Yukon Quest '08

Back In Fairbanks (for a few hours atleast)

2008-02-24T22:17:00.003-09:00

Hello, it is great to be back in Fairbanks. As most of you already know the quest was one wild ride for the dogs and I. It was awesome, I am so proud of the dogs I really pushed them to be the best they could be and they rose to the task. Thanks so much to everyone that helped make this race possible, a special thanks to my handlers-- my Dad Mark, Aren and Kyla. They were awesome. They worked perfect together as a team and did an outstanding job. They allowed me to focus on my race and the dogs and not all the behind the scenes stuff. They also deserve a huge thanks for their role in making the website possible. They did a great job along with Jen Gunderson to get the updates on the site as soon as possible. Well, I am no the move again tomorrow. I head up to Eureka to check on Kurt who has been holding down the fort out there during the race. I will only be there overnight then I am picking up Sigrid and taking her down to the start of the Iditarod. I can't wait, it will be exciting to be right in the middle of the start and also a good view at what to expect when I do the race. So I gotta run, but I am going to buy myself a new computer so I can get back in touch with all of you and answer all of your questions about the race. I plan on writing the whole story down in Anchorage so hopefully in about a week I will have one hell of an adventure for you to read about. Thanks again to everyone who followed me on the race, it is awesome to see how many of you there are. I really appreciate your support. Until next time...

Bwildandfree

Quest

2008-02-23T22:03:00.000-09:00

Meet the mushers group last night
Hugh,Ken and Bill having good discussion.

Yukon Quest Banquet

2008-02-23T22:01:00.000-09:00

Quest 2008 Banquet

2008-02-23T21:58:00.000-09:00

Banquet was a good time visiting all people that were on trail or supported. Food was good.
Brent and Doug the race marshall posed for award Brent got.
They went through all the places everyone got with each musher having time to say what they felt all this was to them. In the special awards Brent got voted the
Challenge of the North Award for representing the spirit that best represents the Yukon Quest .
Mark

Whitehorse

2008-02-21T21:43:00.001-09:00

Brent came in 1:27am 2-21-08. 5th place!

Whitehorse

2008-02-21T21:38:00.000-09:00

Checking Brents manitory equipment at finish line

Whitehorse

2008-02-21T21:34:00.000-09:00

Thanking his dogs Silver and Madonna for a great race.

Whitehorse.

2008-02-21T21:31:00.000-09:00

Brent coming into finish line

KUAC The Top 5 Teams Finish

2008-02-21T14:29:00.000-09:00

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kuac/local-kuac-678758.mp3

Strong Finish!

2008-02-21T14:24:00.002-09:00

As you may already know, Brent and the dogs finished in 5th place last night, arriving in Whitehorse around 1:30 am. I just spoke with Brent, who said that all the dogs came in strong, healthy, and happy, and he's proud that they accomplished their goal of making the top 5.
Great job Wild and Free!!!!

Quest

2008-02-20T10:40:00.002-09:00

Well Brent got off at 10:58 in 5th place behind Dalton out at 9:15 and Phillips out at9:42.
Kelly came in at 8:25 this morning with 8 hour layover. Hugh Neff is supposedly on way in shortly.
Way too warm sunny day so will be slower that normal with heat at same time beautiful day to experience this beautiful country.
On our way to Whitehorse.
Brent did drop Pixie so now at 8 dogs for rest of trip. She just was not pulling well anymore but will be ok.
Mark

2008-02-20T10:38:00.000-09:00

Brent having last talk with Madonna and Silver in lead before he leaves.

2008-02-20T10:36:00.000-09:00

Doug race Marshall ready to shake hands with Brent as he was ready to leave.

2008-02-20T10:34:00.000-09:00

At start line.

2008-02-20T10:33:00.000-09:00

Brent getting ready to leave. Vet and Marshall in background.

Braeburn

2008-02-20T10:22:00.002-09:00

Brent got up this morning,got all set up and packed then had good breakfast and basked in the sun for few minutes at start line in the bright sun.with dogs. Dogs are ready, with another ok they were up and on their way 8 hours after stopping. 100 miles to go! Photo to follow.
In little while we will be on our way to Whitehorse and the finish line.
Mark

At Braeburn

2008-02-20T03:50:00.002-09:00

Brent has all of his dogs bedded down and came in to eat and now went to sleep for while before leaving again in 8 hours from when he came in at 2:58am.
He is tired but with some sleep ready to finish last leg.
Mark

Braeburn resturant

2008-02-20T02:17:00.000-09:00

last checkpoint.

2008-02-20T02:14:00.000-09:00

Brent at checkpoint Braeburn 3am 2-20-08

Braeburn

2008-02-20T02:06:00.002-09:00

Good news Brent just came in at 3:00am to Braeburn. He and dogs all look good. Will post a picture next and catchup more as he gets dogs all bedded down. Came in as number 5. so in 8 hours will go out headed on last run to Whitehorse and finish! That will be his run.

