Saturday, March 17, 2012, as of 11 PM – Half of the Ivakkak 2012 participating dog teams made it to Tasiujaq so far. Peter Kiatainaq’s, Novalinga Novalinga’s, Junior May, Willie Cain Jr., Peter Ittukallak, Willie Kulula and their race partners were all welcomed like heroes by the members of this tight-knit community nestled on the shore of Leaf Bay. Allen Gordon, who suffered a knee injury on the trail last night, unfortunately had to abandon the race and headed back home to Kuujjuaq. As for Noah Ningiuruvik’s team, who left Kuujjuaq this morning, they are now camped out on the trail about halfway between Kuujjuaq and Tasiujaq. Meanwhile, there are still four teams back in Kuujjuaq, waiting for the weather to improve to hit the road, as the race is now on hold due to a blizzard warning.
The day started early for Peter Ittukallak’s team, which took off from Kuujjuaq at the crack of dawn this morning, at 5:25 AM, as scheduled. When Noah Ningiuruvik’s team left the region’s “metropolis”, at around 8 AM, the sun was shining, but the wind was blowing cold.
Meanwhile, Allen Gordon’s team had already decided to turn back. Having injured his knee while climbing a hill alongside his dogs last night, the Kuujjuaq musher had no choice but to abandon the race. Having trained his dogs all winter long, preparing for this race, not to mention that he was in the top three when the unfortunate event took place, it was with great regret that he started to head back home, after spending the night in a cabin at Qalialuk. (Note: The Race Trail PDF maps can be downloaded from the Race Information section of this website for more details on this location and others mentioned below.)
For Peter Kiatainaq’s leading team, which was the first one to pull in Tasiujaq this morning, at 9:34 AM, it was one less team to worry about. The already five-time Ivakkak champion (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2011), had run his dog team until late last night, only stopping for a few hours’ rest at a place called Tasiujatuqaq, where one of Ivakkak 2012′s safety and communications’ crew, joined by Sandy Saunders, had set up camp, to ensure a safe passage on the steep hill.
When they arrived in Tasiujaq, Peter Kiatainaq and his son were greeted by many who had braved the cold to see them arrive. Made up of Markusie Annahatak, Matthew Nayome, Junior Saunders, Silasie Kudluk and Moses Kritik Jr., the community’s support crew, as well as a group of volunteers, including Nicoti Kritik and Jimmy Angnatuk, to name only a few, was already in place, spearheading this joyous welcoming committee.
By the time the next teams started coming in, it was already past lunch time and the weather seemed to want to improve, as the wind calmed down for a little while. Within half an hour, three teams came in. Surprisingly, Novalinga Novalinga’s and Junior May’s team came in, at 1:39 PM and 1:50 PM respectively, before Willie Cain Jr.’s.
Although Willie had run his dogs until late last night, stopping only around 11 PM to settle for the night at a cabin in Illuvigaalurtalik, both Novalinga Novalinga’s and Junior May’s teams had pushed on later in the night, stopping further on the trail to camp out, after having passed the young Tasiujaq musher. But since Willie Cain Jr.’s team was heading home, his dogs quickly started catching up, picking up the pace as they started to smell their homeland when they got to Makimmatalik, approaching Tasiujaq. Needless to say that when the local team showed up not too long after, at 2:04 PM, many had made it out to welcome them back home.
But the excitement wasn’t over yet. Around suppertime, two more dog teams came in sight, that of Peter Ittukallak and Willie Kulula, who raced all the way to the checkpoint’s finish line, coming in only one minute apart: Peter Ittukallak’s at 6:34 PM and Willie Kulula’s at 6:35 PM. Once this enthralling race was over, the two mushers gave each other the high five and hugged, before everybody else witness of this engaging event joined in.
Interesting enough, the Puvirnituq dog team owned by the one they call Peter Boy is the only one that made it from Kuujjuaq to Tasiujaq the same day. As race official Charlie Alaku pointed out, he was also the only one carrying a bible with him, an item optional on the carry-on equipment checklist. Perhaps the extra weight on his sled gave him God Speed.
Not too long after, out on the trail, Noah Ningiuruvik, who’s daughter Minnie was tired, decided to park his dogs on the trail, and got picked up by snowmobile to go spend the night back at the nearest safety and communications camp, where she will be able to get the rest needed and where they will both be more comfortable to wait out the snowstorm that was already starting by the time they got settled around 8:30 PM.
Due to the blizzard warning issued by Environment Canada for the area surrounding Tasiujaq, where, by 10 PM, one could barely see across the street, the race officials decided to put the race on hold for 24 hours, once again. Nobody should be moving tomorrow, whether from Tasiujaq or Kuujjuaq, where it also started to snow.
