Revised - Contrary to what was reported in Monday's Star, Michelle Philips is still in the lead at the 2023 Yukon Quest.

It turns out that she had a malfunctioning tracking device which showed her stuck at mile 226.8. In reality, as of 6 p.m.

Monday, Phillips was at mile 264.6 and had a healthy lead over Millie Porsild, who was at mile 247.1.

Phillips was first in and first out of the checkpoint at Pelly Crossing.

Connor McMahon was in third at mile 231.4.

Meanwhile, Aiyana O’Shaughnessy of 10 Mile, YT, captured the YQ250 title. She was running the second team from the Tagish Kennel owned by Phillips and Ed Hopkins.

Michael Burtnick came in second, followed by Craig Houghton in third.

Jess Sears, at mile 202.5, and Ilana Kingsley, at mile 189.4, are the only YQ250 racers still on the trail.

Meanwhile, the Star was at the start of the race Saturday at Shipyards Park in Whitehorse. As a memorial to Bruce Johnson, a musher took his number 8 bib out from the start about 20 minutes before the start of the race.

The actual Quest started at 11 a.m. with the YQ450 racers. Aaron Peck of Grande Prairie, Alta., with bib number 1, led the way out of the chute.

The Star spoke with several mushers before the race started.

Janna-Lee Cushing of Lady-smith, Que., who ran in the YQ100, said she didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before.

A surprisingly calm Cushing said she thought the handlers were more nervous than she was and mentioned that she had to tell them to calm down.

She had her family members there, including her French Foreign Legionnaire fiancé, Pawel Wanzy, and her father Jeffrey, who drove from Quebec with her, and her brother and sister-in-law, Kirk and Molly Cushing, who flew in from Denver.

Cushing said her dogs are doing well. When the Star spoke to her, she had her dogs inside her trailer.

“Their exposure to other teams at races is minimal, so just to keep them relaxed, keep their anxiety down, keep their tension down. Just trying to prevent the high stress from what they’re feeling right now.”

Cushing doesn’t have a set goal in mind for the race.

“The first priority is just finish with the dogs happy, the dogs taking that experience to translate to future events. For me, it’s a big event, the dream, the goal of reaching that and just being here; for the dogs, look after their needs.”

Cushing added she didn’t want the dogs to get overwhelmed. “If I have to pull the plug with them, so be it. It’s in their best interest to preserve them for the next event so they’re going into it with a sense of enthusiasm and excitement and the love of that sense of competing.

“Their needs come first and then it’s just monitoring them from the back, looking at all the nine butts and seeing how they’re doing. If they’re happy, I’m happy.”

Most of Cushing’s dogs are siblings, except for one cousin.

“They all look after each other.”

She said they also keep each other in line.

“They’ve got it figured out.”

When asked about the potential of winning, Cushing replied “Winning the 100? Well sure, if everybody’s a little bit slower than I am.

“That’s not my priority but anything can happen. That’s just the nature of it.”

Debbie Knight of Whitehorse also ran in the YQ100.

“I’m a little tired right now but mentally I feel really good. It’s just gonna be a really nice run.”

Knight was actually able to get a good night’s sleep.

“I did, actually. I’m quite surprised. With just five of us in it, it just seems more like a nice trip out with a bunch of friends.”

Knight said the dogs are doing great. “They’re all eating, drinking. I’ve got the oldest one (Spike), who’s 11, always wagging her tail. I love it. It’s so cute.”

Knight said her goal for the race is “to have a good time, make sure the dogs are OK, and get to Braeburn. I don’t really care what place I’m in.

“It’s because I’ve got an old team. As long as we just get there. And I’m confident they can, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”

Jess Sears of Whitehorse is running in the YQ250. She said, “I’m really excited to pull that hook. The prepping has worn off its novelty so I’m looking forward to the enjoyable part, before we start all over again next year.”

Sears said her dogs were good.

“They’re excited. We have run a pretty short track. We train mostly on a 15-mile track, about 1,500 miles, so I think they’re really excited to do something (that’s) not the daily grind.

