A little analysis from a distance
It’s down to the wire for Lance Mackey and Ken Anderson in the 2008 Yukon Quest International.
Once the big news “blackout” between Dawson City and Pelly Crossing was over, word began leaking out about lost trail and the obvious duel between reigning three-time champion Mackey and Anderson in the suddenly sweltering 2008 Yukon Quest.
The Quest web site began posting word that Mackey had missed a critical turn way back at King Solomon’s Dome, which is the first hurdle mushers faced leaving Dawson City. That misstep cost him several hours. Word is, he lost more than three hours.
Anderson told checkers at Pelly Crossing that Mackey made up the difference by camping four and a half hours, compared to Anderson’s seven hours, on the long run down to Scroggie Creek, about 100 miles from Dawson.
I’m sure Mackey’s gaffe will be fleshed out as reporters descend on the two front-runners who finally pulled up to rest their dogs at Carmacks, just 177 miles from the finish in Whitehorse, Yukon Territories.
The two leaders had arrived at Carmacks at virtually the same time, 10:40 a.m. Yukon time, and were parked as I wrote this. (No, there is no official news blackout leaving Dawson, but it is so remote that everybody just has to wait for news until mushers arrive in Pelly Crossing.)
That night-long run across the Yukon will be Mackey and Anderson’s big push. Given the relatively short distance to the finish, there’s no more room for leaving the other guy behind, short of one of the two pulling out after a three-hour break to position himself for a win. That would be doubtful, but not inconceivable, after traveling roughly 14 hours from Stepping Stone in Mackey’s case, or a little longer than than from somewhere before Stepping Stone for Anderson.
Their timing is still very smart. They ran through the “cool” of the night and allowed their dogs to nap in the hottest part of the day. Temperatures were hovering right around freezing, which is hot for sled dogs, all through the night. The same system affecting the Quest has warmed upSouthcentral Alaska, which is suddenly posting temperatures in the mid-30s. (It is forecast to last out the week, then cool off just a little, hopefully in time for the start of the Iditarod.)
Last year, Mackey was able to back off in the second half of the Quest and cruise to a win, which allowed him the option of taking most of the same dogs in the Iditarod. Has Anderson forced Mackey to race harder than he would like this time around, and has that reduced the chance of Mackey running the same dogs in Iditarod? The same question goes for Anderson, who wanted to run the Quest as a bit of a tune-up for the Iditarod.
Mackey has said he has an Iditarod team ready in the wings, and he has been pumped about how well his handlers back home were keeping those charges fit and focused.
Meanwhile, the race for first boils down to a simple and relatively flat 77-mile run to Braeburn, where all mushers must take a mandatory eight-hour rest. From there, they run 100 miles straight to the finish in Whitehorse. There will be no camping on the trail for these two. They’ll run straight to Braeburn, and then make the 100-mile push to the finish over well-established and probably easy trail.
In the hunt for third place, it’s still between three teams. But Michelle Phillips appears to be rising to the front of that pack, which includes David Dalton and Brent Sass.