newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Despite some wicked weather conditions, Jodi Bailey said she had a “wonderful” time on the trail in winning the women’s division of the Gin Gin 200 late Sunday night in Paxson.

Bailey, a University of Alaska Fairbanks professor who is a kennel partner with Yukon Quest veteran Dan Kaduce, crossed the finish line at 11:55 p.m. Sunday to win the women’s division and post the fastest overall time for the second consecutive year.

“Any time you race you want to get all you can out of the dogs you’ve got and the team I had this year was just wonderful,” Bailey said via cell phone from Paxson Lodge Monday afternoon as she waited for the post-race awards banquet.

Brent Sass, who is training out of Eureka this year, won the men’s division of the 200-mile race from Paxson to MacLaren River Lodge and back, reaching the Paxson Lodge finish line at 1:58 a.m. Monday.

Bailey and Kaduce are preparing a team that Kaduce will run in the 2009 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race from Whitehorse, Yukon to Fairbanks.

“Some of these dogs started in the (Alaska Dog Mushers Association) Annamaet Challenge Series races in Fairbanks a couple of years ago, but the plan always was for them to be distance dogs,” Bailey said. “We’ve really had fun with them ever since they’re started distance racing.”

The Gin Gin 200 starts with a run of about 50 miles from Paxson to MacLaren River Lodge, much of which is on the Denali Highway. The second portion of the race features a 100-mile river loop that starts and finishes at MacLaren River Lodge. The third leg is the return trip to Paxson. Mushers are required to take a six-hour break between each leg of the race. Winds of up to 50 mph buffeted teams on a 10-12-mile stretch of the Denali Highway near Tangle Lakes. Temperatures at MacLaren River Lodge hovered at the 40 below mark and it was 10-15 degrees colder on portions of the river loop.

“I’d never in a million years seek out weather conditions like that to run in,” Bailey said. “It was just a good feeling to get through it and make it back to the finish line in Paxson.”

Bailey said she was proud of the way her team fought through the wind, especially on the first leg of the race.

“There was a 10-mile stretch where it was just like a wind tunnel and teams were getting blown all over the place,” she said.

“God love them (her dogs), because they shouldered into the wind and stayed on the road even when there wasn’t any snow,” Bailey added. “They did exactly what I wanted them to do.”

On the way back Sunday evening, the wind was still blowing but it was more gusting than a steady blow, Bailey said.

“There were times when it started to kick up where I could hook down and wait a few minutes until it died down a bit and then moved on,” she said.

Bailey said she had nothing but admiration for all of the teams entered in this year’s race.

“All of the team persevered,” Bailey said. “The teams that have been out there the longest deserve a lot of credit for sticking with it and finishing.”

Finishing second to Bailey in the women’s division Colleen Robertia at 1:28 a.m. Monday.

Third place went to Michelle Phillips (7:26 a.m.) and former Yukon Quest champion Aliy Zirkle was fourth.

Ken Anderson of Fairbanks finished second in the men’s division at 4:27 a.m., and Ed Hopkins was third at 7:42 a.m.

For more information, go to www.gingin200.com.