When it comes to training for Iditarod, there’s a word of advice out there shared by long distance mushers – the best way to train for a 1,000-mile sled dog race is to run a 1,000-mile race. That pearl of advice gained credence with Lance Mackey. In 2007 Lance won the Yukon Quest and turned right around and won the 2007 Iditarod running thirteen of the dogs from his Quest team. There are those that thought it was just a fluke but Lance proved otherwise when he won both the Quest and the Iditarod again the next year. Two years in a row, he was victorious in the Distance Double, conquering 1,000 mile races that began just 28 days apart.

Some call the indomitable sled dog fatigue-proof and apparently so with it’s ability to run not only day after day but it’s ability to be competitive in not one but multiple long distance races in the same season. Who’s currently on the Yukon Quest trail covering the 1,000-mile distance from Fairbanks to Whitehorse who’s also committed to run to Nome in March? Looks like there are six teams slated for the Distance Double – Ken Anderson, Mike Ellis, Hugh Neff, Allen Moore, Curt Perano and Brent Sass.

Hugh Neff will again challenge defending Quest Champion, Allen Moore, in the trek from Fairbanks to Whitehorse. In 2012, Neff and Moore duked it out with Neff claiming the Quest Championship by a mere 26-seconds. Moore returned the favor the next year besting Neff by a little more than an hour. While Allen Moore will compete in Iditarod XLII, most of his Quest dogs will be on the trail with his wife and kennel partner, Aliy Zirkle. Zirkle has claimed the Iditarod runner-up title in both of the last two years running dogs from Moore’s Quest teams. Between the 2012 and 2013 Iditarod and Quest races, Zirkle and Moore’s S-P Kennel dogs have a championship and three runner-up titles. In 2000, Zirkle was the first woman and to date, the only woman to win the Quest.

Hugh Neff has an impressive string of Distance Doubles. Neff, missing only in 2004, has been a regular in the Quest since Y2K and he’s run Iditarod nine of those same years. Neff has said, “Mushers come to the Yukon Quest to hone their skills. This (Quest) isn’t just a race, it’s a sacred event.” Neff has had eight top ten finishes in the Quest and two top-ten Iditarod finishes, most coming in Distance Double years. Neff was Iditarod’s Rookie of the year in 2004, the only year since 2000 he chose to sit Quest out.

Brent Sass has been a regular in the Quest since 2007 and it’s no secret that his goal is to win the Quest. It appears that he’s doing all the right things and is closing in on his goal as he’s finished 4th, 5th and 3rd over the past three years. During the past two years he’s been a Distance Double guy, by competing in Iditarod also. Sass earned Rookie of the year honors in the 2012 Iditarod. After conquering the Quest, Sass has his eye on Iditarod’s grand prize.

Curt Perano and Mike Ellis are new comers to the Distance Double roster. Iditarod 2014 marks Perano’s third run to Nome and his first attempt at Quest. Ellis has completed the Quest three times since 2008 while Iditarod 2013 was his rookie trip to Nome. Ellis holds the fastest time in both races for a purebred Siberian team.

Ken Anderson has completed the Quest in 08, 10 & 11 in 2nd, 5th and 3rd place respectively. He’s run Iditarod thirteen times since 1999. Interestingly, in each of the years Anderson has run Quest, he’s done the Distance Double and finished Iditarod in 4th, 4th and 9th place.

While both the Yukon Quest and Iditarod are 1,000 miles, they are very different in nature. The Quest has only ten checkpoints and four dog drops all being on accessible roads except Eagle. Very different from Iditarod, mushers can accept help from non-racers at the halfway checkpoint of Dawson City. The shortest distance between Quest checkpoints is around 75 miles and the longest distance is 201 miles. Organizers of the Quest envisioned a race with mushers relying on themselves with survival being as important as speed and that’s exactly what they’ve created. Quest veteran, Jodi Bailey, has said that when you’re on the Quest trail, it’s you and your dogs and with the exception of other competitors and your dogs, you’re alone for long periods of time, not so in Iditarod.

Do mushers use the Yukon Quest as an opportunity to hone their skills for Iditarod as Lance Mackey and Hugh Neff might suggest? As the Quest contestants head to the finish in Whitehorse, we’ll have to wait and see if Allen Moore or Hugh Neff can claim a second Quest Crown, we’ll have to wait and see if this is the year Brent Sass realizes his goal of conquering the Quest and we’ll have to wait until early in March to see how the Distance Double teams fare in Iditarod.