Allen Moore Won the Quest

WHOOHOO!!

The SPKennel black team, driven by Allen Moore, won the 2013 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, and they did it running away from the competition.  Allen left the Two Rivers check point only 16 minutes ahead of Hugh Neff, and arrived under the finish banner in Fairbanks an hour and 1/2 ahead of the musher from Tok. 

The SP Kennel crew posted some good video of Allen's finish on YouTube.  I was tempted to embed it here, but I think would be more fun for you to see in the SPKennel blog instead.  Allen said his team passed their home trail without so much as a hiccup, so all of that training this year paid off.

Of course, Allen and his wife, Aliy Zirkle, are the only husband and wife combination in history to share champion status in a 1,000 mile sled dog race.  That's pretty stinkin' awesome. 

Hugh Neff ran a really good race and made Allen earn his first 1,000 mile race victory.  In the end it came down to speed, and those little SP race dogs can be a high velocity crew when they wish. 

Brent Sass moseyed along from the Two Rivers checkpoint, and Jake Berkowitz was gaining ground on him most of the day.  Brent left Two Rivers at 7:50 this morning and crossed the finish line 9 hours and 59 minutes later.  Allen did the same run in 8 hours, 23 minutes.  It took Hugh Neff 9 hours, 23 minutes. 

As I write, Jake Berkowitz is still on the trail into town, but should be arriving just about any minute.  He left the checkpoint at 9:45 this morning, and the live tracking shows him only about 2 miles out.  He's been making really good time today.

Virtually guaranteed a fifth place finish, Scott Smith left Two Rivers at 6:24 this evening.  None of the other mushers have arrived at Two Rivers, though Markus Ingebretsen and Normand Casavant are both en route.  Abbie West, Susan Rogan and Dan Kaduce are all still up at Mile 101.

I am looking forward to getting some R&R from work.  My laundry is tumbling in the dryer, I've dug my car out of the snow, and all that's left is to pack my bag.  I'll be leaving here around 8:30 tomorrow morning.