DAWSON CITY, Yukon — Frank Turner, the Whitehorse musher who has started all but one Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, scratched from the event Friday for fear his injury-riddled team would not be able to reach the finish line in Fairbanks.
Turner arrived in Dawson City at 4:40 a.m. Thursday in 19th place with 10 dogs and began his 36-hour mandatory layover. But two or three of his remaining dogs weren’t fit to continue, so he pulled out of the 1,000-mile race several hours before his scheduled departure time of 5:10 p.m. Friday.
“I could leave here with seven or eight dogs and I know I could get to Eagle, I know I could get to Circle and I’d get to Central,” said a dejected Turner. “Once I hit Eagle Summit, then I know I’m juiced because I’m not going to be able to get over there.”
Turner also scratched in 1986, 1987, 1994 and 2002 but has finished the race a record 18 times, including a record-setting 1995 run that Lance Mackey is currently on pace to break. He finished no lower than seventh from 1995-2005 except for the 2002 scratch.
Turner didn’t feel he had the horsepower to continue, especially after veterinarians advised him to drop one of his leaders, Carter, in Dawson City.
“So it’s just a question of numbers,” said Turner while filling out paperwork to scratch at the Dawson City checkpoint. “I feel like crying. I feel so disappointed not to be able to go on.”
Turner announced after the 2005 race that he was retiring, then handled for son Saul in 2006 and, newly rejuvenated, decided to return this year.
“What would be the point? The point to go on would be to satisfy other people’s expectations,” said Turner, at 59 the oldest musher in the field. “That’s not good enough for me. That’s not focused on the dogs. That’s focused on something else, people’s opinion of me.”
Though no longer competing with the front pack, Turner’s team was still pulling well into Dawson, as they registered the fifth fastest time of 19 hours and 5 minutes on the 99-mile slog from Stewart River to Dawson City.
“I’m obviously past being highly competitive in this race and that doesn’t matter because I’m so proud of my team and the runs we had in here,”Turner said. “Each one of them was giving me everything that they could. I really respected that.”
Turner suspects his team’s undoing was the fast, hard trail on the Canadian side that caused a rash of tendon, wrist and shoulder injuries.
“The trail is so hard and there’s so much pounding on the dogs,” Turner said. “There’s no cushion on the trail. It’s kind of like running on pavement.”
Reaching the finish line remains one of the Quest’s greatest thrills, and Turner is regretful he won’t taste that again this year.
“All I visualized is just taking my team to Fairbanks and that feeling you get when you cross the finish line that you’ve done it,” said Turner, who said he felt strong physically and did not experience emotional swings on the trail. “And I’m not going to get that.”
Pushing on would have been unfair to his dog team, said Turner.
“It’s never been like finish or die, win or die. That’s never been my motivation,” he said.
Turner is the third musher to scratch this Quest, joining Catherine Pinard and Kiara Adams. J.T. Hessert was withdrawn from the race Thursday but planned to continue along the trail on his own Friday evening.
Contact staff writer Matias Saari at msaari@newsminer.com.
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