2007 Yukon Quest

DAWSON CITY, Yukon — In eighth place at more than 10 hours off the lead, Aaron Burmeister is nowhere near where he planned to be in the Yukon Quest.

But it could have been much worse.

Burmeister, of Nenana, resuscitated a 4-year-old male name Step just outside Pelly Crossing on Monday afternoon, an ordeal than he estimates cost him six hours but kept the dog alive.

Burmeister was riding his brake as hard as possible down a steep hill when he noticed Step struggling to run down it.

“He was just staggering and by the time I got to the bottom he collapsed,” said Burmeister while smoking a cigarette Thursday on the front steps of the Eldorado Hotel. “There was no vital signs, no heart rate, no breathing. He had swallowed his tongue going down the hill.”

Burmeister pried Step’s mouth open, pulled his tongue back and immediately began CPR, done with dogs by blowing air in through the nose followed by chest pumps.

“It took me a good minute-and-a-half,” said Burmeister, a nine-time Iditarod finisher and Quest rookie. “I did four sets before he even coughed once. After about 10 minutes he was stabilized.”

Burmeister took Step back to Pelly Crossing and left him there before continuing on.

“Right now Step is happy and barking and screaming. The vets told me all his vital signs were good in Pelly,” he said.

The unfortunate part of the story is that Burmeister said he lost two hours going back-and-forth with Step, and another four on the 201-mile run to Dawson City because his run/rest schedule was completely thrown off.

Burmeister, who hoped to contend for the Quest title but is now traveling with just nine dogs, also isn’t in position to try working back the deficit.

“The thing is, I can’t make a push,” said Burmeister, 31. “I can’t gamble with them at this point because I don’t have enough dogs. … So I’m going to have to run conservatively and hopefully let the dogs’ speed pick off teams.”

Burmeister will follow up the Quest journey with another trip on the Iditarod Trail.

“I’m resigned to the fact that we’re not racing here to win right now. We’re racing to get to the finish line and learn as much as we can,” said Burmeister. “It is a bummer but that’s racing.”

The Interior Quintet

Five Interior mushers will leave within 3 hours and 17 minutes of one another early this morning in the ninth through 13th positions.

Most are satisfied where they stand, except for Healy’s Dave Dalton.

Dalton has made the top five three years in a row but is now in 10th place, 13 hours away from a lead he had hoped to contend for.

An aggressive start with long continuous runs from Braeburn to Carmacks and Carmacks to Pelly Crossing took its toll.

“I think I just overran the dogs,” Dalton said Thursday. “I could tell that as soon as I came out of Pelly. They just didn’t have it so I went back to doing shorter runs, longer breaks to try to get their attitude back.”

Dalton faults himself for the dog team’s struggles.

“Right now the dog team’s just not trusting me. It’s going to be tough to see if they can trust me for the second half so mainly I’m just going to maintain where I’m at,” Dalton said.

Starting at 3:53 a.m., seven minutes before Dalton, is Maclaren River’s John Schandelmeier.

Schandelmeier said Thursday he is hoping to follow up the Quest by running the Iditarod in place of wife Zoya DeNure, who is signed up but failed to qualify after scratching in the Quest 300.

At 6:43 a.m., Mike Jayne of Fairbanks leads out a trio of locals that depart within 34 minutes of each other.

Jayne’s promising team experienced foot problems early on (since remedied with medication provided by veterinarians) and other injuries on the hard, fast trail and is left with just eight of 14 dogs.

Therefore, instead of an even run/rest schedule, Jayne was forced to rest his team for eight extra hours.

And like Burmeister, he now can’t afford to risk running too aggressively.

“I’ll go to even rest. I’m just nervous to go to long runs,” said Jayne, whose own feet are blistered from constant pedaling in an effort to help his shorthanded team. “Now I don’t know what to do because if I lose a few more dogs then I’m done.”

Like many mushers do when their plan goes awry, Jayne considered dropping out.

What changed his mind?

“Because I passed like five people coming here,” he said.

Brent Sass of Fairbanks takes off 34 minutes after Jayne.

“I can’t wait to get on down the trail,” said Sass. “I’ve learned so much.”

The most significant improvement for the Quest rookie is packing his sled more economically.

“The packing of my sled has been my biggest hurdle that I need to get over,” said Sass, adding that he’s already shaved 10-15 pounds from the load that he began the trip with.

He’s enjoying the camaraderie and competition with the Fairbanks five. “Eighth place is right there,” said Sass. “You just gotta beat those guys.”

Richie Beattie of Two Rivers follows Sass by two minutes.

Beattie spent Wednesday and Thursday with his dogs and partner Cara Hernandez at their Yukon River Campground site.

“Last year I stayed in the room in the hotel,” Beattie said Thursday at the campsite outfitted with a tarp for the dogs and a tent for the people. “It kind of threw me off a little bit from being in the zone.”

Beattie has stayed focused on dog care, not competition.

“The vets told me I had one of the best-looking teams here as far as hydration, that sort of thing,” said Beattie before taking a brief, luxurious trip to town.

Contact staff writer Matias Saari at msaari@newsminer.com.