No doubt many long distance mushing fans quenched their insatiable thirst for stories from the trail and at the same time honed their musher tracking skills by following the Yukon Quest in February as they await the start of Iditarod XLVI on March 3rd. The Iditarod and Quest are the longest sled dog races on the North American continent, each covering roughly 1,000 miles.
Allen Moore Ceremonial Start 2016
Who’s in for the Distance Double in 2018? Yes there are mushers who run both races with virtually the same dog team. A few years back it was generally agreed that a musher and dog team couldn’t do well in both race in the same year. Then Lance Mackey blew that theory off the trail. In 2007 Mackey won the Quest then 4 weeks later, with thirteen of the same dogs on his sixteen-dog Iditarod team scored his first Iditarod victory. Most people considered Mackey’s feat of claiming gold in the two races in 2007 a fluke.
Lance went on to triumph in both races again in 2008. If once wasn’t enough to prove the athleticism and endurance capacity of the sled dog, twice pretty much sealed the fact. In 2009 Mackey sat out the Quest but won the Iditarod. In 2010 he captured silver in the Quest and gold in the Iditarod. Lance is the only musher to win four back-to-back Quest races (2005 – 2008) and four back-to-back Iditarod races (2007 – 2010). Sled dogs are incredible athletes and that might be a drastic understatement. To say they are the greatest athletes on earth would be closer to the truth.
Getting back to the original question, who’s in for the Distance Double in 2018? Six names are common to the rosters of both races. Three are former Quest Champions – Matt Hall (defending 2017), Hugh Neff (2016 & 2012) and Allen Moore (2013 and 2014). Quest and Iditarod veterans Jason Campeau, Katherine Keith and Rob Cooke round out the list. Of the group, Matt Hall is the new comer to Iditarod.
There’s another category of Distance Doublers that’s interesting to watch. Squid Acres musher Paige Drobny was a Quest contestant. In March, husband and kennel partner Cody Strathe will take the Squid Acres athletes to Nome. The same was true in 2015 but it was Strathe in the Quest and Drobny in Iditarod. At the Iditarod start in Fairbanks, Paige reported that 13 of the 16 dogs in her Iditarod team had been on the Quest trail with Cody.
SP Kennel somewhat falls into that category. Allen Moore runs the racers from SP Kennel between Fairbanks and Whitehorse or vice-versa then Aliy Zirkle takes the racers to Nome. Moore then runs the kennel “B” team in Iditarod. Fans might remember that back in 2016 Aliy received Iditarod’s Humanitarian award at the Finishers Banquet in Nome. She was quick to credit Allen saying the condition of the dogs at the end of the race is largely a reflection of the condition of the dogs at the start of the race. Moore had just completed the Quest in 3rd place and had handed Aliy a team of eager, fast, fit athletes for Iditarod. She called Allen to the stage to accept the award with her.
Iditarod XLVI contestants who finished the Quest during the week of Valentines Day include Allen Moore, Matt Hall and Rob Cook. Jason Campeau, Katherine Keith and Hugh Neff scratched or withdrew from the Quest for a variety of reasons. As this story is written, all still plan to compete in the Iditarod.
Allen Moore claimed his third Quest victory and did so with all 14 of his dogs still in harness. When asked how he managed such a feat, Moore said if he knew, he’d do it all the time. He said the trail was good and the weather was cold. Temperatures in the Quest ranged for 30 below to 30 above. Knowing how to manage in the cold weather is definitely a big part of his successful strategy. Moore said he plans to return to the Quest next year to try for number four.
Matt Hall followed Moore to the Quest finish line. Hall was six hours short of defending his 2017 Quest title. From Quest News in a story called “Stars of the show: the dogs,” Hall talks about the bond between musher and dogs,. He said, “Making these connections is what builds loyalty and trust between dogs and musher. It’s every bit the dogs that win the race but if you’re not there with your dogs and for your dogs the whole time, then you can’t expect them to do the same for you.” After completing his rookie Iditarod in March, Matt will have his own opinion as to which race and which trail is more difficult.
Rob Cooke Ceremonial Start 2016
Rob Cooke, behind a handsome team of Siberian Huskies, completed the Quest in 12th place. At the finish in Whitehorse, Cooke praised his leader, Maddie who ran 700 miles of the race in lead. Rob told Quest journalists, “She’s such a phenomenal lead dog and I’m just indebted to her.” When asked about his 5th Quest that ended in his hometown, Rob called it the most difficult. Cooke is a two-time Iditarod veteran. Both have followed successful Quest finishes. In 2015, Cooke became the first musher to do a distance double with Siberians. They accomplished the same in 2016 and have their focus on Nome for a three-peat in 2018.
Return to Eye on the Trail for stories about the Distance Doublers as they take to the Iditarod Trail in March.
