The Quest is on in Dawson City -- well, it will be in about a day, at least.
The front runners of the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race have started to make their way to the halfway point of Dawson City, the small Yukon Territory mining community of about 1,300 people. There, mushers take a 36-hour rest before proceeding down the second half of the trail.
First in to Dawson was Brent Sass on Tuesday night. The Eureka musher blazed into the checkpoint at 11 p.m. Tuesday with 13 dogs, a frosty beard and two icicles dripping from his nose. It was the first time Sass, running his eighth quest, had been first to the halfway point, where he collected four-ounces of placer gold -- worth about $5,000 at current prices.
Sass has led since the Trout Creek cabin, 40 miles before the checkpoint of Eagle, when he surprised leaders by passing by the hospitality stop instead of resting. Since then, he's been closely trailed by 2013 Yukon Quest champ Allen Moore, who arrived in Dawson two and a half hours later. Moore was followed and hour and a half later by 2012 champion Hugh Neff.
Sass told reporters he knows his team doesn't have the speed of Neff and Moore, so instead he's focused his training on long, steady runs with less between runs.
He's shown that off this race. Sass ran the 280 miles from Circle to Dawson with only two four-hour stops in between. For comparison, the Copper Basin 300 race requires 18 hours of mandatory rest in the far-shorter race.
Whether it will pay dividends later down the trail remains to be seen. Sass is known for making bold, fast plays near the beginning of the race, only to burn out in the second half.
Allen Moore, in an interview in Dawson, probably said it best.
"The race will begin the next half," he told reporters. "Just like last year."
Fifteen mushers are still on the trail as of Wednesday afternoon, including past champ John Schandelmeier and Iditarod and Quest Veteran Ken Anderson. Sass and the rest of the front group of mushers are scheduled to leave Dawson and resume the race at 11 a.m. Thursday.