Last Minute Changes

The Dagoo 340 has become the race of last minute changes, but I guess that's the way things go for first time events. Our team of snow cats has run into trouble on the winter road and has made the decision to re-route the trail. The trail will now follow the Porcupine River into the village of Old Crow. The trail will now follow the Old Crow winter access road to the Porcupine River at Anik Island and instead of crossing the river and continuing along the winter access road the race trail will turn and follow the Porcupine all the way into Old Crow. This trail alteration will add an additional 40-50 miles of trail to race. This will make the total trail distance of the race closer to 440 miles instead of 340 miles. This decision was made as our team of snow cats came to a creek crossing they determined to be impassable for all vehicles including dog teams, and in an emergency meeting of the planning committee a executive decision was made to re-route the trail in order to ensure the safety of all participants in the first ever running of The Dagoo 440 ?

The trail will now follow part of the historic trail between the village of Old Crow and Ft. MacPherson. At the confluence of the Bell and Porcupine Rivers The Dagoo 340 trail will join the trail for the Johnny Charlie Memorial Snowmobile Trip and continue onto the village of Old Crow.

Mushers will now need to prepare themselves for a longer trail, there will be an additional 50 miles in each direction. This trail change will also alter one of the race rules, the rule stating that all teams will be expected to arrive in Old Crow before Saturday March 24th at 4pm will be dropped. This rule change as well as the other recent rule changes will be discussed in full detail at the pre-race mushers meeting.

All mushers planning to run the race are encouraged to be at the Eagle Plains Lodge on Wednesday the 21st so that we can also make an attempt at starting the race earlier in the day on Thursday the 22nd. The Dagoo 340 Planning Committee wish to try and allow teams more time on the trail to ensure a high level of dog care and that all teams entering The Dagoo 340 arrive in Old Crow happy and healthy.

There will still be one check point along the trail between Eagle Plains and Old Crow, only it will be closer to the mid point of the trail and further away from the village Of Old Crow. Exact mileage between the checkpoints will be announced at the pre-race mushers meeting.

The Dagoo 340 Planning Committee would like to thank everyone for there continued support and we hope that some of these last minute changes will not discourage mushers from entering their teams in this event. The Dagoo 340 Planning Committee is still committed to making every effort to ensure that this event is held successfully and is fun for all participants, and we look forward to meeting everyone in Eagle Plains.