newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — The Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race will have a minimum purse of $150,000 in 2010, the Alaska and Yukon boards of directors announced Wednesday.

Quest Alaska executive director Tania Simpson said sponsorship commitments and community response “gave us the confidence” to announce the minimum.

Simpson did not attribute any major contributor or factor to the $150,000 purse.

The 1,000-mile race from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, Yukon, will begin Feb. 6.

In the past, a purse has been announced as part of the rules published in June and mushers were continually notified of any changes in the prize, but the purse was not part of the 2010 rules.

Instead, the Quest announced a minimum for the purse four days before sign-ups begin Saturday.

“We are thrilled to be able to announce a guaranteed minimum purse at this early stage of the year,” stated Al Doherty, president of the Quest’s Yukon board, in a press release.

The 2009 purse was set at $200,000 when the rules were published in June 2008, but effects of the national economic downturn changed it to $154,000, Simpson said.

Yukon musher Sebastian Schnuelle won the 2009 race in February, edging Hugh Neff by four minutes to take home $30,000. Schnuelle’s win set a record of nine days, 23 hours, and 20 minutes.

The purse has varied from $125,000 to $200,000 in recent years, said Simpson, who announced in May that she was stepping down from her position.

Alaska board president Andy Anger was unavailable for comment Wednesday evening.

Among changes in the 2010 race from Fairbanks to Whitehorse is the shifting of a mandatory layover from the Two Rivers checkpoint to the stop at Mile 101 Steese Highway — which used to be a dog drop but is now a checkpoint.

Two Rivers is 45 miles from the 2010 quest start on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks. Mile 101 is 127 miles from the start.

That extra distance will help veterinarians better assess the dogs’ health.