2008-02-20T01:45:00.000-09:00

On road to Braeburn from Carmacks

Braeburn

2008-02-20T01:23:00.002-09:00

Got into Braeburn last night from Carmacks. Warm sunny day with lot of people at checkpoint since Lance and Ken had gone through little while before. Finally got some more sleep. Just got up to wait for next group of mushers which hopefully includes Brent. In last hour Dave and Michelle have came in but have not seen Brent. Warm with a little breeze so just waiting.
Will update as news comes.
Mark

News Miner article

2008-02-19T11:29:00.001-09:00

Sass has stomach-turning 30 hours on trail
By Matias Saari
Published Tuesday, February 19, 2008

PELLY CROSSING, Yukon — After Brent Sass blew through the Scroggie Creek dog drop at 4:30 a.m. Sunday to take a short-lived lead in the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, he fell off the race Web site for 30 hours, making no progress whatsoever.

As the time ticked by, speculation was rampant about what might have happened to the second-year Quest musher who’d run an aggressive race to put him in contention for third place.

Many suspected an epic blowup, likely brought on by a 16-hour run through the hills leaving Dawson, his second trip of that length in the previous 72 hours.

Fueling the fire was an unofficial report from the trail that Sass was seen walking in front of his dog team, a likely indication that they had quit on him.

Add the statistic that the five teams who reached Stepping Stone from Scroggie Creek averaged less than 12 hours for the 70-mile trip, and the Sass camp was beyond concerned because the Fairbanks musher had been AWOL 2 1/2 times that long.

But Brent Sass’ nine-dog team wasn’t shut down — he was. Sass had food poisoning.

The trouble began at one of the high points of the race so far for Sass. High on adrenaline after the huge push from Dawson to just past Scroggie Creek, he felt his stomach rumbling as race leaders Ken Anderson and Lance Mackey snagged the lead back.

Sass, 27, gave his team a well-deserved 11-hour rest and got moving again Sunday evening. He only made it 30 miles.

“Eventually, it just got to the point where I couldn’t even go anymore,” said Sass, a former UAF Nordic skier who was suddenly unable to help the team. “I stopped. I was sick for 10 hours.”

If there was a silver lining, his team — led by a dog named Silver — got quality rest as Sass worked the bug out of his system.

The low point came Sunday night when Sass helplessly heard two mushers pass by to bump him back to seventh place.

“I was laying there half-awake in my sleeping bag after I had stopped throwing up and everything else,” Sass said from Pelly Crossing with his usual enthusiasm. “I heard both Kelley (Griffin) and Hugh Neff go by and I thought ‘Oh, now it’s just a fight for the finish (line),’”

Monday dawned a new day, though.

“I got up (Monday) morning and made the 70-mile run into (Pelly) and it was great,” Sass said.

He also was pleasantly surprised to learn that he barely trailed Michelle Phillips and David Dalton, whom he’s been battling for third place.

“I just know that I came in here an hour and a half (behind them) with these guys thinking I was 5 or 6 hours behind,” he said.

Before leaving Monday night, a reinvigorated Sass and his dogs both fueled up for the final 250 miles of trail, and the “drama magnet” now has a few more Quest stories to go along with those of years past.

On his way to winning the Quest 300 two years ago, Sass went down the wrong side of Eagle Summit in the whiteout storm that caused six mushers to be rescued — and for good measure, he helped bring a musher to safety who’d lost his team.

Then last year, he took 15th in a Quest filled with adventure and tragedy — first he chased down Yuka Honda’s loose dog team, then helped her cope with a dog of hers that had died. Then eight days later, after Silver had already gone down with an injury, his dog Melville died near Slaven’s Roadhouse and was later found to have ingested fabric before the race that caused his death.

The tales from these last two days have a happier ending, no matter how the race shakes out.

The first was the thrill of passing a sleeping Mackey and Anderson to take the lead in the Quest, even though he pulled over within a couple miles and knew the lead would be immediately erased. But having left Dawson 11 hours after that pair, Sass figured he wouldn’t see them again until the finish line.

“I was sitting at my camp spot just smiling and waiting,” Sass said. “I timed it. Fifteen minutes. They must have just gotten up and bootied and took off.”

The second story explains why Sass was seen walking at the front of his team.

“I always stop when I see a headlight coming because my team has a tendency of hogging the whole trail and it’s hard for teams to get by,” he said. “So I just stop and I walk to the front and drag them out of the way, so there’s your rumor.”

And then he threw in a line of good-natured bravado.

“My dogs are far from dying,” he said. “They’re hard to kill, and I’m even harder to kill.”

Sass didn’t explain the situation to Dalton and Phillips, the mushers who happen to be his primary competition.

“I didn’t say much ... because I was holding back the puke, basically,” Sass said.

Brent squashes the rumors...

2008-02-19T11:08:00.002-09:00

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kuac/local-kuac-677922.mp3
...oh yeah, and something about Mackey and Anderson. details.

2008-02-19T09:24:00.001-09:00

Yukon Quest '08

Back In Fairbanks (for a few hours atleast)

Quest

Yukon Quest Banquet

Quest 2008 Banquet

Whitehorse

Whitehorse

Whitehorse

Whitehorse.

KUAC The Top 5 Teams Finish

Strong Finish!

Quest

Braeburn

At Braeburn

Braeburn resturant

last checkpoint.

Braeburn

Braeburn

News Miner article

Sass has stomach-turning 30 hours on trailBy Matias SaariPublished Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Brent squashes the rumors...

Sass has stomach-turning 30 hours on trail
By Matias Saari
Published Tuesday, February 19, 2008