'I kind of thought over was over, but it seems over may not necessarily have to mean over. Time out is good too.'

And with that Frank Turner will be handing in his papers to run in the 2007 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.

Turner is a legend in the 1,600 kilometre race's history. Until this year, he ran in every single Yukon Quest.

He is the only Canadian born musher to ever win the race and he did it in a record time of 10 days, 16 hours, 20 minutes.

The only musher to beat the time is Lance Mackey, who completed this year's brutal and rerouted trail in 10 days, 7 hours, 47 minutes. The total length was 88 km shorter, but arguably the loop back to Dawson City's finish line was far more challenging than the predominantly flat run into Whitehorse.

After running the Quest 21 times, however, Turner decided after 2005's race to finally retire. It was a statement he had made for several years and even this year many speculated he would still put in his name at the last minute.

But he didn't. Instead, Turner's son Saul competed on the trail.

The rookie musher, however, was among five racers who became stranded on at the top 1,105-metre Eagle Summit in blizzard-like conditions and after being rescued by helicopter was forced to withdraw from the race.

Turner says taking the year break was good for him.

'It just wasn't fun for me anymore,' he says. 'I had just been doing them automatically for such a long time.'

Taking a year off has really helped 'recharge the batteries,' says Turner, and he has found his enthusiasm about the race surging.

'I feel like a rookie again,' he laughs.

Turner spent much of the last year 'getting organized' and focusing on his touring business at Muktuk Kennels.

But now with a good, experienced staff at his Alaska Highway property, he says he no longer feels like he has to micromanage the business.

'My world is pretty well organized right now,' says Turner. 'I'm really excited about coming back.'

Turner says he isn't taking his usual training and conditioning routine of his dogs for granted anymore and is looking at a lot of methods with new eyes.

'I've tried to look at things and not just repeat things through habit,' he says.

He's changed feeding options a bit and is training a much younger team. Presently, he is only planning to take three or four veteran dogs with him out on the trail.

Turner, himself, is also becoming a bit of a veteran on the trail - not just in the number of races run.

At 59 years old, he says, 'You've got to accept you can't do things you did 10 years ago. It's working with your limits and just trying to capitalize on your experience.'

Getting older doesn't mean you have to give up doing things, he says, and it isn't necessarily a barrier.

'It's just going full-tilt with what you've got.'

One of the reasons he decided to run this year, is so he wouldn't be sitting around the house being a 'grumpy old man.'

'I didn't want to be in a situation later on saying, I wish I had done that.''

So he is also getting himself physically ready and being more attentive to his nutritional intake and has cut almost all the sugar out of his diet.

'Mentally, I'm just trying to get into the race in the way I approach things. I try to multitask and use my time really well.'

The Quest is all about time management and organization, he says. 'What you do on your Quest doesn't have to be that distant from what you do in your daily life.'

The biggest challenge isn't always the race itself, he adds, it's the six months of training leading into it.

That's where Turner hopes his experience will be worth a lot.

'I'm just going to try to run the best race I can,' he says. 'There's only one person I have to watch out there and it's me. I'm just paying attention to what's in front of me. For me the key is to just pay attention to my team and get the dogs to perform the best way they can.'

Last year's record low turnout and brutal trail conditions nor the increasing of the race's prize purse to $200,000 US had anything to do with the decision to run again, says Turner.

But both were good for the race, he says.

The criticisms of this year have forced the officials to focus more on the mushers and the dogs.

'Recent years, its been so focused on the race, but maybe not so much on the participants. Some times that doesn't make sense.'

A change in approach should help revitalize the event, he says, and the purse increase is a final acknowledgment of the escalating costs of keeping a kennel.

'It was long overdue.'

The winner of the race will now receive $40,000. The amount is $10,000 more than the previous $30,000-award for first place.

Second place will receive $30,000, up from $24,000, while the third finisher will take home $22,000 rather than the previous award of $18,000.

Turner says he hopes his year off to just relax may have allowed him to become a better musher.

'I don't want to make coming out of retirement a habit,' he says. 'I'm just going to take it one at a time. Everything seems to be lining up pretty good for me to run this race. But I'm not looking any way beyond that.'