Races
January 24, 2018 by

While our teams were preparing for and racing the Two Rivers 200 we had another deadline to meet. Yukon Quest drop bags were due on Saturday.

Drop bags can make or break a race. If you don’t have something you need at a checkpoint there is no way to get it without imposing a penalty. You have to pack for all contingencies and that takes a good deal of planning and organising beforehand.

There is a bunch of prep that goes into packing the bags. 100s of pounds of beef, poultry skins, chicken and fish have to be cut to snack sized chunks, three kinds of kibble must be bagged into 14-dog meal sized bags, vet packs put together, human meals and snacks made and bagged, booties fastened into sets of four then bagged into sets of 14. All winter we have been working on these tasks for the CB300, TR200, Yukon Quest and Iditarod bags.

Hand warmers, human meals and gloves
Lindsay from Matson ties the bags
Each year Allen will look over previous years’ bag lists, make adjustments as required then we start placing the contents into the sacks. We have paperwork to complete where we list contents of each bag and make a count of them to ensure they all get to their destination.

Thanks to all the volunteers at both the Fairbanks and Whitehorse depots who helped unload the bags, sort into checkpoints, label them and load them ready for transport to the checkpoints.

As always there are lots of people to thank for helping get the bags completed: Jeff, Shelia, Wendy, Padee  Lindsay, Mike and Rodney.

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6 Responses

  • Im always amazed at the time, effort and planning that goes into running these races…..pounds of drop bags meticulously packed….a balance between “pack everything” just in case, and “pack just what you need” and dont over do it. I bet weather can impact what to pack as well….much to think about!

    Well done Helpers!

  • So much effort goes into packing the drop bags! It seems like such hard work organizing each bag and figuring out exactly what will go in each one.
    Great work everyone! SP Kennel has a fantastic, hardworking crew!

  • What an awesome task. Thanks to all the helpers. The teams depend upon all the “stuff”. Go SPK!

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