Winning mushers reach the finish in Copper Basin 300, Cantwell Classic

GLENNALLEN — Allen Moore of Two Rivers arrived in Glennallen at 2:26 p.m. Monday to claim first place in the Copper Basin 300 for the second year in a row.

Reigning Iditarod and Yukon Quest champion Lance Mackey was second, arriving at 2:52 p.m., 17 minutes ahead of Willow’s Linwood Fielder.

As of Monday evening, 12 mushers had crossed the finish line in Glennallen, with three more on the trail from the final checkpoint in Tolsona. The race began Saturday.

Moore, Mackey and Fiedler all passed Norway’s Sigrid Ekran during the 20-mile home stretch from Tolsona to Glennallen. Ekran left Tolsona at 9:35 a.m. Monday, more than 40 minutes in front of Moore, nearly two hours in front of Mackey and more than two hours ahead of Fiedler.

By Monday afternoon, Ekran had faded to fourth, crossing the finish line at 3:26 p.m. Eureka’s Brent Sass arrived in Glennallen at 4:01 p.m. to claim fifth. Moore’s wife, Aliy Zirkle, was sixth, followed by Sebastian Schnuelle, Sven Haltmann, Jason Young, Braxton Peterson, Dries Jacobs and Sam Deltour.

Race volunteer Gretta Besse said conditions over the last few miles of the trail were “lacking snow.”

“I guess the last little jaunt is pretty tough,” she said.

Mackey’s second-place finish was particularly impressive, as the Fairbanks musher finished the race with just six dogs in harness. Moore finished with 11 dogs, Fiedler with 10 and Ekran with nine.

Mushers braved cold temperatures throughout the race, which runs from Glennallen through Chistochina, Paxson, Sourdough, Wolverine Lake, Tolsona and back to Glennallen.

The race included a $10,00 purse. Moore won $3,500 for first, Mackey got $2,500 for second and Fiedler received $1,500 for third. Ekran picked up a $1,000 check for fourth and Sass got $600 for fifth. Zirkle received $500 for sixth, while Schnuelle got $400 for finishing seventh.

Gatt wins

Cantwell Classic

British Columbia’s Hans Gatt was the first musher to cross the finish line in the Cantwell Classic 200 Sled Dog Race Saturday evening. Anchorage’s Debbie Moderow was second in the race, which included a $5,000 purse.

Fairbanks musher Jessie Royer was third, followed by Michelle Phillips of Tagish, Yukon in fourth, Judy Currier of Two Rivers in fifth.

Jennifer Kemper, a handler for Jeff King, was sixth, followed by Fairbanks’ Clint Warnke in seventh.

Big Lake 18-year-old Rohn Buser placed eighth, Nenana’s Aaron Burmeister was ninth and John Stewart was 10th. Buser’s father, four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser, finished 12th.

A total of 32 mushers finished the race, including Ramy Brooks, a longtime top Alaska distance musher who’s currently serving a two-year ban from the Iditarod for animal cruelty charges. Brooks finished 16th.

Copper Basin 300

$10,000 purse

Glennallen

(As of 5 p.m. Monday)

Into Glennallen

1. Allen Moore, 2:26 p.m.; 2. Lance Mackey, 2:52 p.m.; 3. Linwood Fiedler, 3:09 p.m.; 4. Sigrid Ekran, 3:26 p.m. 5. Brent Sass, 4:01 p.m.; 6. Aliy Zirkle, 4:27 p.m.; 7. Sebastian Schnuelle, 4:32 p.m.; 8. Sven Haltmann, 4:48 p.m.; 9. Jason Young, 5:23 p.m.; 10. Braxton Peterson, 5:28 p.m.; 11. Dries Jacobs, 5:35 p.m.; 12. Sam Deltour, 6:28 p.m.

Out of Tolsona

13. Jean-Denis Britten, 4:54 p.m.; 14. Ann Ledwidge, 5:31 p.m.; 15. Richard Corcoran, 5:35 p.m.

Out of Wolverine

16. Andreas Moser, 4:04 p.m.; 17. Colleen Robertia, 4:22 p.m.

Out of Sourdough

18. Jeff Deeter, 12:03 p.m.; 19. Julie Estey, 10:27 a.m.; 20. Phil Joy, 10:11 a.m.; 21. Bruce Milne, 11:50 a.m.; 22. Darrin Lee, 11:14 a.m.

Scratched

Gabrielle Dunham, Martin Jahr, Zoya DeNure, Mike Mayer,

2008 Cantwell Classic

$5,000 purse

Cantwell

1. Hans Gatt; 2. Debbie Moderow; 3. Jessie Royer; 4. Michelle Phillips; 5. Judy Currier; 6. Jennifer Kemper; 7. Clint Warnke; 8. Rohn Buser; 9. Aaron Burmeister; 10. John Stewart; 11. Hugh Neff; 12. Martin Buser; 13. Didier Moggia; 14. anne Capistrant; 15. Scott Reid; 16. Ramy Brooks; 17. Bill Cotter; 18. Kelly Griffin; 19. Mike Barnett; 20. Paul Geoffrion; 21. Benedikt Beisch; 22. Allen Miller; 23. Bob Hickel; 24. Anja Fein; 25. Wayne Curtis; 26. Tamara Rose; 27. Tammi Rego; 28. Dale Curry; 29. Christine Roalofs; 30. Jason Weitzel; 31. Lucy Tyrrell; 32. Debbie Hoover.