It was a beautiful day in Kangirsuk when Harry Okpik and Willie Kulula Sr. pulled in this morning, closely followed by two other teams: Novalinga Novalinga’s and Simeonie Elijasiapik’s. At midday, when four other teams –Peter “Boy” Ittukallak’s, the Beaulne brothers’, Adamie Inukpuk’s and Willie Cain Jr.’s– showed up on the horizon, it was definitely spring, as the sun shone high and warmed the already heated atmosphere. By nightfall, the four last teams that remain in the race were still on their way. They will be eagerly awaited for tomorrow, before the celebrations can begin.
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First to arrive in Kangirsuk this morning, as the community still awoke, Harry Okpik and partner Willie Kulula Sr. said they woke up at 4:30 AM to get ready to go, and left shortly thereafter to make sure that Novalinga Novalinga, who wasn’t far behind, wouldn’t pass them in their sleep, and that they could secure their fifth position. It was a good thing, because Novalinga Novalinga and his partner Adamie Angiyou showed up with their dogs just a half hour later, followed closely by Simeonie Elijasiapik and his son Arthur.

Simeonie must have done something right training his dog team this past winter, as their performance really improved in this year’s race. Last year, he was trailing behind, but this year he has moved up to the first half, finishing in seventh place. Or could it be thanks to his son, Arthur, who has accompanied him for this journey across Nunavik and has been running most of the way here? Either way, it certainly has paid off for them.

A second batch of dog teams arrived just after lunch, lead by Peter “Boy” Ittukallak and his athlete of a partner, fast runner Aisa Surusilak. Both got started in the middle of the night, at 1:30 AM, travelling in the dark for a while. This strategy lead them to pass a couple of other teams, which were still deeply asleep under the starry sky. But once the sun rose, it wasn’t long before the three other dog teams followed in their footstep. Shortly after Peter Boy’s team arrived in Kangirsuk, at midday, Juani Beaulne, leading his little brother Jani-Marik’s dogs, sprinted all the way across the finish line, to make sure Adamie Inukpuk, who had been tailing, wouldn’t catch up to them. As a matter of fact, this older musher, also known as “Nanook” for playing the role in the remake of Nanook of the North, a film about his grandfather’s nomadic life, pulled in just a minute later. And, a little while later, it was Willie Cain Jr.’s team to arrive in Kangirsuk, welcomed by his father, one of Nunavik’s governors, Tommy Cain Sr., and some other relatives that had made the trip especially to see him finish the race.

By the time these four other dog teams arrived in Kangirsuk, it was such a beautiful day out, the sun shining high and warm, that most arrived sunburned. But although all had gotten a nice tan from this last day out, they were also very tired from having sprinted all the way from Payne Lake to the finish line these last couple of days, and will certainly enjoy the little bit of rest that they will have in Kangirsuk until tomorrow’ night’s closing ceremony celebrations and their return home thereafter.

Later during the day, at around 2 o’clock in the afternoon, news from the safety patrol, posted at Qinguaq to ensure the safe passage of the remaining dog teams at this dangerous area of open water and icy terrain, reported that Adamie Qumak had made it through and was on his way up the steep hill that followed.

While he was climbing this long and winding slope, often covered with ice and sprinkled with sharp rocks along the way, the other three teams behind him had stopped for tea at the cabin where the safety patrol was awaiting them, to get some energy in them before climbing the giant wall. The mushers, shouting “Woh” at their dogs to stop, actually woke up the members of safety patrol, who had dozed off for an afternoon nap, while waiting for them.

The three teams fortunately made it all the way up the hill, just before nightfall. The trail being along a cliff, it was best to be climbing while there was still some daylight. Anyways, it would have been hard for the three teams to go off course, as they were following a trail of dog food, which the previous teams had probably been dropping unknowingly on their way up.

Having walked all the way up, the mushers and their partners were happy to finally get some rest, a little further on the trail. Andrew Novalinga, Poasi Kenuajuak’s partner, said he has lost so much weight on this trip that his pants, which were originally a little too tight, are now so loose that he had to tighten his belt.

By nightfall, Adamie Qumak was about 25 miles from Kangirsuk, while the other three teams behind settled camp just past Sangummaq, a cabin located at about 32 miles from town. Adamie should hence be first to arrive sometime tomorrow morning, while the others will be expected later in the afternoon.

However, even if Adamie Qumak arrives ahead of the three remaining dog teams, he will still be in last place, as the mandatory time off that the race official allowed him not to take, so as to not hold up the race’s progress, will have to be added to his time of arrival and total time. Same thing goes for Johnny Arnatuk, who will still be in the second to last place, even if he should arrive in front of the other two teams that he is travelling with.

Once all teams are in tomorrow (Tuesday), a feast will be held by the community to celebrate the mushers and their partners’ journey. This closing ceremony will also be the occasion for the much-coveted prizes to be distributed according to each team’s rank in this 2006 edition of the Ivakkak dog team race.

NOTE: 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.

IMPORTANT: Please also note that the race official are still 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.

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 2min 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.		Jusipi Lucassie (#11)		10:50:00 AM
13.		Poasi Kenuajuak (#10)		10:50:00 AM
14.		Johnny Arnatuk (#14)		10:50:00 AM
15.		Adamie Qumak (#7)		10:50:00 AM