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class="content__text" Saturday morning mushers were getting ready with their dogs to embark on the Yukon Quest 2023. This year, 16 mushers with teams of up to 12 dogs are competing for prize money. Racers had the option of choosing a 100-mile (160-kilometre) race to Braeburn, Yukon, a 250-mile (402-kilometre) race to Pelly Crossing, Yukon, or a 450-mile (724-kilometre) race to Dawson City, Yukon. This is the first year in the event's 38-year history that one of the races will end in Dawson City, and the second year that it has not been an international race across the Alaskan border. Frank Turner, who was part of the group that planned the original race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1984, was among the crowd on Saturday. Turner, a veteran musher and former Yukon Quest champ who has run the race dozens of time, was cheering with emotion for the latest edition of the race. "We may love the mushers, but what makes this race is the dogs," Turner said. "They have been part of the history and culture of the North. This is just a celebration of this." The Yukon Quest race starts regardless of weather and lasts from 10 to 16 days until the final dog team arrives at the finish line. (Photos: Evan Mitsui/CBC News; Reporting: Virginie Ann/CBC North) #CBC #CBCNews #Yukon #Alaska #SledRace #YukonQuest #Musher #SledDogs

February 13, 2023