One of my favorite events to follow each year is the Iditarod sled dog race, which will begin on the 3rd of March. One of the best precursors to that event is the Yukon Quest, which got underway last weekend. The YQ is a 1000-mile long race that stretches from Whitehorse, in Canada’s Yukon province, to Fairbanks, Alaska. It generally lasts somewhere between 10 to 15 days and features some of the top mushers in the sport.
A quick look at the current standings shows some very familiar names at the top of the leader board. Lance Mackey is currently out in front, and as a four time winner of both this event and the Iditarod, he is certainly a threat to take the crown once again this year. Mackey is the only man to win both races in a single season as well. Just minutes behind him is veteran musher Hugh Neff, who holds a slim lead over Allen Moore as well, although the live tracking actually shows Mackey and Moore neck and neck at the front of the pack.
The 2012 Yukon Quest is just over three days old at this point, which means there is a lot of racing yet to come. So far, the weather hasn’t been particularly bad and temperatures have been hovering around 15 to 20ºF/-9 to -6ºC, which is down right balmy for the Yukon this time of year. Hopefully conditions will stay good through the end of the race, which will probably be sometime early next week.
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