Now that the final deadline has come and gone, 26 mushers are signed up to race this year’s Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race.
According to Quest officials, Kotzebue musher Katherine Keith was the final one to sign up before the final deadline on January 5th. Keith, along with veterans Allen Moore, Hugh Neff, and 2017 champ Matt Hall, will join more than ten rookies on the trail, like Ike Underwood of Aniak.
There are a total of 15 veterans and 11 rookies signed up to run the 2018 Yukon Quest, five more mushers than last year’s race.
The 35th annual Yukon Quest is scheduled to start on February 3rd, and it’s expected that the first musher will travel the 1,000 miles from Whitehorse, Yukon, to Fairbanks within two weeks.