newsminer.com

Just three weeks before the start of the 25th Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, the event has no race marshal.

Joe May, who was assigned the position in November, resigned a couple of weeks ago, said Yukon Quest board secretary Gwen Holdmann on Tuesday night.

Since then, officials have been working hard to fill May’s spot and there is a prospect lined up, Holdmann added.

The Alaska side of the Yukon Quest International has approved a recommendation from the rules committee regarding the new race marshal, and is now waiting for the Canadian side to approve as well.

May said Wednesday the reasons for his decision were a private matter.

“I’d really rather not say anything,” said May, 72, by telephone from his Trapper Creek home. “It’s complicated and would be easy to misunderstand. I’ve got a lot of friends up there (in Fairbanks), and I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.”

May, a top-10 Quest finisher in 1985 and 1986, was hired in November. He replaced Dave Monson, who had signed on in August but, according to May, decided to bow out because of time constraints.

“They couldn’t find somebody else,” May said in November regarding his decision to accept the position for the 1,000-mile race from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, Yukon. “I guess in a moment of weakness I might have said yes.”

Mike McCowan was the race marshal from 2004-2007.

May’s decision to resign came a surprise to most, said Holdmann.

“I think that it was a difference of opinion between him and other race personnel who had been there for some time,” said Holdmann, a Yukon Quest finisher, from Anchorage Tuesday night.

“Just a difference of opinion about how things should be done. It’s really unfortunate because I think Joe was perfect but he was pretty firm on his decision.

“Everyone was really bummed out and we were hoping we could work it out but Joe made his decision.”

Along with finishing the Yukon Quest, May had also served as a race judge and communications person on previous races. His mushing career spanned 35 years and included winning the 1980 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

“Joe put a lot of effort in and he had a great rapport with the staff, great experience and worked hard to make the Quest a good race and that’s what makes this even more unfortunate,” Holdmann said.

The race marshal is responsible for all aspects of the race once the first musher bursts out of the start chute. The marshal also makes the decisions along the trail, including those concerning compliance with rules.

“The race cannot happen without a race marshal,” said Yukon Quest executive director Tania Simpson. “And there will be one.”