At the top of the world in the Yukon and Alaska wilderness of northwestern North America, the Yukon Quest 1,000 Mile International Sled Dog Race, an epic winter sports event takes place every year on the first Saturday of February.
One might ask, how many tries does it take to win the Yukon Quest Dog Sled Race? Much of the answer lies in your own personal conviction and dedication to the sport, along with your ability to build an incredible connection with your dogs and support team. Years of dedication are needed if a musher hopes to even complete, much less win, and that's certainly the case for Veteran Yukon Musher Frank Turner.
As written in the February 23rd 1995 edition of the Whitehorse Star, "It took him 12 tries to do it, but at 4:40 this morning Alaska time, Frank Turner finally won his first Yukon Quest. He did it in record fashion. No other winner has ever turned in the 10-day, 16-hour, 18 minute performance that the 47-year-old Whitehorse resident did".
Turner's record setting time stood for the next dozen years, just recently broken by the late dog musher Lance Mackie, who crossed the finish line nearly six hours faster than anyone else in history. To Turner's legacy, he was also entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as "the musher with the most times to take part in the annual Yukon Quest sled dog race is 23 by Frank Turner (Canada) between 1984 and 2008", a record that has yet to be broken.
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I hope you enjoy this podcast and I thank you for joining me as a "M.A.Y.L. carrier”, as we proudly deliver our amazing Yukon life stories to the outside world.
Cheers
“Trapper Dan your Renaissance Man”
Daniel Halen