Since de
parting from Kangirsuk, mushers have had an uninvited follower – a wolf, one that at times got all 182 dogs howling during the night. After spending the night at Nuluartalik, the mushers woke up at daybreak to chilly temperatures. The teams departed at 9 AM to make their way to Aupaluk. The trail had snow drifts (qimutjuk in Inuktitut) alongside them, resulted from the previous two day snowstorm. Today’s weather conditions are mild with snow flurries clearing up by mid afternoon.
Peter Kiatainaq was the first to cross the community checkpoint at 12:49 PM. Charlie Elijassiapik, the last to arrive at 1:57 PM, had been trailed by the wolf so closely that he was almost forced to take his gun out.
One of Ivakkak’s finest members of the support crew, Eyitsiak Nungak of Kangirsuk, got injured and suffered a broken leg while trying to catch a loose dog by snowmobile. His attempt at catching the dog was unsuccessful and he turned back, heading towards his qamutik. As he went down a small slope he ran into a hard snowdrift and lost control of the machine. He was picked up by a helicopter and was admitted to the Ungava Tulattavik Health Center in Kuujjuaq. He is in stable condition. Racers continued on their journey after hearing a message from Eyitsiak stating that he did not want to be the cause of the race ending early.
The distance covered today by the dog teams was 41 kilometers. The plan tomorrow is to leave Aupaluk at 9 AM and to arrive in Tasiujaq the same day. If this is successful, it will be the longest distance coverage in Ivakkak’s 10 year history.
Please note that racers times have been readjusted. We apologize for the previous miscalculations.
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RESULTS AS OF: March 29, 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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