Yukon Quest 2020 start

Cody Strathe highfives one his support team as he zooms away from the start line. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

The leaders of Jason Campeau's dog team are raring to go, as they wait to leave the start line. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

The leaders of Jason Campeau's dog team are raring to go, as they wait to leave the start line. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

Leo and Colleen Zeek are two of roughly 1,000 volunteers who help out behind the scenes of the Yukon Quest. The couple have been volunteering …

Allen Moore's dog team is unloaded from his truck, a couple of hours before the start of the Yukon Quest. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

Allen Moore and his support crew prep the sleds, just prior to the beginning of the 2020 Yukon Quest. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

Allen Moore's sled dog team sits calmly, as the musher makes final preparations for the race. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

Rob Cooke puts booties on one of his dogs, prior to the start of the race. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

And they're off! Richie Beattie, the first musher out of the chute, begins the Yukon Quest. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

Richie Beattie goes to give his dogs one final pet, just minutes prior to the start of the Yukon Quest. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

The dogs at the front of Ryne Olson's team jump and bark in the chute, full of energy for the race ahead of them. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

Olivia Webster sets off on the 1,000 mile race, sporting a big smile. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

The leaders of Nora Sjalin's dog team are held steady, just prior to her setting off. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NEWS MINER

Crowds of people stand around the chute, watching Brent Sass hug a support team member, before he sets off on the race. ALISTAIR GARDINER / NE…

A crowd of spectators -- some from out of state, some from across the world -- gathered on Saturday morning to watch the start of the Yukon Qu…

Two Rivers musher Richie Beattie is the first through the chute at the 2020 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race on Feb. 1, 2020, in Fairba…

Richie Beattie of Two Rivers heads out of the starting chute of the 2020 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. La…

Brent Sass's sled and gear is ready to go outside the Morris Thompson Center on Saturday as the 2020 Yukon Quest gets underway. Sass, a former…

Healy musher David Dalton's truck is decorated by posters of well wishes at the start of the 2020 Yukon Quest in Fairbanks on Saturday, Feb. 1…