The Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race returned to its traditional starting point for its 49th edition this year, and a large crowd, including school and daycare kids was gathered on King Street beside Parks Canada’s Old Post Office for the symbolic launch of Bib # 1, reserved by the Iron Man Mail Carrier for whom this race is named.
This year, the Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race is a 150-mile (241 km) dog sled race following the historic Yukon River mail route travelled by the legendary mail carrier Percy DeWolfe. The route heads to Fortymile, completes a loop, and returns to Dawson City.
Originally the race followed Percy’s route to Eagle, Alaska, and back, but COVID restrictions and a lack of continuous river ice in recent years have forced the race to change its length and routes.
Musher #2 this year was Eagle’s Jody Potts-Joseph, carrying the memorial mailbag filled with souvenir Percy postcards, presented to her by Dawson’s postmaster, Anne Lamarche, and a member of the RCMP.
At two minute intervals, the main teams followed, each counted down 10 to 1 by the crowd: #3 Michael Burtnick (Mendenhall), #4 Isabelle Nicolier (Eagle), and #5 Vico Fauveau (Whitehorse).
This year, mushers were required to take mandatory layovers totalling 8 hours, which could be divided between checkpoints along the route.
Next came the teams for the Percy Junior Race, a 100-mile (160 km) race from Dawson City to Fortymile and back: #6 Jimmy Lebling (Fairbanks), #7 Luc Tweddell (Mendenhall), #8 Jill Johnson (Dawson), #9 Nathaniel Hamlyn (Mendenhall), and #10 Sean de Wolski (Fairbanks).
These teams have to take a mandatory six-hour layover at Fortymile before returning to Dawson the following day, ensuring rest for both mushers and their teams.
The remaining race was for Skijor teams, and three of them (all from Dawson) met with a smaller crowd down on the ice bridge near the west bank at 1 p.m. First off was #12, Anna Claxton, followed by #13, Benoit Gervais, and #11, Melissa Antony.
The Percy Skijor is a 40-mile (64 km) race following a scenic route down to the Chandindu River and back to Dawson City. A warm-up tent was available along the route, providing an optional stop for skijorers to rest or regroup as needed. As it happened, this shelter was not needed on Friday.
It was a fine day for the race, with temperatures in the single minus digits, and no wind at either of the starting places. There was some sunshine, but the skies seemed to be clouding over shortly after noon, and that would help to keep the dogs from overheating. It used to be said that the optimum conditions for this race were -20 C and no wind. But then, this race used to happen during the third week in March, and the move to an earlier date was prompted in 2021 by the earlier spring weather.
The race hasn’t been able to make the Dawson to Eagle round trip since 2019 due to river and pandemic restrictions.
Claxton won the skijor race, arriving back in Dawson at 5:57 p.m.. Gervais came second at 6:08 p.m., and Antony pulled in at 6:33 p.m.
Events on Saturday, March 8
The weather for the return trips on Saturday was much less pleasant than on Friday and mushers complained that portions of the trail were covered by blowing snow and that it was sometimes hard to find the trail.
Teams from the Percy Junior 100 began arriving home shortly after 4 a.m. and were completely back in Dawson by 10:28 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Here are the posted rankings:
1st- Sean de Wolski in 9 hours 51 minutes.
2nd- Nathaniel Hamlyn in 12 hours 15 minutes.
3rd- Luc Tweddell in 13 hours 26 minutes.
4th- Jill Johnson in 13 hours 28 minutes (includes a one-hour penalty for not wearing bib at finish).
5th- Jimmy Lebling in 16 hours 10 minutes.
Mushers from the Percy 150 began arriving in Dawson just after noon on Saturday.
1st- Michael Burtnick arrived in Dawson at 12:08 p.m., for a time of 18 hours.
2nd- Jody Potts-Joseph arrived in Dawson at 1:22 p.m., in 19 hours 14 minutes.
3rd- Vico Fauveau arrived in Dawson at 2:06 p.m., in 19 hours 58 minutes.
4th- Isabelle Nicolier arrived in Dawson at 6:52 p.m., in 24 hours 44 minutes.
Dan Davidson taught in Beaver Creek, Faro, and Dawson from 1976-2008. Since 1977 he has been writing reviews, news and commentary for the Whitehorse Star and What’s Up Yukon, and recently for the late Yukon Star. In 1989 he helped to found the Klondike Sun, which he edited for 31 years, and remains on its board of directors.
