Husky News

Kelley Griffin can’t figure out how she’s in sixth place of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race with 250 miles to go.

“I have no explanation for it whatsoever,” the 48-year-old Wasilla musher said. “I’ve had about two clean runs the whole race.”

Nevertheless, Griffin, who has started every race since 2002, is in position to beat her previous best — seventh place in 2006.

“They seem really slow,” Griffin said of her eight remaining pullers.

To pull off sixth, though, Griffin will have to pass Hugh Neff. He arrived at Pelly Crossing four hours after Griffin but left almost immediately while she was sleeping.

That’s just one of the “races within the race” to have emerged in addition to the struggles for first and third places.

Next on the trail are a group of five within striking range of each other in eighth through 12th place. They are Dan Kaduce of Chatanika, who has been moving back up the rankings after experiencing a bevy of problems between Central and Eagle that brought him down to eight dogs; Jean-denis Britten, who started with his entire racing kennel of 12 dogs and amazingly still has 10 in harness; Colorado’s William Pinkham; Mike Ellis and his hardy team of Siberians; and Phil Joy of Fairbanks.

As of late Monday night, Kaduce was out of Stepping Stone while Britten rested there. Pinkham, Ellis and Joy had all exited Scroggie Creek.

The back of the pack now consists of 61-year-old Bill Cotter, who returned to Dawson after getting lost in the same area as Lance Mackey and set off a second time Sunday; Kyla Boivin, at 25 the youngest musher in the field; and Ann Ledwidge in the red lantern position.

The race on Monday also saw its eighth musher scratch.

Cor Guimond, 57, left his hometown of Dawson City at 10:05 a.m. Monday but returned and scratched almost 90 minutes later. No reason was listed on the Quest Web site.

Guimond, who’s finished the Quest five times, was running the race for the first time since 2001. He had dedicated it to his wife, Agata Franczak, a 2004 Quest veteran who died of cancer last year.

Fifteen of the original 24 mushers remain on the trail to Whitehorse.

Source: Fairbank Daily News-Miner