We have a winner for the Quesnel 200-2010....Jerry Joinson is the winner coming in at 1:29:15! He was followed by Craig Houghton at 1:47:50, Randy Mackenzie at 2:15:19( who places fourth due to a time penalty for leaving hiw race bib at checkpoint #2) and then Warren Palfrey at 2:29:03. Ross Adam and Abram are still out on the trail. We hope to see them here anywhere from 7-9 pm. The rest of us , mushers, officials, and volunteers are now in our house visiting and sharing trail stories. I'm sure some of those will make it here to the blog in the near future but for now I am off to visit with everyone.
K

One quick update before I head back to the kennel for a quick checkin and then on to the finish line. In my last post I mentioned that Kim was heading out without much, or any, of a front end. Well, she made it half way up the long hill leaving the resort here in front of her dogs and then made the very wise decision to not continue. This was Kim's first distance race and we feel she did an great job and showed great maturity as a young muhser to have made the decision to scratch here at Troll. All her dogs are now comfortable loaded up in their trailer. The skiers and snowboarders are beginning to come into the lodge to enjoy the fresh powder as we all area getting packed up to go. Ross and Abram are awake and having breakfast. They are planning to head out at 11am, hoping to finish in time for the scrumptuous dinner banquet that our friends Mona and Cliff Penner have been cooking up for us all this weekend. That is all for now. The next entry will be announcing the winners of the Inaugural Quesnel 200. Kate

The last leg of the Quesnel 200 has started for five teams. In order of departure they are Craig Houghton at 5:10:11 with 7 dogs, Jerry Joinson at 5:13:01 with10 dogs, Warren Palfrey at 5:37:18 with 10 dogs, Randy Mackenzie at 5:39:29 with 10 dogs, and Kim Verge at 6:11:19 with 7 dogs. I was sleeping for Craig and Jerry's departures so did not see their dogs. Volunteers said Craig's dogs though fewer in number were the more ready to go of the two teams. Warren's crew went out well after a slight inspection of the leftover food drop bags (dogs will be dogs and we all know how much sled dogs like their food!) Randy's seemed a bit unsure if they wanted to go but as soon as he passed the main checkpoint area they were good to go. Kim may have a long run ahead as she has had to drop all of her main leaders. We definitely wish her well. Training new leaders on a race is never ideal but often you discover dogs that turn in to leaders when the need is there. Abram and Ross are sleeping at the moment as are their dogs resting comfortably as the snow continues to fall. We are expecting the finishers to cross the line in around 7 hours so noonish. Our fantastic volunteers and trail sweep snowmobilers are all catching some sleep. I plan to wait here at Troll until Peter and Jesse wake up - they have a spot right by the fire here and look quite content- and then I will head back towards the finish line. Warren dropped Vesta, another yearling, just as he left with a sore foot so I will stop at the kennel and drop her and her sisiter Vixen off at home. Peter and Jesse have been invited to stay here with our friends the Verge's who will then bring them to the finish and/or the banquet at our house later today. The name should be familiar to you all by now as their oldest daughter is Kim currently out on the trail and their youngest daughter is a fast new friend of Peter and Jesse's. I am off to take our trail sweep crew to get some more fuel. More when I return. K