DAWSON CITY – Connor McMahon, wearing bib #6, was the winner of this year’s 45th annual Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race, with a total run time of 11 hours and 47 minutes.

He departed from the intersection of the Top of the World Highway and Sunnydale Road at 10:14 on Saturday morning, and was the first to arrive at Forty Mile at 16:22.

After his six-hour layover, he was the second to leave Forty Mile at 22:33 and pulled in to the far end of the Yukon Government Campground in Dawson, on the west side of the Yukon River, at 4:12 a.m. Sunday.

He was followed, 13 minutes later, by Aiyana O’Shaughnessy, wearing bib #5; six minutes after that by Nathaniel Hamlyn, the mail carrier with bib #2; and at 4:58 by defending champion Jason Biasetti, #10, who had to carry a dog on the sled from Fortymile.

The remaining finishers, in order, were: Jess Sears (#11), Jonathan Lucas (#9), Paul Hamlyn (#7), Marcelle Fressineau (#3) and Krys March (#4).

March arrived at 12:34 Saturday for a total run time of 17:05, but only left Fortymile at 4:50 a.m., shortly before the other teams began to arrive in Dawson.

Kyla Boivin (#8) scratched before reaching the halfway point at Fortymile.

COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the race in 2020, and it had been forced to follow a different all-Canadian route in 2019, when the river failed to freeze all the way to Eagle, Alaska.

Subsequently, there was a clear desire on behalf of the brand new committee to pull off a successful race to honour the event’s 45th anniversary.

With COVID-19 keeping the border closed, a new route had to be found.

The Percy Loop, as it came to be called, adapted the 2019 solution, which had the race go to Forty Mile, run the Clinton Creek Road to the Top of the World junction, then turn back to Fortymile and return to Dawson.

This year’s solution moved the starting point from Third Avenue and King Street, downtown, to eight kilometres up the Top of the World to the junction with the Sunnydale Road, about 10 minutes, and a steep climb, from the traditional location.

From there, the racers faced a steady assent of 2,300 feet (701.4 metres) in elevation during the 30-mile (48.2-km) run to the Clinton Creek Road and a similar decline in elevation descending to Fortymile.

After a six-hour layover there, during which they had no assistance and no shelter, but had to bed down with their dogs, they had to mush the remaining 50 miles (81 km) to Dawson.

That made the race’s total distance 110 miles (180 km) instead of the traditional 205 miles (330 km).

The committee felt that the ups and downs of the loop, as opposed to the flat river route of the traditional race, made it an equally challenging event, even though it clearly took less time to run.

By comparison, three-time winner Biasetti ran the first altered route in 13:50 in 2019, and the traditional route in 19:50 in 2018.

The area at the race start was cleverly prepared, having been chosen, in part, to limit the number of people who might normally have seen the race begin downtown.

Instead of the several hundred spectators (including classes from the Robert Service School and the Yukon School of Visual Arts), the audience was confined to a few dozen folks who parked their vehicles on the Sunnydale Road and walked up to where the Top of the World was clearly divided into two sections.

On the left side of the road was a chute a bit wider than two sleds, where the 10 contestants would start off with their teams.

On the right side, divided from the other by a substantial berm, which left photographers a place to stand or sit, was a much wider area for the spectators. They included a contingent of seven DeWolfe descendants, who posed for a group photo in front of the race banner.

The departure of the spirit of Percy (bib #1), was announced by former committee president Anna Claxton, at 10 a.m. sharp. Then Postmaster Daniel Vigliotti passed the mail bag to RCMP Const. Marc Tremblay, who handed it to Nathaniel Hamlyn, wearing bib #2.

Postcards and letters had been purchased via the Percy’s website and at Maximilian’s.

The legend on the mail simply says that it has been carried by dog team. Traditionally the musher carrying the mail went to the post office in Eagle, where the stamps were cancelled and the U.S. Postal Service sent them on to their destinations.

Committee president Gabriela Sgaga said this time, there was no going to Eagle due to the border closure. The mail did the loop with bib #2, then returned to town, where it will be mailed to where it was addressed.

“Not the same, but very little is the same this year....But the mail still gets to ride in the dog sled, so that’s good.”

The remaining teams departed at two-minute intervals, with a chorus of youngsters counting down the final 10 seconds for each one.

March (#4), was not quite organized when it was his turn, so ended up being the last team to depart, a few minutes after 10:25.

The Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race began in 1977 to honour DeWolfe, who carried mail by dog team, horse and boat between Dawson City and Eagle from 1910 to 1949 earning him the title, Iron Man of the North.

In 1935, DeWolfe received a King George Silver Jubilee Medal in recognition of his achievements. 

DeWolfe and his family lived at Halfway, about 20 miles downriver from Dawson City.