As entries for the 2008 Yukon Quest continue to flow in, one musher getting ready for the 2009 edition of the sled-dog race arrived in Whitehorse on Sunday to start more than a year of training for the 1,600-kilometre event.

Devon Anderson, a musher from Jamaica, will spend the winter training with three-time Yukon Quest champion Hans Gatt.

Anderson will be running 200- and 300-mile qualifying races this season to enter the 2009 edition of the long-distance race.

Earlier this year, Gatt and Jamaican sled-dog team owner Danny Melville announced the partnerships to run the Quest.

Melville owns Chukka Caribbean Adventures, which offers dryland trips by sled-dog.

The team is made up of mixed-breed dogs either found on the streets or from the Jamaican Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (JSPCA).

Anderson works as the operations manager and lead musher for the tourism company, which donates 10 per cent of its proceeds from all tours to the JSPCA.

After being featured in the 2006 documentary Sun Dogs, Anderson followed the first half of the 2007 Quest to get a sense of what's been termed the toughest sled dog race in the world.

'Many people ask me how I found the cold, and I have to say it was a little shocking, but the beauty of the region is amazing, and to train with a three-time champion of the Yukon Quest is the chance of a lifetime,' Anderson said in an earlier statement.

Gatt's training will cover numerous races to help prepare Anderson not only for the distance between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, Alaska, but also for the wilderness and elements he'll face.

While the 2009 edition of the race will begin in Whitehorse and end in Fairbanks, the 2008 event will take off from Fairbanks on Feb. 9. The Quest alternates the start and finish lines between the two cities every year.

Though mushers have until Dec. 14 to enter the race, 22 have already signed up for the Quest with seven of those entries are from the Yukon.

Veteran Quest mushers Paul Geoffrion, Frank Turner, Michelle Phillips of Whitehorse along with Peter Ledwidge and Cor Guimond of Dawson City will be on the trail.

Rounding out the Yukon-contingent so far are rookies Didier Moggia and Jeremie Matrishon, both of Whitehorse.

The list of rookies includes an entry from overseas with Andreas Moser of Zurich, Switzerland running his team.

There are also three first-time Quest mushers from the Lower 48, including Donald Smidt of Wisconsin, Trent Herbst of Idaho and Mike Ellis of New Hampshire.

Alaskans Ken Anderson and Michael Mayer, both from Fairbanks, along with Becca Moore of Willow, will run their first Quest as well.

Alaskan veterans on the trail will include Brent Sass and defending champion Lance Mackey, both of Fairbanks; Bruce Milne and Sonny Lindner, both of Two Rivers; Kelley Griffon of Wasilla; David Dalton of Healy; and Bill Cotter of Nenana.

Ellis was the final winner of the early incentive draws for entries.

The Quest has random drawings for early entries into the race.

Ellis won the final draw, for entries in by Oct. 19, and will receive $500 worth of dog booties.

Also winning prizes for their early entries was Moggia, who will sport a new Apocalypse Designs parka, after original winner Ledwidge donated the prize back when his name was drawn from those registered by the end of August.

Finally, Cotter took the draw for those who registered on opening day, winning his $1,000 entry fee back.