Citing financial concerns, five teams have withdrawn from the 2012 Yukon Quest.

The field has now been narrowed from 33 teams to 28.

Judy Currier, Wade Marrs, Becca Moore, Peg Harpham and Colleen Robertia, all residents of Alaska, officially withdrew from the race on Saturday.

Sue Thomas, executive director for the Yukon Quest, said it's a common occurrence that health, finances, or other problematic issues arise before the starting date and teams are forced to back out.

The teams were able to recover $1,000 of their of their initial $1,500 registration fee. The additional $500 is a non-refundable administrative fee that is allocated to cover preemptive expenses, such as straw, fuel, banquet tickets, and "a variety of different things that are cashed out of our pocket,” said Marti Steury, Alaska executive director.

Judy Currier and Peg Harpham have registered for the YQ300, a race that covers the first 300 miles of the Yukon Quest Trail. The YQ300 is recognized as a qualifying event for the Quest and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Despite the shorter distance, the YQ300 still proves to be a challenging race, said Steury, especially when it begins on the Alaskan side.

Steury says they rarely have more than 15 teams register for the race when it begins in Fairbanks, citing that the initial stretch can be brutal.

But when the race begins in Whitehorse, it's not uncommon for the field to top out at 28 teams, the maximum number of racers permitted.

"The Whitehorse side is beautiful 300 miles,” said Steury, "And we usually end up with a waiting list.”

The YQ300 is also a less expensive race to run.

"The entry fee is $700 dollar less, there are less supplies, it takes less time, there's less vehicle driving, and less logistics overall,” said Steury.

Steury was not surprised by the withdrawals, saying that it can be a struggle to cover all the costs.

"It's a tough year for the racers, the people, the big kennels and the small kennels, and the people that don't even have kennels,” she said. "It's not an inexpensive sport.”

Both Thomas and Steury said that it's not uncommon for teams to also withdraw on the food drop, which will happen on Jan. 21. Teams that withdraw on that date will not be offered a refund.

"If there are other teams that end up having to withdraw, and we don't hear from them and they don't do the food drop it's usually a good indication they wont run the race,” said Steury.

With the field now at 28 teams, Steury said the contingent is still large enough to run a strongly competitive race.

"It's a pretty natural part of the process, in the summer when you sign up, you still have months and months of training, fundraising, and if you haven't qualified for all the qualifiers you have a couple of the smaller races you have to run,” said Steury.

"You've got to stay healthy and your dogs have to stay healthy and you have to have the finances to make it all work. Your truck has to work so you can drive it 200 miles, there are so many logistical things that with an adventure of this magnitude and any one of them can become a major stumbling block.”

Steury said she hasn't heard concerns from any other mushers and noted that the teams that have withdrawn had voiced concern earlier in the process.

But despite anticipating the teams may not be able to compete, Stuery said the mushers were visibly disappointed when they formally submitted their withdrawal.

"Dreams are hard to dash,” she said.