On Tuesday 2/11 at 13:51pm AKST Brent and his team of 11 dogs passed the finish line in Whitehorse, as the first of 11 finishing teams.
Team Wild and Free’s official race time was 10 days, 2 hours, and 9 minutes.
This year’s race was a good one – there was a good race put on by competitors Michelle Phillips and Brent. In the end, after the mandatory 8 hours rest at the Braeburn checkpoint Brent and the 11 dogs still on his team put down the hammer and showed they were the true champions of this year’s Yukon Quest.
This year offered large sections of challenging trail conditions, and Brent and dogs (as well as all other teams) had to work hard for this one.
Our dogs did amazing and we’re so proud of the team! We started with 14 strong dogs, and finished with 11 amazing hard working dogs. We had three dogs dropped throughout the race – Kutuk in Circle, Evo at Slaven’s Roadhouse dog drop and Jeep at Pelly crossing. All three dogs were dropped for minor issues, they’re all recovering well/doing great and are in the running to make the team for Iditarod in March.
We had an AMAZING team behind Brent and the 14 dogs again this year, and we want to take a moment to thank all of these team members because they all play a huge role in this win, with a special shout out to the ones that were physically traveling down the trail (road) with us..
Mike and Sue Ellis – for handling and providing amazing dog care and support with dog care throughout the whole season. For their expertise and love for our team (humans and dogs) as well as the amazing food they provided for Brent on the trail, and Mike and Ida at the dog camp in Dawson. These two are heroes in our eyes!
Steve Stoller – THE handler extraordinaire. Thank you for ALL that you do, from safely driving the “war wagon” (dog truck) all over the place for this monster of a race, to providing help with prep like hotel bookings but maybe most of all for the SMILES and good vibes and the care for Brent during the 36 hour mandatory rest in Dawson.
Mark Sass – Brent’s dad who has played a role in all Brent’s Yukon Quest’s from the very first one to this latest one. Mark makes sure our truck is in good shape before the monster drive to/from Whitehorse (with a detour to Dawson) and he helps with all sorts of logistics before and after the race. Mark is also somewhat a “trail angel” where he pitches in and helps handlers who might need some assistance along the way.
At the Finish Banquet on Saturday 2/15 in Whitehorse Brent was dealt the Joe Feller’s Dawson Award for arriving first to Dawson, the brand new trophy for winning the race (presented to Brent by the latest, before Brent, champion – Allen Moore), and the two lead dogs Woody and Morello who did an INCREDIBLE job received the Golden Harness Award.
We want to send out a HUGE heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported Wild and Free so far throughout training and racing this season – you all mean so much to us and we really can’t thank you enough!
Now that we’re back home we are turning our eyes, and energy, toward the 2020 Iditarod with start March 7th – we hope that you all will join us in cheering for Brent and our amazing dogs there too!?
