As soon as they got settled in Quaqtaq, the mushers and their partners got busy preparing for the start, scheduled for 9 o’clock on Monday morning, March 5. Most of the weekend was hence spent making last minute repairs to their sleds, tuning the sled runners to make them slicker and faster, clipping their dogs’ nails and cutting the hair around their paws’ cushions to prevent snow from accumulating and injuring them, etc. Some time was of course also spent stocking up on food and supplies at the local Co-op and packing all this on their sleds in the best way possible. The sun shining high in a bright blue sky all weekend long, some of the mushers also took their dogs out for a ride to check out the trail ahead and enjoy the nice weather. Let’s just hope Mother Nature is still in a good mood for the start tomorrow…

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At the end of a beautiful day, Saturday, March 3, the group of mushers and their partners met together to go over the rules and logistics of this year’s race, to make sure everybody is on the same page. Some time was also spent going over the starting line location and to study the trail ahead. (To find out more about the rules and have a look at the race trail, go to the Race Information menu.)

During the meeting, race number bibs were also drawn for each dog team to wear, and to determine in which order they will be starting Monday morning, March 5 (see the list below or click on Participants under the Race Coverage menu to find out who the participants are and what their race number is). Superstitious, the Inuit mushers decided to leave the dreaded number 13 out of the draw. Harry Okpik was the lucky one who ended up with #1 and will hence be the first one to cross the starting line. Since he is from Quaqtaq and knows the area quite well, he will be leading the way for the other teams that will follow. Three-time champion Peter Kiatainaq, who drew #10 will be starting further behind and will therefore have to catch up to defend his title.

Meanwhile, the race officials and the rest of the small snowmobile crew that will act as a safety patrol were on their way to Quaqtaq, checking the trail and marking potentially hazardous areas.

During this weekend spent in Quaqtaq, some dog teams also took the opportunity to go check out the trail ahead with their dogs, to have a better idea of what they’ll be up against when comes the time to say “Uit, uit!” and go.

But on Sunday afternoon, all were back in town to prepare for their journey. A big part of the afternoon was spent shopping at the local Co-op for food and supplies. Each team also picked up a couple of bags of Red Paw dry dog food, purchased and offered to the participating dog teams by the Federation of Cooperatives of Northern Quebec (FCNQ), thanks to generous discounts from Red Paw Feed, a company that specializes in making sled dogs performance food (see www.redpawfeed.com for more details). The dogs will be hauling all these supplies, which their masters have to carry on their sled until the next checkpoint in Kangiqsujuaq, where they will be able to stock up again, and again in Salluit for the last stretch of the race.

On this Sunday night, all are now busy packing for the great journey they’re about to begin, making sure everything is ready for the big day tomorrow.

We wish them all the best!