Yukon Quest - Jocelyne

And the Winner Is

2010-02-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

Jocelyne LeBlanc of Whitehorse Yukon is the Winner of the 2010 Yukon Quest Red Lantern Award.
With a personal best time for running the quest Jocelyne finished strong with 7 healthy and happy dogs on line. A Very large group of friends, Family, media, spectators and many fellow mushers were there to cheer her in as she crossed the finish line. Media and crowd surrounded Joc like an Olympic gold medalist to congratulate her on her achievement. As part of the plan Joc finished in time to attend the closing of the Meet The Mushers event Friday evening and to sign some autographs before finding a bed for a well deserved rest. Saturday am brings a day of meets for the Quest Mushers. Then the closing banquet starts at 5 pm with all the presentations and speeches. We are all Very proud of Joc and are looking forward to hearing the stories of the trail. Knowing that Joc is such a big fan of face book some good stories will most likely appear there.
Until next big event.
Thanks so much to all the sponsors, handlers, friends and family.
Gary

Next stop? Whitehorse.

2010-02-19T03:33:00.000-08:00

Hello :)

Joc came in at 18:40 and she will leave at 2:40 am. She doing really well, there was a lot of poeple cheering for her. Two journalists were asking her questions, one from the Fairbanks newspaper and the other from Whitehorse Star. The dogs are good she will leave with 7 good dogs, the one that was doing so so, she is much better now. She will decide tomorrow morning if she's taking a break for the last run or she's going straight to the finish line with some little snacks breaks.

Thanks
Cytnhia

Smiles from Joc

2010-02-17T09:46:00.000-08:00

Hello !
Joc arrived last night around 9:30pm in Pelly with a big smile. I had to tell her several times to go to sleep, she was talking and talking :) She arrives right behind Terry, they traveled together for a part of the trip. Everyone at the checkpoint had a few hours of rest and we all got up and kick out the three last teams. Joc was behind a little bit because she wanted to leave by herself. She will soon arrive to McCabe Creek, rest for a two hours and go back on the trail to get to Carmacks tonight. I'm in Carmacks now waiting for her. See you soon in Whitehorse :)
Cynthia

Leaving Scroggie Creek

2010-02-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

Although we have no new updates of a personal nature, Joc has left Scroggie Creek with all her dogs and is traveling fairly close with Terry Williams.
She is keeping on an even pace and making her way to Pelly! Joc knows the trail from there and will be on the home stretch - go Joc!

Left Dawson!

2010-02-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

Hello !
Yes Joc is gone ... She was better after packing everything. She had down moments, but we were there to motivate her.
I can understand her: she was really sick and was thinking to drop two dogs ( including one good leader) , but finally she decided to drop only one (Sawrenko). She was emotional before leaving, but she left with a good spirit. She is scared to do 201 miles with only seven dogs and no checkpoint between. But with the schedule we made she should be okay on the trail and there for the banquet.
I'm staying in Dawson in case she decide to come back ... in case ... but I don't think so. Tomorrow early afternoon we will drive to Pelly.
Talk to you in Pelly !
Cynthia
With also a good spirit and needs a good night o sleep :)

On to Dawson

2010-02-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

Joc is now heading to Dawson - about 1/3 of the way according to her tracker.She is down to 8 dogs now. They say the trail from Dawson to Whitehorse is better than it has ever been so hopefully smooth sailing once she gets there.

Cynthia dropped off some pics for everyone to see while we wait for more up to date news.

In at Eagle

2010-02-11T06:58:00.000-08:00

As most have already checked Joc finally made it to Eagle. I'm guessing that she used the strategy of ditching the tracker to gain an advantage on the front runners. Now that she is in a position to pounce, the next part of the race should be interesting. Watch out Lance.
Cynthia is stopping by this morning so we will have some pics up later today.
Keep checking back
Gary

Next stop Slaven's road house

2010-02-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

Finally an update...
Joc left Circle a little down after having to drop her fourth dog. Grey had a sore ankle, she made the decision just minutes before she was ready to go. The trail this year is good and fast and running with 10 dogs is still no problem. The weather is cold so the dogs aren't having to deal with a fast track and warm weather. Her plan was to get to Slaven's Roadhouse tonight.
Cynthia and Deb are in Fairbanks and will be back to Whitehorse tomorrow. Any dogs that are dropped now will be flown to Dawson. So until Dawson the news will be slow coming. We will post any information as we get it.
Keep checking back!
Gary

Still waiting for news

2010-02-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

We see that the tracking shows Joc in at Circle city but it has not been posted.
We have received email from Cynthia starting to make the arrangements to come back to Whitehorse and drop the dogs and change trucks, restock needed supplies and head up to Dawson to start setting up the camp, but no word on Joc.
Will up date on Jocs progress as soon as we hear anything.
Gary

And then there were 11

2010-02-08T16:45:00.000-08:00

Circle:
Jocelyne left around 7 am this morning with 11 dogs. She dropped two, one because of bad soft feet and the other one because he was peeing blood. (Brandy and Dewalt) But all the others are in really good shape. I think the vet discovered brandy's feet during the night. But I was sleeping until the morning so I don't know what happen, she didn't mention anything about that last night at the restaurant. But she did mention the trail was hard with a line of 14, so I'm not surprise that she drop those dogs to be more comfortable driving the sled. We expect her around 7pm tonight.
I will keep you up date tonight !
See you soon
Cynthia

