The Yukon Quest kicked off at Shipyards Park last Saturday with a bang, and by Tuesday, some of the participants were already collecting their awards.

The 450-mile racers started off, followed by the 250-mile runners and then finally, the 100.

By 2 a.m. Sunday, three of the five 100-mile mushers had arrived.

Shortly after, at 4 a.m., Debbie Knight passed the finish line. Finally, at 10 a.m., Janna-Lee Cushing finished in fifth.

In Pelly Crossing, at around noon Monday, Aiyana O’Shaughnessy finished first, followed by Michael Burtnick, Craig Houghton and Jess Sears in that order, and finally, Ilana Kingsley.

On Valentine’s Day, all the mushers gathered at the Gold Rush Inn to accept their awards and cash prizes.

First up was Cushing, expressing her gratitude for the opportunity.

“It was a long drive from Quebec. It took about 10 years in the making to get a team up here,” she said.

“It was absolutely amazing. I’ve been a volunteer for five years for the Quest at Braeburn, Dawson.

“So, to understand what goes behind it in organizing that and making sure that everybody that comes into those checkpoints had a good run and looked after and want to be received.”

Knight of Whitehorse followed her up, sharing her experience racing to Braeburn.

“I once raced the 300 a number of years back, so it was really nice to actually run a Quest race and finish because I didn’t finish the last one, but the trail is amazing,” Knight said.

“I had such a good time out there with my dogs, and just enjoying the moment every step of the way.

‘I was a little tired at the end there, and maybe didn’t look like I was enjoying it, but I was – yeah.”

Jonathan Lucas, of Whitehorse, said that was “the most enjoyable run, happy camping, and I want to run again next year.”

Luc Twedell thanked “everybody who was a part of this race and made it possible; it’s been my dream to run that race since I was a teenager and year after year. When it’s Quest, I’m gonna get excited.”

Nate Metzen of Whitehorse was the last to speak for the 100-mile runners.

“This was my first distance race, or like, I just started in the summer because I just only immigrated, so it’s like, I’m gonna invest in this because this is kind of my life’s path and my passion and so I’m super-stoked that we finished that.”

Houghton, of Fort St. James, B.C., was the first of the 250-mile runners to speak. He called it “really nice to to come up and do a race in the North.

“This is, like, a real honour for us to come here and, you know, have 250 miles of trail that we don’t have to work to put in.

“I want to say to the people who put the trail in, it was fantastic. We had a good run, a few mistakes, but overall very happy with how the dogs went.”

Kingsley finished last, but was very happy to have participated in this race.

“I’m super, super-excited that I had this experience because it could be my last year mushing,” said the Whitehorse resident.

“We don’t know yet. My dogs are getting old, and I’ve been doing this for a long time now.

“But if anyone has a team that needs to be adopted, contact me. It’s always in consideration, but I really want to thank my super handlers,” Kingsley said.

Burtnick called the event “the longest race that I’ve ever participated in.

“This weekend, there was a lot of fun. The trail was fantastic. As were, you know, everybody involved; very appreciative of all the trail work and all the volunteers – that team is fantastic,” Burtnick said.

Next to speak was first-place finisher O’Shaughnessy, who has been working with Ten Mile musher Michelle Phillips for three years.

“I do have to say a big thank you to her and Ed Hopkins (Phillips’ husband) for trusting me to run one of their teams out there,” O’Shaughnessy said.

“This was my longest race that I’ve done. And yeah, what a crazy -awesome trail. It was super, super-great being able to run on the Quest trail; that was a huge accomplishment, I think, for all of us. So go, everyone who did the race.”

It was also Sears’ longest race.

“I ran a predominant puppy team; seven of my dogs were yearlings, and I had only a few experienced dogs, and funny enough, my main leader, I dropped her for the first leg of the race, and she begged for 75 miles while screaming all the way down the trail, but we made it across the line with all my yearlings,” Sears said.

“And that was really special to me because it’s the first time that I’m running a full team of my own with my own kennel. It was really fun.”

Sears confessed to being “a little bit addicted to, like, the adrenaline, so every time the Xs came up by the end of it, I was like looking forward to the Xs, because it would be, like, a good wake-up call, and the trail was really interesting in that last Xs coming into town.”

For the 100-mile runners, Cushing ended up taking home a prize of $715, while Knight won $935.

First-timer Metzen received $1,100, and second-placer Lucas won $1,265. First place earned Twedell $1,485.

For the YQ250, Kingsley received $1,980; Houghton $2,640; and Sears $3,080.

Second placer Burtnick won $3,520 and first-place finisher Shaughnessy took home $4,180.

The rookie of the year award (for the first-year racer who finished ahead of all other rookies) in the YQ100 went to Metzen, and to O’Shaughnessy for the YQ250.

For the Challenge of the North, the two winners were Sears (YQ250) and Cushing for the YQ100.

The Red Lantern award went to the last-place finishers in each of the two races. The winners were Cushing in the 100-mile race and Kingsley in the 250-mile race.

The Sportsmanship award was handed to the racer with the most outstanding sportsmanship.

For the YQ250, the winner was Houghton, while Knight claimed it for the YQ100.