Saturday was the first day to sign up for the 2017 Yukon Quest 1,000 Mile International Sled Dog Race, and seasoned veterans and relative newcomers alike showed up at the Fairbanks race office to get their names at the top of the list.
The mushers draw their bib numbers at a pre-race start banquet in the same order they signed up for the race, so there’s a certain advantage to being an early bird, but the main incentive is the chance to win a $1,300 cash prize. All those who signed up Saturday were automatically entered in a drawing, which will be held Friday.
Because the Quest is an international event, which alternately starts in Fairbanks or Whitehorse, Yukon, both towns hosted simultaneous sign-up events. The Fairbanks sign-up period started at noon and ended at 2 p.m., while the Whitehorse sign-up ran from 1-3 p.m. to adjust for the one hour time difference between race offices. Quest staff spent the afternoon merging both lists to determine the final order.
Two Rivers musher Mike Ellis, an eight-time Yukon Quest veteran, was the first to sign up on the Alaska side, while Rob Cooke was the first to sign up at the Quest’s Whitehorse office. Ellis will be second on the list because Cooke got his name in earlier.