Shorter races could be part of Yukon Quest's future

If the race marshall for this year's Yukon Quest has anything to say about it, some of the shorter races that made up this year's version of the world-famous sled dog race will be back again next year.

Doug Grilliot, who has been officiating Yukon Quest events for 11 years, said race organizers in both Yukon and Alaska are committed to bringing back the traditional 1,600-kilometre YQ1000 next year but he's also hoping they'll include at least a couple of shorter races.

"There's a lot of people that would want to run a 100-mile [160-kilometre] race that maybe don't want to do a thousand-miler. I'd like to see a 100-mile or 200-miler [320 kilometres], maybe even some expansion on that," he said.

He added he'd like to see a race from Whitehorse to Dawson City, Yukon. In the traditional 1,600-kilometre race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, Alaska, Dawson City is a mandatory stop.

"I haven't really broached the subject here, you know, with the board of directors or anything, but I think that would be very doable, [and] wouldn't cost us any more money, necessarily," he said.

Grilliot said the decision will be up to the board of directors. He expects a decision will be announced by June.

The 1,600-kilometre race was cancelled last year due to COVID-19. This year, organizers decided to run four shorter races, two in Alaska and two in the Yukon.

The last race, the 482-kilometre YQ300 race, ended Tuesday morning with all nine teams coming in.

Grilliot had mixed emotions about the race ending.

"Well, both happy and sad," he said. "We had a really good two races [in Yukon] this year. Not one musher scratched either race. Really happy and proud about that. Sad that it's over. We did put a lot of time and effort in this year, and it was just a great experience."

He said the dogs looked really good at the race's end, something the Yukon Quest's head veterinarian agreed with.

"Most all the dogs are barking and, you know, pulling their harnesses and just trying to keep running. So [that's] always nice to see," said Nina Hansen.

Hansen, another vet and a technician monitored the dogs before and during the race, and were at the Whitehorse finish line when the YQ300 teams started coming at 1:44 a.m on Tuesday.

She said the vets were looking at the dogs' body condition and hydration levels.