Yukon Quest organizers vow sled dog race will go on

"The race will not be canceled," said Tania Simpson, the race's executive director, said Friday. "No way."

Race officials are in a bit of bind, though, because they applied for a key grant from the city of Fairbanks more than a month past the Oct. 31 deadline. Quest board president Andy Anger attributed the mistake to a misunderstanding of the grant's rules.

Quest officials were awarded $20,817 by the Fairbanks City Council's hotel-motel tax committee for this year's race and were counting on a similar amount for February's race.

Last summer, Fairbanks Mayor Terry Strle proposed allowing a handful of organizations to receive funding automatically. That would have eliminated a tedious application process and saved the city money. Strle's proposal, however, was rejected.

Simpson said she was unaware that the measure failed and turned in the application late.

"I can sympathize completely," said City Councilwoman Vivian Stiver. "But the reality is we have denied other groups who have turned in their application late, and we have to say no out of fairness to every other organization."

Discretionary funds committee member Nick Stepovich, a former state representative, agreed.

"I want nothing more than to give the Yukon Quest the money they need to be successful, but in all fairness, we have stated -- quite clearly -- (in) our deadline criteria that it must be submitted to the post by a certain date."

Quest officials will go before the City Council next week, asking it to reverse the denial by the six-member discretionary funds committee.

The budget for the Fairbanks portion of the 1,000-mile race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks is $660,000, Simpson said.

"That $20,000 is vital," Anger said. "It could have a very detrimental effect to not only the Yukon Quest organization but to the winter tourism industry as well."

The Yukon Quest start or finish -- the race changes direction each year -- is one of the premier events on Fairbanks' winter calendar. The city hasn't conducted an economic study, but Simpson said Whitehorse did one several years ago that showed a $1.2 million impact on the much-smaller city.

"It brings in visitors during the race," she said. "We're putting bodies in local hotels and restaurants. It's a significant impact."

If the City Council doesn't reverse the decision, Simpson said the race will approach businesses and individuals for donations to help cover the shortfall.

"The race has a tremendous amount of community support here," she said.

The race's $200,000 purse will not change, Simpson asserted.

But with economic hard times plaguing local donors, Anger said finding another $20,000 could be tough.

Among mushers, the 2009 Quest is proving popular. Just hours before Friday's midnight entry deadline, 39 mushers had signed up, including four Friday; those willing to pay a $500 late-entry fee can wait until Jan. 9.

"We haven't seen a (field) this size since the mid-1980s," Simpson said.

Last year, just 24 mushers started, with 15 finishing.

The price difference in entry fees between the Quest and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race may be one reason for the uptick in interest. Mushers pay just $1,500 to enter the Quest and $4,000 for the Iditarod.

But the Quest purse is smaller too -- the winner earns $35,000 while the Iditarod champion receives a $69,000 check and a new pickup.

The Quest field is headed by two-time Iditarod defending champion Lance Mackey, who's seeking a record fifth-straight Quest victory. He'll be joined by four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser, a Quest rookie, last year's runner-up Ken Anderson of Fairbanks and Jon Little of Kasilof, the fifth-place finisher in 2005.