New routes, same spirit: Yukon’s Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail race marks half a century | CBC News
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Neither unpredictable weather nor impassable river crossings can stop the Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race.
The annual sled dog race began on Thursday in Dawson City, Yukon, and it’s expected to wrap up on Saturday.
The event was first held in 1977 to honour the efforts of Percy DeWolfe, who in the early 1900s carried mail about 300 kilometres between Dawson City and Eagle, Alaska, by dogsled along the Yukon River.
Dany Jette, president of the Dawson City Dog Sports Club, said this year’s race had four categories: the 297-kilometre Percy DeWolfe race, the 160-kilometre Percy Jr., the 160-kilometre Percy Skijor, and the new 68-kilometre Percy Open.
“It’s going to be a busy event,” Jette said, before it started this week. “We have 14 teams all together so it’s pretty exciting.”
In the past, racers would cross the border into Alaska. Jette said that wasn’t happening this year.
He said it’s almost “impossible to cross the border these days with an event like this.” There were also sections of the river that they “couldn’t go around,” so the trail was re-routed to stay closer to Dawson.
The Forty Mile townsite was the main checkpoint, Jette said.
After five years of racing abroad, Yukon musher Kelsey Winters signed up to compete in the 297-kilometre race for the first time.
“It’s pretty cool,” Winters said before it began. “In Alaska there’s a lot more people so the races there are a lot bigger. This is a lot smaller, kind of like a more homey feeling.”
The organizer’s decision to reroute the race wasn’t going to change her game plan, she said. She had confidence in herself and her pups, and said she looked at the race as another training exercise.
Jesika Reimer decided to travel to the Yukon to compete in the 160-kilometre race, and was third across the finish line on Friday. She’s originally from Yellowknife and now lives in northern California.
Reimer said when it comes to racing dogs for any distance, what is packed can make or break the team.
“Everything for the dogs,” Reimer said. “The number one thing is food for them. The other thing is health care, so booties and ointment for them. Making sure I got their jackets so they’re going to stay warm.”
Once Reimer has everything for her dogs packed, then she said she fits in some things to keep herself warm too.
Winners on Friday included Sean de Wolski in the Percy Jr., Melissa Antony in the 160-kilometre skijor, and Jonathan Lucas in the 68-kilometre Percy Open.
The event wraps up with a racer’s banquet on Saturday evening in Dawson.
The trail may look different this year but the legacy of Yukon’s most famous mailman endures – one paw print at a time.