The spirit of the Percy, which began with the Iron Man of the North, is still alive and well this year
There won’t be a Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race this year, but to keep the idea alive, the smaller-than-usual new board has decided to hold what they’re calling a Fun Mail Run, which will kick off from near the ferry landing at the end of Front Street on March 7 at 10 a.m.
The new race committee this year is so far composed of Dany Jette, John Mitchell and Anthony Da Costa Maia. These three are hoping to recruit a few more, but it’s late in the game to mount a full event this year. There are other volunteers carrying out a variety of tasks, planning logistics and creating the trail.
This last task used to be easier when the Yukon Quest passed by here on the way to Fairbanks, but that hasn’t happened for several years now. Mitchell has been organizing the trail preparation this year and reported this week (as of February 10) that a trail has been broken out as far as Forty Mile.
“The weather events with the snow and the wind made it a lot smoother and it’s actually pretty good, except for a section around Cassiar Creek,” Mitchell said.
This year’s run will normally follow the Yukon River on the east bank, down to Clinton Creek and west along the Fortymile River. Between COVID restrictions and river conditions, it has not been possible to make the traditional round trip to Eagle, Alaska (and back), since 2019.
The race was created in memory of the route followed by the Iron Man of the North, mail carrier Percy DeWolfe, who carried mail on the river in all seasons from 1915 to 1950.
In other years on this alternate route, it has been the practice to overnight at Forty Mile, but the heritage infrastructure there was wiped out by last spring’s flooding. So this year’s plan is to proceed to Earl Rolf and Sandy Vaisvil’s Clinton Creek Hideaway, where mushers will be able to spend the night.
The next day, mushers will come up the Clinton Creek Road to the Top of the World Highway and make their way back to Dawson on this beautiful scenic route (and hope it’s a nice clear day).
This year, the new committee has simple goals. The Fun Run (not a race) is to honour the spirit of Percy by having a Fun Mail Run in the Yukon wilderness and to help each other out on the trail. Mushers will be 100 per cent responsible for their own safety and their dogs’ safety throughout the event.
The trail distance is about 130 miles (209 kilometres).
The rules are simple:
- Be safe.
- Have fun.
(We do encourage running with nine dogs, just as Percy did back in the day, but we won’t be monitoring this at all!)
What will be provided? The committee has posted the following:
- A mushers’ meeting, the evening before the race, to provide information and to gather before hitting the trail. And to pick a musher who would potentially carry a small bag of mail.
- A Start and Finish location where mushers will be able to park their vehicles and hit the trail safely.
- A marked trail, which we’ll update you on at the mushers’ meeting, because one thing is sure these days—trail conditions change constantly!
- An event on the evening of Saturday, March 9, to celebrate a fun gathering of mushers and which will also be a fundraiser for the Percy, so we can get back on track to hopefully offer you a proper full-on event next year!
- We will also try to have a vet at the Finish Line, to help with any possible dog issues.
At this point, the committee has no idea how many teams will turn out for a Fun Run, with no prize money and that isn’t even a qualifying contest for the longer races, but the Percy started out as a Fun Run, back in 1977, and this committee hopes to keep that spirit alive in order to revive the full 210-mile (338-kilometre) race next year.
