After 17 long days out on the land since the Ivakkak 2007 start in Quaqtaq, on March 6, the seventh edition of the dog team race ended today in Salluit, no less than 450 kilometres covered, up and down hills, through many snowstorms. Peter Kiatainaq’s dog team was once again the first to cross the finish line, to win the Ivakkak dog team race for the fourth consecutive year, as he also won Ivakkak 2004, 2005 and 2006. He was followed a couple of minutes later by 65-year-old Tamusi Sivuaraapik, who was the first Ivakkak champion ever in 2001, and finishes second this year. About an hour later, it was Ivakkak 2002 champion’s turn to cross the finish line to finish third. The last one to cross the finish line was Daniel Annanack, who although he came in a good four hours after this year’s champion, was just happy to finish the race on his own, running beside his dogs with a big smile on his face. Three other dog teams dropped out of the race on this last day, not able to finish on their own: Johnny “Akutaq” Angnatuk’s and Etua Lucassie’s, as well as Zachariasie Elijassiapik’s, who got sick along the way. All in all, 11 out of 17 dog teams finished the race from Quaqtaq all the way to Salluit. Congratulations to all of them! Before the community celebrates their victory over this long journey, the mushers and their partners will be given a night’s rest tonight. The closing ceremony and award of prizes will take place tomorrow. Stay tuned for more details…

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The many snowstorms that hit this northern part of Nunavik made for a much longer race than expected. The bad weather, not to mention the rough trail of nearly 450 kilometres that the dog teams had to go through, up and down significant hills and against the cold winter wind, got the better of the dog teams participating in this year’s tough challenge, probably one of the toughest of its kind. With very tired men and dogs, Makivik Corporation, which organizes the event, along with the race officials, decided that it was time to end the race, before something really went wrong, not to mention that a lot of the young partners involved in this year’s race were starting to miss an awful lot of school. Of course, since it was decided to end the race in Salluit, Makivik will make sure that Ivujivik, the community where Ivakkak 2007 was originally going to end in, and whose people are certainly disappointed not to see the dog teams come this year, will play a big part in the next race, which could perhaps start there.