YQ: Friday – The Day Before

Friday started early for the handlers by giving breakfast to the dogs and stretching legs. They are getting more and more sassy as the clock ticks by and they will be rearing to go by tomorrow (the dogs, not the humans – although in saying that the humans are pretty sassy too!)

After human breakfast we all went down to the Old Fire Hall where Allen told some stories at the Quest Fest event. He spoke to the audience about his first Quest experience, in 2011 when he had to carry each dog, one by one, up Eagle Summit then drag his sled up himself, due to a massive storm that swept through the area. He talked about the lessons he learned from that – lighter sled and more human conditioning before the race – and how he put those lessons to good use in his second place finish the year after, and all the races after that.

At lunchtime Aliy and Moira took the YQ200 dogs for their pre-race vet checks. The dedicated crew of vets, vet techs and students took a good deal of care to ensure the dogs in the race are is great shape. Lots of kisses were given and received, and Mismo found a willing giver of butt rubs while he waited his turn. Thanks to the crew for the love and attention they show all the dogs in the race. They truly ensure the race is dog first!

The team is also taking part in a study running concurrently with the race to look at hydration and muscle condition. This requires urine and blood samples to be taken before and after the race and they were all fairly cooperative with the pee test – except Lydia and Cayenne who decided they would rather pee in private. The boys are easy – they’ll pee anywhere!

Later we had the YQ200 musher and handler meeting where we learned about the trails and logistics for the start and Braeburn checkpoint. Mitch from the Canadian Rangers gave a detailed trail report and it seems they are not as bad as first feared. With a recent few inches of snow and right now some frigid temperatures the trails are in better shape than they were even just a week ago. The teams still have the option to start with as few as eight dogs and add their remaining team members in Braeburn.

Massive thanks to Mitch and his team for the huge amount of work they have put in to getting the trail ready for all the teams.

Aliy then drew bib 57 – which in YQ200 speak means the Red Team is seventh on the trail, leaving at 3:18pm local time.

This evening we have given the dogs their dinner and Mark used his trusty set of plyers to attach the dog tags to each collar. This tag is used primarily for the vet team to identify the dogs easily and to communicate with their compatriots further down the trail in the vet book.

Late tonight the dogs will come out of their boxes one last time, be given their first “Omeprozole” dose and “pink ointment” on their feet.

Omeprozole is a optional medication that mushers give their dogs every 24 hours during a race to decrease the chance of developing gastric ulcers. This came about after studies by Dr Mike Davis and his team a number of years ago and since then we have been very religious about ensuring the dogs receive their doses at around the same time every day during the race. It can be complicated for a musher to give this medication on the trail as the dogs need to have not eaten for at least three hours and cannot eat for half hour after, but the pros certainly outweigh the only con.

Pink Ointment is a medicated, soothing ointment that helps prevent and/or treat any cracks that may develop on the dogs’ feet. Mushers will apply this during the race also.

Timetable for tomorrow is: up early for dog then human breakfast then move to the start line at Ship’s Creek in Whitehorse. Allen and the Black Team leave at 12:15pm local time then Aliy and the Red Team leave at 3:18pm.

We’ll post race rosters in the morning.