“They’re young, they’re puppies and they’re gonna be excited to see new trail and new dogs.”

It was mentioned that her dogs seemed very calm.

“At the vet check, they took their heart rate and they were like, ‘You are very calm and you don’t want to get off the table because you’re enjoying being petted so much,’” recalled Sears.

As for her goal for the race, Sears said, “I’m just shooting to finish it. I’d like to run the Iditarod in the next several years so this is just the beginning.

“It’s all about having fun, so if we get there and they feel like going for a run three days after the race, then I know I’ve mentally and physically prepared them for this.

“And if we aren’t having fun, then we won’t keep going … but I think they’ll be fine. I think that it’s exciting for them and that’s the main thing.

“I definitely don’t have any aspirations to win. I just want to keep my vet care on track … I just want my dogs to be happy and feel like doing it all over again.”

Sears added her parents are visiting from Nova Scotia for the first time in seven years.

“A family affair,” she joked.

Nate Metzen of Whitehorse was running the YQ100. He did a run to Braeburn last week.

“I did the rehearsal so I know what not to do or what I should do better. So I fixed those things.”

Metzen said he’s feeling pretty good.

“I wasn’t nervous or stressed until we came here. And now that everything should be completely packed I’m lowering it again.

“Without the run last week, I probably would have been in crumbles right now. Now I know 80 per cent because I did 80 miles. It’s just the Yukon River that I don’t know. They said it’s safe and straightforward.”

Metzan said he didn’t plan to go to Braeburn that day.

“I just told my handler, ‘I think I’m going to go to Braeburn. It’s better than (turning) around.’

“So (Yukon) Ultra was also going and I don’t wanna walk back into the runners, right, because I was ahead of the runners.”

Metzan met a man on the trail.

“He texted my handler and when I pulled into Braeburn, five minutes later my truck pulled in and I was just, ‘Yes, it worked completely.’ It was perfect.”

Metzen said his dogs were doing well.

“The vets were really happy with them. They said they looked really good, so I felt really proud of my dog care and my nutrition.”

Metzen said his goal for the race is a “clean run. Just have fun.”

When asked if he had any aspirations of winning, Metzen replied, “Not really. I’m not really that competitive as a human.”

Metzen said if the quality of the other mushers is high, he doesn’t care what place he finishes in.

“Dogs are the priority.”

Porsild, originally from Denmark, said she was feeling good.

“I’m here to do a solid run and then I feel very good about it. Very, very excited to be in Canada, in the Yukon. It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

Prosild said her dogs are doing well.

“They’re ready to roll.”

As far as her goal for the race, Porsild said, “I have a plan and my goal is to stick to that plan, and I don’t have a clue where that lands us in the standings. I’m absolutely sure it doesn’t make us win, so I have to keep myself in check, and that’s my goal.”

Porsild said she’s focused on having her dog team peaking four weeks from now.

“We are reinforcing the fact that they are superstars, in their heads. They need to know that they can do whatever I ask from them.

“So this is very much a confidence-building experience, and I need to gain full confidence in them and know that they are where I think they are and they need to believe that they can do whatever I ask them to do. So that’s very much what this is about.”

Despite running into trouble for sheltering her dogs in last year’s Iditarod, Prosild isn’t holding a grudge.

“No. If there’s one thing I learned on expeditions, it’s that you handle the task of that day and you hopefully look at the silver lining of anything that happened and then you move onto the next.

“I’m hopeful that the sport will move in the right direction because of the mushers that are involved in the sport and because of our fans and the people that follow the race and our supporters. They have their heart in the right place, which is with the dogs.

“One of the reasons I was so excited about this race when I signed up for it is because I believe that the format of this race, most importantly the format of counting our rest on the trail, I firmly believe and I truly hope that that is the future of our sport.

“I think that is everything in the best care of our dogs and I am so excited to be running a race where that is the case and I will support that with all I got.”

Luc Tweddell of Mendenhall, YT. crossed the YQ100 finish line first at Braeburn at 1:11 a.m. on Sunday.