The dog teams, who crossed the tree line yesterday afternoon, are now approaching Kuujjuaraapik, also known as Great Whale, where the race is expected to end tomorrow. Everybody is giving their 100% and more, trying to make up time to catch up to the leaders. On this second to last day, the overall times of the top five contenders are getting tighter, making it hard to tell who will end up in which position. We’ll only find out tomorrow…
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A light snow was falling as the participants got out of their tents this morning. But the cloudy morning soon turned out to be a beautiful day in the sun, the temperature rising to reach a confortable 5° C below zero.
As the dog teams are now entering deeper in tree country, some participants found themselves going towards the land, instead of following the trail running on the sea ice, their dogs probably thinking that the trees were people in the horizon.
This misconception unfortunately lead Harry Okpik to experience some problems this morning, as his dogs pulled him to rougher terrain. As his sled suddenly got stuck on a block of ice, Harry found himself ejected, his dogs running off without him. Fortunately, Jacusie Ittukallak, the race official was nearby and kindly returned Harry to his dogs. But the harm was already done, causing Harry to lose some precious time, making him fall to the fifth position at the end of the day.
For the boys from Kangiqsujuaq, it was a totally different story, as Peter Kiatainaq left his closest rival, Junior May, behind by 20 minutes. Losing ground to Peter since they left Umiujaq, Junior will have to make up for lost time somehow if he wants to claim the lead again before the end of the race.
Peter’s younger friend, Juusipi Qisiiq, a rookie to Ivakkak, also had a very good day, arriving at camp not too long after Peter and Junior. Gaining experience each day, perhaps if the race had gone on for a little longer, who knows, Juusipi might have caught up to the top five contenders…
All in all, the dogs were running at a good pace, the first teams having sustained an average speed of 10 miles per hour for the last couple of days. Considering that most teams are not used to trail through the trees, their home communities being above the tree line, it’s not bad at all!
With around 25 miles to go before the race comes to an end, all dog teams should arrive in Kuujjuaraapik around lunch time tomorrow, weather permits. Let’s see who can keep up the pace all the way to Kuujjuaraapik to be the first to cross the finish line and win the Ivakkak 2004 Cup.
Best of luck to all dog teams!
| Rank |  |
Racer | |
Today’s Time | |
Total Time |
| 1. | |
Peter Kiatainaq | |
4 hrs 26 min 30 sec | |
25 hrs 23 min 7 sec |
| 2. |
|
Junior May | |
4 hrs 43 min 24 sec | |
25 hrs 43 min 25 sec |
| 3. |
|
Bobby Novalinga | |
5 hrs 1 min 32 sec | |
26 hrs 45 min 25 sec |
| 4. |
|
Tamusi Sivuaraapik | |
4 hrs 50 min 58 sec | |
27 hrs 9 min 33 sec |
| 5. |
|
Harry Okpik | |
6 hrs 7 min 10 sec | |
27 hrs 57 min 1 sec |
| 6. |
|
Adamie Inukpuk | |
5 hrs 21 min 47 sec | |
29 hrs 53 min 43 sec |
| 7. |
|
Aisara Kenuayuak | |
4 hrs 55 min 23 sec | |
30 hrs 6 min 23 sec |
| 8. |
|
Willie Kulula Sr. | |
4 hrs 58 min 28 sec | |
30 hrs 17 min 29 sec |
| 9. |
|
Juusipi Qisiiq | |
4 hrs 50 min 57 sec | |
31 hrs 56 min 32 sec |
| 10. |
|
Willie Cain Jr. | |
5 hrs 51 min 15 sec | |
33 hrs 35 min 18 sec |
| 11. |
|
Nutaraaluk Iyaituk | |
6 hrs 47 sec | |
33 hrs 48 min 7 sec |
| 12. |
|
Matthew Nassak | |
6 hrs 18 min 31 sec | |
33 hrs 49 min 43 sec |
| 13. |
|
Simeonie Elijassiapik | |
5 hrs 58 min 45 sec | |
36 hrs 33 min 40 sec |
| 14. |
|
George Annanack | |
6 hrs 39 min 43 sec | |
38 hrs 35 min 52 sec |
| 15. |
|
Adamie Qumak | |
6 hrs 55 min | |
43 hrs 22 min 19 sec |
