Alan Moore wins 2013 Yukon Quest
Wesley Schaefer/Sun Star Contributor
February 19, 2013
After 10 days on the trail of the 2013 Yukon Quest, it was time for a much needed break for Casavant’s dogs on February 12, 2013. Adam Taylor/Sun Star
The 2013 Yukon Quest International Dog Sled Race has official wrapped up and while it wasn’t the 26-second finish of last year it still was an exciting race that had fans all over the world watching. This year Allen Moore of Two Rivers took the first place finish with a time of 8d 19h 39m and 11 dogs. Allen said at the finish that his final run in was perfect and the dogs were happy and knew they were home. This was the first win for Allen Moore, but his kennel, SP Kennels is no stranger to the win. Aliy Zirkle, who also runs for SP Kennels won the Yukon Quest in 2000. Zirkle was the first and only woman to win.
Coming in one hour and 16 minutes later was last year’s champion, Hugh Neff with 9 dogs on the line. Hugh said he was surprised he finished that high in the standings with the young team he had. Neff was the first musher into Dawson Yukon, the halfway point of the race, and as a result also won 4 ounces of Yukon gold. Including this race, Neff has ran the Yukon Quest 13 times.
The weather on the trail was fairly timid as far as the Yukon Quest goes. Many mushers were talking about how warm it was with above zero temperatures through much of the race. This warm weather made for a comfortable run for the mushers, but the dogs prefer it a bit colder.
This race also had an interesting change in the course. After the race had started trail breakers and race officials decided to reroute the course around the 3,420-foot American Summit and decided to follow a route that was flatter and about 50 miles shorter. This decision was made because the summit was impassable and a trail could not be put in. The shorter route caused a shift in the running schedule of the mushers and as an effect the race officials added 4 hours to the mandatory 36 hours in Dawson City. This 40-hour rest was appreciated as it gives the musher a chance to rest the dogs and the handlers can take care of them and repair any broken equipment. Along the rest of the race the mushers are not allowed any outside assistance.
The 2013 race started with 26 mushers with 20 finishing. 5 mushers scratched and one withdrew. The last musher to finish is considered the Red Lantern winner and this year it went to Dyan Bergen of Yellowknife Canada. Dyan finished with a time of 13d 6h 3m and had 8 dogs on the line. Dyan ran most of her race by herself, she said she was okay with this because she mostly trains by herself.
While the 2013 Yukon Quest is over, distance mushing this season is not. The 2013 Iditarod Trail race starts out of Anchorage with a ceremonial start on March 2nd at 10am and with an official restart the following day, March 3rd in Willow at 2p.m.
Here is a complete list of finishing mushers and the places they finished in with their bib numbers.
1. Allen Moore (11)
2. Hugh Neff (4)
3. Brent Sass (18)
4. Jake Berkowitz (20)
5. Scott Smith (23)
6. Markus Ingebretsen (2)
7. Normand Casavant (7)
8. Abbie West (17)
9. Dan Kaduce (15)
10. Susan Rogan (10)
11. Ed Hopkins (25)
12. David Dalton (21)
13. Crispin Studer (26)
14. Denis Tremblay (13)
15. Cody Strathe (5)
16. Darrin Lee (24)
17. Brian Wilmshurst (1)
18. Rob Cooke (3)
19. Matthew Failor (14)
20. Dyan Bergen (19)
Posted by Staff Report
on Feb 19 2013. Filed under News, Sports.
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