Eagle Summit is over

2010-02-08T05:55:00.000-08:00

Good evening !
Eagle summit is over, it was a hard down hill, but nothing is broken on her sled to compare to some others ... and the dogs are doing really really well according to the vets :) Joce is in a really good mood, she is focused and is make good decision. She's planning to stay for 8 hrs here and leave to circle tomorrow morning.
Yahoo ! We are all having fun :)
Cynthia

Joc and Team still going

2010-02-07T21:13:00.000-08:00

On 2/7/2010 8:27 PM, Cynthia Corriveau wrote:

So Far so good !
Jocelyne is in a really good mood, better than when she left Two Rivers.
She did run for 5 hrs and rest for 5hrs and arrived at Mile 101 at 12:56.
The dogs were still pretty strong, there is two of them with a minor injury, but they recovered while resting in Mile 101.
She stayed for 4 hrs and left to eagle summit, the trail condition is still good but it was windy and snowing. She has Lucie and Gray in lead because they are familiar with the mountain. 33 miles down the trail is the next checkpoint : Central. She should arrives in 4-6 hrs.
Talk to you in Circle :)
Cynthia

New post from the trail

2010-02-07T09:55:00.000-08:00

Hello Sky high !

First mountain is behind Rosebud J

We are at mile 101 now … Yahoo! The team is starting to have a nice momentum, but unfortunately the team went down to 13 dogs. King got drop at the beginning of the rest at Two Rivers because of a shoulder injury. It is an old injury that got discovered at the Vet check, but we taught it was over by now. Oh well, all the others are pretty strong and are still in a good shape. Jocelyne is doing well, it was a little disappointing for her to drop King, but now she's back into her race. She still not in mile 101 but according to the device she will be here soon. I will give you more updates when she leaves the check point mile 101 for eagle summit.

The trail condition for eagle is really positive; apparently there is a lot of snow to slow the team down.

Cheers

Cynthia

The Quest has begun!

2010-02-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

Jocelyne is off! Her start time was 11:21 and she reached the first check point - Two Rivers at 16:36 with all 14 dogs. Joc took 15 dogs to Fairbanks and June was chosen not to go.

We spoke to Jocelyne's handler, Cynthia and she reports that Joc was emotional at the start but very confident. She says that Joc was relieved to start and be out on the trail.All the dogs were very strong and ready to go.

Debra Bicknell and Cynthia Carriveau are amazingly supportive and they report that everything is going well. Cynthia will call when Joc reaches Central.

That's all for now - keep checking back for more news!

Jocelyne's Yukon Quest 2010 Race Sponsors

2010-02-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

As we join Jocelyne in the excitement of the Yukon Quest it is only fitting that we remember and thank Jocelyne's Yukon Quest 2010 Sponsors. Without all of you this race would not have been possible. Thank you so much for all of your support.

Gold Paw Sponsors:

Sky High Valley Ranches ltd
Chocolate Claim
Bob Boswell
Bernard & Gloria LeBlanc

Silver Paw Sponsors:

Club Rotary Bouctouche Inc
Chambre De Commerce De Bouctouche 1
Le Counseil Recreatif De
John & Anna Gunter
Paulette Comeau
Wyk Parish

Bronze Paw Sponsors:

Dorward & Company
Dr Marc LeBlanc
Bouctouche Lions Club Inc
Caisse Populaire Kent - Sud Ltee
RBC Banque Royale
La Cooperative De Bouctouche Limiteev Claude & Bernice Williams
Louise & Roger Bastarache
St Antoine Assurance Vienneau
Raymond Duplessis
Jean & Annette Cormier
Guy & Pauline LeBlanc
Leona Bourque
Andre Goguen
Felice Blanchard
Tilmon Marie Paule & Dorine Allan
Marie Richard
Donald Marc Matthieu Leger
Laurie & Marie Maillet
Marc Maillet
Bernadette Dyer
Cecille Maillet
Charles Maillet
Adelard Basque
Sophie Basque
Arcade Basque
Gisele Basque
Rodrique & Verina Basque
Adolphe & Lucienne Williams & family
Roger Louise & Paulette Bastarache
Maggi Smit
Siegfried Kalt
Timo Meinders
Guillaume Gravel
Angela Phillips
Katja Scheidegger
Thomas Thamm
Linda Newby
Leontien/Johannes D'Olif
Willie & Yvette Cromier
Raoul & Antoinette Despres
Paul Emile & Yolande LeBlanc
Andre & Annette Leger
Gerald Gauvin
Janice & Robert Murasko

2010-02-04T07:39:00.000-08:00

The countdown is on! The start Banquet is over and Jocelyne has her bib number and departure time. Keep watch for bib # 8 - start time 11:16. Last February Jocelyne raced in the Yukon Quest 300.

If you would like to post some good wishes before the race now is the time.

Check back often for more updates!

2010-01-31T16:15:00.001-08:00

Race Preparations

2010-01-31T15:50:00.000-08:00

The Yukon Quest begins in Fairbanks Feb 6 . Please check out this site regularly from that date on as we will have up to date news on Jocelyne and her team for the entire race.

Jocelyne has been busy this past week with her food drop, her vet check and general packing and organizing for her trip to Fairbanks. Today she is making a run to Mud Lake and back to the ranch.
Tomorrow some last minute things in town and packing the truck. Tuesday am leaving to Tok for the first night.