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

Good morning to you all, Five teams are now back here at Troll. Word from the trail is that it was raining hard earlier today,which is why they were concerned about the condition of the trai. As there had been not that much snow on some portions they were worried that there would be nothing left. As they were having their planning meeting at Danny and Lorraine's it started to snow. They all decided to stick with the original trail. We went from not enough snow to quite a bit in a very short time. It is a wet snow and most of themushers are coming in pretty drenched. Dog teams are looking good and everone is resting well now. Mushers have hung their wet clothes all around the fire and are getting some sleep. Three of the five mushers in, Warren, Jerry, and Craig have finished their mandatory additional 6 hours of rest, Kim still has one hour and one minute left and Randy has 39 minutes. We do not have any indication of mushers departure times as yet. Ross and Abram left the 2nd checkpoint shortly after 8 pm so we are expecting them around 3-4 am. No new dropped dogs as yet. Our dropped dog turned out to be Vixen, one of the 6 yearlings Warren is running. I just checked on her, she has a sore tricpes but is in great spirits and ate well. This is very much a training run for the yearlings in Warren's team. So far they are all doing well. I haven't had much detail on the journey yet from W but will let you know after the race who the stars were. They all looked strong coming in to this checkpoint. Warren is in good spirits as well. He has an amazing ability to handle sleep deprivation. I, not quite so much so I think I am going to try and close my eyes for abit before we head back out to meet Ross and Abram. Here are arrival times for teams in: Warren at 11:18:57 with 11 dogs Jerry in at 10:50 with 11 dogs Randy in at 11:33:07 with 10 dogs Kim in at 12:11:54 with 11 dogs, 1 in the bag Craig in at 11:01 with 9 dogs At this point, the teams are moving at about the same speeds so we predict that whomever gets themselves out on the trail first has the best chance of winning, but we don't have any indication as yet as to who that will be. Later K

As mentioned before, five teams have left Checkpoint #2. In order of bib number here are the times for the teams Bib#1 Warren Palfrey In at 10:02 with 12 dogs, out at 4:21:28 with 11 dogs Bib#2 Jerry Joinson in at 9:26 with 12 dogs, out at 3:58:06 with 11 dogs Bin# 3 Randy Mackenzie in at 10:38 with 12 dogs, out at 3:59:40 with 10 dogs Bib #4 Ross Adam in at 1:46:10 with 12 dogs, still at checkpoint Bib#5 Abram Perry in at 1:46:46 with 12 dogs, still at checkpoint Bib#6 Kim Verge in at 10:59 with 12 dogs, out at 4:00:37 with 11 dogs Bib#7 Craig Houghton in at 9:27 with 12 dogs, out at 3:58:30 with 9 dogs Most of the teams took about 7 hours for the run to Danny and Lorraine's and based on that we do not expect any of the teams in at Troll until 11pm at the earliest. It has been snowing steadily out in Wells since 2 pm so the teams will have a lot of snow to run through. The dropped dogs are on their way back to Troll thanks to volunteers. I will let you know who is coming in from our team when I get to Troll. Off to catch a few zzzs before heading back to the resort. I imagine it will be another all nighter. Cheers, Kate

The newest update... unfortunately without any details on the trail or decision making process is that the teams are planning to run the original route. Five teams have already left the checkpoint, though I do not know the exact times. Only Ross and Abram are still at the checkpoint planning an 8 or 9pm departure. I imagine the first teams will be arriving around or after ten pm tonight so it looks to be another all nighter. I managed to get a few hours sleep today so am feeling better. After I go feed the dogs, a quick dinner for the kids and I we are back off to Troll. Kate

Good afternoon all, We have had word that all of the teams have arrived now at Checkpoint #2. Apparently there are concerns over the trail conditions, not sure of specifics but have heard about rain and about gravel concerns. We believe the mushers are currently having a meeting to talk about shortening the trail back to Troll. I will keep you posted as I find out more and when I have specific times for the mushers arrival at checkpoint #2. It has been snowing steadily here at the kennel since the kids and I got back late this morning. We have about 3 cm of accumulation thus far. More info as I find it out. K

I have been informed that the link to Rob's spot is not working so I am trying again. Please let me know if this connects this time.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0taNrVaiXJMNNvjvkbluC0I3HKvv6hv6i

K

One of the many things going on in our world of late is our participation in the Olympic Torch Relay yesterday in downtown Quesnel. There is a good article in today's Globe and Mail, here is the link. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-town-thats-proud-of-going-to-the-dogs/article1450377/ Post race I will post the few pictures I managed to take. Enjoy the arcticle! K

They are all out on the trail!! Ross left at 6:40:00 followed closely by Abrah at 6:40:22. Their dogs were really ready to go and all looked great going out.The snow began falling just before six and it is now a steady soft snow. Hoping that it continues throughout the day. We are expecting that the teams may be arriving at Checkpoint #2 in the near future. I am going to remain here at Troll until I hear of the successful arrival of all the teams. Then Peter, Jesse and I will return to the kennel to feed the dogs at home and check on things. I am also looking forward to a few hours of sleep as I am running on 53 minutes at the moment. We will be returning here to Troll later in the day to see the teams and then eventually to the finish line. Off for a cup of coffee. Kate