Several “races within the race” were decided among the nine mushers who reached the Quest finish line by Wednesday night.
After traveling virtually together for most of the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, Gerry Willomitzer arrived at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday to edge his former mushing mentor William Kleedehn by three minutes.
The pair left within four minutes of each other from Chena Hot Springs around noon Tuesday, and Willomitzer said he never saw Kleedehn, not that he didn’t feel his presence.
“William’s always got a blistering fast run coming in to here (from North Pole) so I knew that, and was looking over my shoulder,” Willomitzer said.
Kleedehn made up all but three minutes of a 23-minute deficit from the North Pole Dog Drop.
Willomitzer placed a personal-best third in 10 days, 12 hours and 9 minutes, and Kleedehn clocked 10:12:12. Both times broke Frank Turner’s 1995 record by more than four hours, but came up well shy of this year’s winner, Lance Mackey, and runner-up Hans Gatt.
Third place pays out $22,000 and fourth earns $14,500, but the pair agreed in Central on Tuesday they’d split their combined winnings.
“We’ve been together since Braeburn, more or less,” Willomitzer said. “We’re just going to cut it down the middle.”
The pair still raced into Fairbanks for bragging rights, though.
Aaron Burmeister and Michelle Phillips had a hotly-contested battle for fifth place, but there was no similar deal.
“I would never do something like that. It’s a race,” said Phillips, who earned $10,500 for sixth place, the best result for a woman since Aliy Zirkle won in 2000.
Phillips finished 37 minutes after Burmeister early Wednesday afternoon, and that race may have gone to the wire were it not for a mishap in Two Rivers that she estimated cost her half an hour.
“There’s so many dog trails there and I fell asleep and I woke up and didn’t see markers for a long time,” Phillips said. “So I stopped then and I just turned around.”
Burmeister had his own scare in Two Rivers when a musher that he thought was Phillips chased him down.
“It was a local team, so I was racing a ghost,” said Burmeister, who finished with eight dogs and as the Quest Rookie of the Year. “But that’s all right, we made it here and the dogs came in in great shape.”
Various problems prevented Burmeister for contending for the win, but passing three teams in the second half pleased him.
“When I got down to a small team … I maintained,” said Burmeister, who will take all eight finishers to the Iditarod starting March 3. “I was picking them off as they were slowing down and having to rest more.”
With 10-year-old Tang in lead, Sebastian Schnuelle followed 53 minutes after Phillips and edged Fairbanks’ Mike Jayne by 35 minutes for seventh place.
“Gerry (Willomitzer) says I should bring a wheelchair for (Tang),” Schnuelle said. “No matter what, I put her in lead and she goes.”
Schnuelle also is signed up for the Iditarod.
“Oh God, don’t remind me,” he said, then jokingly added “I’m looking for a driver for my team so I can weasel my way out.”
Jayne, 25, earned $7,500 for eighth place and looks forward to a vacation in Hawaii. Injuries reduced his team to nine dogs after only 350 miles but he dropped just one the rest of the way.
“So I had to run carefully and not very far until the end here,” Jayne said. “Then I figured I’d just go for it.”
Jayne improved three spots from Dawson City but experienced peaks and valleys that led him to consider scratching.
“It’s like an emotional roller coaster,” said Jayne, who grew north of the Arctic Circle in Chandalar Lake. “Just being tired and cold and hungry.”
Neff was the last to slide into town. Shortly thereafter he retreated to the comfort of his dog truck to soothe his aching feet, then planned to stop in at the Big I bar where a Quest party was underway.
“I’m definitely taking a year off from the Quest,” said Neff, adding he decided “after about the third or fourth day of 50 below straight.”
Neff has started 10 thousand-mile races the last seven years.
“I need to start pacing myself or I’m not going to be able to do this forever,” he said.
The former Fairbanksan chased winner Lance Mackey early on and was third at the midway point in Dawson City. But he finished with only seven dogs and admitted making tactical errors.
“Definitely I would have paced myself better,” said Neff, who now lives in Skagway and Whitehorse. “A lot of the dogs I dropped were due to either injuries sustained from speed and a lot of the other dogs just got tired out. What really led me to falling apart was having to haul dogs.”
Neff’s been a controversial figure in the Quest and his dog care has been questioned in past races. Neff said he’s getting better in that regard.
“The middle of the race the dogs weren’t drinking well. It was hard to get them hydrated,” said Neff. “A lot of my past problems were with feet issues. They had better feet this year, that’s for sure. But there’s always room for improvement.”
Twelve mushers remain on the trail, and seven of them — Dave Dalton, John Schandelmeier, William Hanes, Richie Beattie of Two Rivers, Kelley Griffin, Russ Bybee and Brent Sass of Fairbanks — are expected to reach the finish line today.
Regina Wykoff, Benedikt Beisch and Tom Benson were preparing to leave Central, where the temperature was 43 below, late Wednesday. Kyla Boivin has reached Circle City, reportedly along with withdrawn Quest musher J.T. Hessert. If he finishes, Bob McAlpin of North Pole is virtually assured the Red Lantern. McAlpin left Slaven’s Cabin, 301 miles from Fairbanks, at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Contact staff writer Matias Saari at 459-7591 or msaari@newsminer.com.
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