The Yukon Quest Alaska (YQA) headquarters buzzed with dog talk and occasional door prize announcements as mushers put their name in to race the 750-mile and 80-mile races on sign-up day Saturday.

Among the six mushers who came in person to throw their hat in the ring for the 750 is last year’s champion Jeff Deter along with veteran musher Jason Macky and his son Pactrick. Rookie Shane Blumentritt and veterans Josie Shelley and Jonah Bacon rounded out the list.

Mushers sat and chatted after they signed on the dotted line, catching up, drinking coffee, talking about the race and of course, their dogs.

The Quest is the longest it’s been since the 2022 division from the 1,000-mile international race between Fairbanks and White Horse. In the past few years YQA has put on multiple races at di

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