Dog teams get a warm welcome back home after the race


13_ID_2006After celebrating their successful journey across Nunavik, the dog teams who participated in the 2006 edition of Ivakkak were flown back home, courtesy of Air Inuit, the region’s airline. After having covered 525 kilometres (330 miles) from coast to coast, the mushers and their racing partners were happy to get home, where their arrival was once again celebrated. Meanwhile, the race official and some members of the safety patrol, who had to go back home to Puvirnituq by snowmobile, had quite a journey back on the trail.

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A few of the dog teams got to go home the day right after the race’s closing ceremony, on Wednesday, April 5. Unfortunately for the other teams left in Kangirsuk, the weather, which was really good throughout most of the race, suddenly turned bad, and they had to wait around a little while longer. Bad weather up the coast, first prevented some teams to go home, and then it was freezing rain and a low cloud ceiling that prevented the plane, a HS-748 equipped with 34 dog cages for the occasion, from coming back to Kangirsuk to get the remaining teams. But, a couple of days later, everybody had made it home safely, happy to see their family and friends.

Upon his arrival home in Kangiqsujuaq, the three-time Ivakkak champion, Peter Kiatainaq, and his racing partner, young Peter Qisiiq, were welcomed by a crowd of many gathered at the airport to congratulate them. A feast was even held in their honour. Other teams, although not the winners of this year’s Ivakkak, were treated just as well by their fellow community members, who celebrated them as their own champions. As soon as they stepped off the plane, everybody rushed towards them to shake their hand, and then hoisted them up on their sled, cheering and applauding their feat.

Meanwhile, the race official and safety patrol members that were from Puvirnituq, who were also on their way back home, but by snowmobile, had quite an adventure on the trail. As they were about to leave their camp in Qinguaq, where they had decided to stop on their way to do a little fishing and catch some of the delicious Arctic char that the Payne River delivers near Kangirsuk, a storm came about and made everything around them disappear in a whiteout, preventing them from going anywhere further than a couple of steps outside the cabin. And when the weather finally cleared up enough for them to get going, a herd of thousands of caribou passing by was suddenly blocking the trail. They hence had to postpone their departure a little while longer, taking advantage of the “road block” to hunt some caribou for themselves.

Once they finally got going, they soon discovered that the trail that the dog teams had been following on their way between Puvirnituq and Kangirsuk was no longer, at least in some parts. The heavy wet snow and rain, and mild temperatures, had not only made the ice of some rivers drop, letting some water flow on top, but in some areas, as they neared Payne Lake, there was simply patches of open water, which they had to go around. Fortunately, they all made it home, not without some efforts of course, but safe and sound, and happy with their catch along the way of this new adventure across Nunavik.

NOTES ON RESULTS:

The race officials kept using Eastern Standard Time (EST), as adjusting their clock one hour later to Daylight Saving Time (DST) would have made the total times of the dog teams during this race one hour too long. Instead, using the standard time, it is really reflecting the actual time that they took to make it to from Puvirnituq to Kangirsuk.

Also note that all the dog teams’ start times from Puvirnituq were adjusted back to 10:50 AM during their mandatory rest at the Payne Lake camp. For example, if they had left one minute after 10:50 AM, they were allowed to leave the halfway checkpoint one minute earlier. If they had left two minutes after 10:50 AM, they were allowed to leave two minutes earlier, and so on. This was done so that the teams would arrive in the order of their actual rank at the finish line in Kangirsuk.

Finally, note that the two teams that were last to arrive at the halfway checkpoint in Payne Lake, one day behind all the other teams, were allowed to leave the camp before their 36-hour mandatory rest was over. Hence, to be fair to the other teams who had stopped for the prescribed 36 hours, the time not taken to rest by Johnny Arnatuk and Adamie Qumak’s dog teams, had to be added to their arrival time, to make up their total time. Johnny Arnatuk’s break was cut short by 15 hours 12 minutes and 33 seconds, which brings his team to the second to last place, while Adamie Qumak left the halfway checkpoint 20 hours 19 minutes and 15 seconds before his time, making him the last, but not least, even though he passed a total of three teams on his way to Kangirsuk.

Rank Racer Start Arrival Arrival date Total Time
1. Peter Kiatainaq (#2) 10:50:00 AM 6:11:48 PM April 1 5 days 7hrs 21min 48sec
2. Tamusi Sivuaraapik (#15) 10:50:00 AM 0:07:40 April 2 5 days 13hrs 17min 40sec
3. John Jack Séguin (#8) 10:50:00 AM 1:03:00 AM April 2 5 days 14hrs 13min
4. Matthew Nassak (#16) 10:50:00 AM 9:58:22 PM April 2 6 days 11hrs 8min 22sec
5. Harry Okpik (#5) 10:50:00 AM 8:08:00 AM April 3 6 days 21hrs 18min
6. Novalinga Novalinga (#3) 10:50:00 AM 8:40:39 AM April 3 6 days 21hrs 50min 39sec
7. Simeonie Elijasiapik (#9) 10:50:00 AM 8:44:58 AM April 3 6 days 21hrs 54min 58 sec
8. Peter Ittukallak (#1) 10:50:00 AM 12:43:46 April 3 7 days 1hr 53min 46sec
9. Jani-Marik Beaulne (#12) 10:50:00 AM 12:51:42 April 3 7 days 2hrs 1min 42sec
10. Adamie Inukpuk (#4) 10:50:00 AM 12:52:46 April 3 7 days 2hrs 2min 46sec
11. Willie Cain Jr. (#6) 10:50:00 AM 1:07:43 PM April 3 7 days 2hrs 17min 43sec
12. Poasi Kenuajuak (#10) 10:50:00 AM 4:51:00 PM April 4 8 days 6hrs 1min
13. Etua Lucassie (#11) 10:50:00 AM 5:00:00 PM April 4 8 days 6hrs 10min
14. Johnny Arnatuk (#14) 10:50:00 AM 3:10:00 PM April 4 8 days 20hrs 32min 33sec
15. Adamie Qumak (#7) 10:50:00 AM 12:00 April 4 8 days 21hrs 29min 15sec

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