A Night on the Road

Right: Paul Geoffrion at the finish line

Below: Moe Boska pets, umm, holds a team

Mike Simon and I had an unique perspective of the Road Runner 100 as trailsweepers.

For the week before the event, daytime highs above freezing chewed up the snowpack as fast as Mike, Darrell Otto, Gaeten Pierrard, Darryl Sheepway and Stacey Zaychuk, among many others, prepped the trail for the Dog Powered Sports Association's inaugural run.

Although scheduled to end in Haines Junction, the race was stopped at Mile 99, Canyon, where an original Alaska Highway trestle bridge crosses the Aishihik River. Beyond that the trail was impassible.

Warm weather made for a fast trail. At 3 p.m. we tracked the teams from the Takhini River Bridge on the Mayo Road. Sue Stevenson from the Rendezvous committee had just watched the last team scoot under the Bridge. Less than two hours later the lead mushers arrived at Mendenhall.

First out of the firehall checkpoint was this year's leader of the middle distance Crispin Studer at 9:34 p.m. followed by Hugh Neff at 9:42 and skijorer Gaeten Pierrard at 9:59. Checkpoint hosts had a concession stand serving hearty soups and chili for the five hour layover. Mushers and handlers put over $600 in the cofers for a community playground.

Front runners Hugh Neff and Crispin Studer arrived in Mendenhall within six minutes of each other and Gaeten Pierrard arrived within the hour. He completed the entire trip in an unbelievably fast nine hours, eleven minutes. Gaeten talked about the parallels people draw between skijoring and sledding and says its false. Skijoring "might seem faster with no weight to pull with no sled, but they are so different. Skijoring is a class by itself. You can't compare."

There was no formal rule, but it was understood that if a skijorer had to drop a dog, the race would be over for them. But, all three skijorers rigged up systems to pack a dropped dog at least to Mendenhall. Gaeten had a neck line fixed in his pulk bag where he could clip in. Jonathan Lucas had a small dog kennel fastened to the pulk he used in the Yukon Arctic Ultra and Darryl Sheepway had cut down the runners of a child's sled to make a one dog basket. All three carried their mandatory gear in the dogboggans and were prepared to pack it out on their backs if necessary.

Wide shallow patches of overflow loomed up through the night. Crispin mimicked a Swiss ski jumper with his plunge down one of the many steep drops. Traffic didn't bother the dogs, "except to make them speed up," he said. He'll return next year to defend his title.

Debby Knight moved to the Yukon from Ontario for the express purpose of pursuing the dog driving lifestyle. She finished eighth in nine hours two minutes. At the banquet said she'd be back.

On the return to Whitehorse it was clear what 20 dog teams had done to trail. What was scarce cover for the leaders of the Road Runner 100, was a scarred grass drag for the back of the pack. Consider it a prelude to next month's Hot Hounds Dryland Races.
Thanks to our our wonderful volunteers and mobile vets Carolynne Fujda (left) and Helen Eddy.
A huge thank you to our sponsors Icy Waters Ltd., Arctic Backhoe, and CKRW, for staking purse. With your generous sponsorship, everyone placed in the money with a $100 refund on their entry fees.




photos and words by Jessica Simon
posted by yukonwriter@lycos.com