Heavy snowfall and cool temperatures drew 15 sled teams and one skijorer to the H. Coyne and Sons race day.
Teams started in one minute intervals, and the first five hundred metres of trail is a no-passing zone, yet by the midway loop eight teams were nose to tail. Crispin Studer posted his first win of the season when his five dogs completed the 12 mile course in 52:14, ahead of Luc Tweddell’s 55:22. Martine Lelevier placed third in 58:34, and lucky 13th finisher, Yoann Voyer took home the spot prize of Taplow dogfood. All contestants completed the course in under two hours.
Heather Swyston’s single dog, Kodiak, was the sole entrant in the 5-kilometre pet dog class, and posted a time of 14:42 on skis. In the under-14s, first time racer Katarine Atmanspacher didn’t finish the course, but we’ll cheer her on at January’s meet.
In between Twister heats, the Arctic Winter Games held their time trials. Followers of the league’s debut will recognize the roster. The Kinvigs and Twister veteran Eilidh Lucas joined Jeff Diment, who also got his start in the 2006 season. Lucas, the Yukon’s only entrant in the juniors, sped over the 17 kilometre modified Twister route in 52:27 on Saturday and had some "problems" with a 1:27:09 Sunday.
A familiar rivalry played out in the juvenile division. After ceding top spot in the kid’s Twister to her brother in 2006, Rachel Kinvig edged Ben out for top time (combined) this weekend. Although Ben beat Rachel on Sunday with a time of 9:30 compared to her 9:42, on Saturday Rachel blasted past Ben in 9:24 compared to his 10 minutes for the 5 ‘k’. Good luck to all the Twister-trained teams.
Alpine Veterinary Clinic is the race day sponsor in January. Mushers meet at 9 a.m. on the 26th at Icy Waters, Mile 4 Fish Lake Road. Volunteers are always welcome.
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