Race Update #10

The teams are in, all five of the dog teams competing in the first ever running of The Dagoo 340 have crossed the finish line at the Eagle Plains Lodge on the Dempster Highway. Kyla Boivin came in last night (the 28th) at just after 6pm giving her a fourth place finish. The fifth and final team being run by Vicky Josie crossed the finish line this afternoon at 2:30pm. This brings the official race portion of this historic event to a close.
The two mushers from Old Crow still have to run thier teams back into Old Crow, and The Dagoo 340 will still be providing some services and hospitality along the trail for them.

Race update #9

At 8 am this morning we received a report from Eagle Plains. At just after 10pm Tuesday night and right in the middle of the finish banquet David Lord and his dog team became the third team to complete the First ever Running of The Dagoo 340. His Dog team was in excellent condition and our race Vet John Overell stated that these dogs looked like they would be ready to continue on to Ft. MacPherson, but David was eager to get some rest so they camped down the team and joined the Finish Banquet.Mushers Kyla Boivin and Vicky Josie have not checked in yet, both teams are expected to come in at sometime this morning.

Race Update #8

At 5:15am on Tuesday the 27th of March William Kleedehn was the first musher to cross the finish line at the Eagle Plains Lodge on the Dempster Highway making him the champion of the first ever running of The Dagoo 340. Salomon Carrier was second to make it to Eagle Plains, coming in at 9:41am. Both mushers made the final push straight through from the halfway checkpoint completing the 106 mile run in about 10 hrs. Trail reports state that David Lord, Vicky Josie, and Kyla Boivin were planning to camp along the route.

Race Update # 7

After a long wait, and no word from our checkpoint, we finally received news from Eagle Plains at around 11pm on the 26th that all 5 mushers had reached the halfway point. Trail reports also stated that both William Kleedehn and Salomon Carrier were on route have already served their mandatory 6hr layover.
The trail from the halfway checkpoint has been reported to be in excellent shape and we expect the first team to cross the finish line on Tuesday morning.

Race Update # 6

At 3:00pm today under big bright clear skies and no wind the Official race portion of the first ever running of The Dagoo 340 began. 5 dog teams left the village of Old Crow to race back to the finish line at The Eagle Plains Lodge on the Dempster Highway. William Kleedehn, Salomon Carrier, and Kyla Boivin were joined today by two local mushers from the village of Old Crow, Vicky Josie, and David Lord. There was an excellent turn out of spectators today out on the bank of the Porcupine River in front of town to watch as the five Dog teams got underway.

The starting order went as follows:

David Lord 3:02pm

Vicky Josie 3:04pm

William Kleedehn 3:08pm

Salomon Carrier 3:11pm

Kyla Boivin 3:14pm

All five teams were planning on running to Police Cabin 56miles up river and camping out before continuing down the trail. We expect the first teams to arrive at the halfway checkpoint aka Tent City sometime tomorrow morning.
The dog teams will have a mandatory 6hr layover at tent city before they can continue on to the finish line in Eagle Plains.

To view some pictures taken as the 3 dog teams arrived in Old Crow yesterday visit the following link:

www.chrissiddall.com/dagoo

All photos on this link were shot by Chris Siddall, a photographer currently based out of Old Crow.

Race Update # 5

All three mushers have made it into the village of Old Crow.

William Kleedehn was the first musher to reach the Old Crow checkpoint at 4:53pm

Salomon Carrier was the second musher to reach the village at 5:24pm

Kyla Boivin made it into the checkpoint at 9:34pm

The three mushers camped longer at police cabin then we originally thought, they waited for the weather to clear up before beginning the run the run into Old Crow. After last nights blizzard moved off the sun came out the wind died off and it turned into a beautiful day out on the Porcupine River

All three dog teams made it in happy and healthy and in excellent condition to make the return run back to the Eagle Plains Lodge.

All three mushers reported that the trail was in excellent condition for travel and are in agreement that the trail for The Dagoo 340 was the best race trail they have seen all season. They have also had nothing but good things to say about the hospitality they received at the halfway checkpoint that has now been named Tent City. All three also reported passing through a herd of Porcupine Caribou that numbered in the thousands yesterday afternoon. William Kleedehn says that he has never seen anything like that in his life before.

All in all the three mushers are really happy to be in Old Crow, and they are excited about continuing the race and getting back on to the trail and returning to Eagle Plains. We have a busy day starting tomorrow morning with breakfast, followed by a meet the mushers hot chocolate and marshmallow toast at the ski lodge here in Old Crow.

The race will restart out on the Porcupine River in front of town tomorrow afternoon, the official time will be decided at the mushers meeting tomorrow morning.

Race Update #4

At about 11:30 this morning we received a call from police cabin located about 60miles from Old Crow. We were given a report stating that All three teams camped out last night at police cabin to get out of the blizzard that rolled through the area last night. All teams are reported to be happy and in good condition. Musher William Kleedehn got back underway at 10:30am this morning followed Salomon Carrier at 11:30am. Kyla Boivin Was reported to still be camped out and will be getting ready to depart soon.

We now expect the first dog team to reach Old Crow shortly after 3 this afternoon.