Ivakkak mushers celebrate after 10 days and 530 kilometres of racing
Dogsledders looked happy but snowburned at Saturday closing ceremony
Aisa Surusila and Piita James Napartuk of Puvirnituq hoist their trophies Saturday after winning the annual Ivakkak dogsled race in Nunavik. The race saw eight teams compete in a course that took them across Nunavik, from Akulivik to the finish line in Quaqtaq. (Photo courtesy of Ivakkak)
Finishing third on the opening day of the Ivakkak dogsled race didn’t hold back a team of Puvirnituq mushers, who went on to dominate the 530-kilometre race and were awarded top prize at a ceremony Saturday night in Quaqtaq.
The winning team of Aisa Surusila and Piita James Napartuk are carried by the other mushers after capturing first place in the Ivakkak race on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Ivakkak)
Aisa Surusila and Piita James Napartuk won the race title with an overall time of 49 hours, seven minutes and 57 seconds after 10 days of racing on the Arctic snow.
The competition opened March 18 in Akulivik and ended in Quaqtaq, where the closing ceremony was held, with some rest days built in.
Eight teams started the race and six completed it. Conditions were icy cold for much of the race time — average temperatures in Nunavik ranged from -39 C to -18 C, with the thermometer hitting a high of -9 C on March 23, according to Environment Canada.
Second place overall went to the team of Charlie Angnatuk and Itsaja Angnatuk of Tasiujaq, with a time of 50:36:38. Third-place finishers were Willie Cain Jr. and Shawn Aullaluk of Tasiujaq and Akulivik, in a time of 51:11:27.
Those teams remained in the top three during every leg of the race, only occasionally changing places.
After finishing third on the opening day, the team of Surusila and Napartuk took the lead and never looked back, leaving the other two teams to fight over second and third place.
Even on the final day of racing Saturday morning, dogs were still charging into their reins eager to start even after having travelled more than 450 kilometres since leaving Akulivik.
They had close to 80 kilometres still ahead of them at that point, and teams began arriving at the finish point in Quaqtaq at around 4 p.m.
That evening’s closing ceremony included a country feast with music and dancing. A livestream of the festivities showed several mushers looking snowburned and exhausted; one team member could be seen dozing off.
Awesome race – Thank you everyone that joined in from the very start to the finish line.
Look at these guys faces , cold or what !!