs in supplies, aviation fuel and hotel rooms this year, she said.

Raising the money in time for the Feb. 10, 2007 start date will be a huge undertaking, said Festel, and the race is approaching the challenge from a business perspective.

'These organizations are fully committed to undertaking the financial responsibility for generating the increased revenues necessary to make this happen for our 2007 race,' agreed Streeter.

One goal will be to use the 2007 Canada Winter Games, which will be hosted in Whitehorse in February and March, as a way to generate interest in the race, said Festel.

National media will be setting up in Whitehorse weeks in advance of the Games, said Festel, and the Quest will be using the opportunity to get exposure in the rest of Canada.

Yukoners should be prepared to see the Quest appealing to big sponsors in the South for support as the opening ceremonies of the Games and the run on the trail creeps closer, she said.

'We're definitely out there looking for sponsors,' she said, 'and thinking of ways to get that money.'