DAWSON CITY – Bleary-eyed Ed Hopkins entered the Yukon Questʼs halfway point in fifth place Wednesday night.

The 51-year-old Tagish Lake musher is currently the raceʼs top Canadian.

Hopkins, who finished third in last yearʼs Yukon Quest, guided his 13 dogs into Dawson City just before 7:30 p.m. His wife, longtime Iditarod musher Michelle Phillips, was there to greet him and his huskies.

Hopkins said he pulled off a 140-kilometre run on his way into the Klondike.

“Itʼs like a sprint track out there,” he said of the trail. “Hard and fast.”

The re-route away from the Yukon River up to Top of the World Highway was painful, however.

“Oh God, I wanted to shoot myself,” the veteran musher said. “It just kept on going. I thought the South Canol was boring, but that was worse.”

Hopkins – one of six Canadians in the race – said he was looking forward to the mandatory 36-hour rest provided in Dawson.

“Iʼm tired. Iʼm just tired,” he said. “I just canʼt seem to find that other gear.

“But these guys are doing good,” he said, gesturing toward his dog team.

“Theyʼre making me look good. But itʼs a lot of work looking after these guys. Maybe thatʼs one reason why Iʼm tired. Iʼve never had to look after 13 dogs for so long.”

He hopes to continue the race to Whitehorse with all 13 of his remaining dogs.

“Weʼre here, weʼll reset and this group will be way better.”

With 800 kms behind him, Hopkins said heʼs not worried about his race standing quite yet.

“Weʼre just barely over halfway,” he told reporters. “Anything can happen, and it usually does.”

Dawson musher Brian Wilmshurst was on hand to greet Hopkins with a bear hug.

Wilmshurst is a longtime Yukon Quest veteran who is spending a year away from the sport.

“Itʼs nice to see the teams roll in,” the burly 33-year-old told the Star. “I miss it. I wish I was racing, but itʼs nice to be part of it.”

Wilmshurst said heʼs itching to return to the famed international sled dog race next year.

“Iʼm not 100 per cent sure what Iʼm doing … I am enjoying having extra time and extra money. I could get used to that a little bit. But I definitely miss it – the people and the lifestyle.”

Brent Sass was the first musher into Dawson, arriving at 12:21 p.m. Wednesday. The race began last Saturday in Fairbanks.

Yukon musher Yuka Honda is the next musher scheduled to arrive in Dawson this afternoon. At press time, the 43-year-old was in eighth place.

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