Many quit the 500 km race

Only once have so many mushers had to give up the 500 km race. That was last year when 43 % gave up. That was mainly due to the extreme coldin 2006.

Many different reasons
Hans Petter Dalby from Finnmarksløpet says that there are many different reasons why the Mushers have to give up the race. - This year the Mushers could not race that fast because of the deep powder snow which takes a lot of power from the dogs. Dalby wishes to have longer breakes for the mushers in the next races on the checkpoints. Many of the Mushers, which gave up the race this year, could have continued the race if they could rest longer at the checkpoints before making their decision of whether or not to continue the race. Some Mushers have very high ambitions, and when these ambitions are not met the decision to quit is easily made. - They should change their ambitions as the race goes on, says Dalby.

Discouraging Effect
Dalby also says that the great amount of Mushers who had to give up the race ahead of time could be discouraging  for the other Mushers who will be Rookies next year. - One example is Johanne Sundby: She raced the wrong track between Skoganvarre and Levajok. Many would have thought to give up there but Johanne continued the race after thinking through the situation for a while, instead of quitting. Sundby who came to Alta Wednesday morning at 04:08 said that she had thought about to giving up the race. But because the dogs were fit she didn't see a reason to do so. - I am more than happy about that. I raced below the northern lights and had many wonderful nature experiences. Absolutely fantastic, says Professor Sundby.

Overview of the actual % dropouts of the last years:

2007: 39% dropouts
2006: 43% dropouts
2005: 14% dropouts
2004: 29% dropouts
2003: 9% dropouts
2002: 16% dropouts
2001: 15% dropouts
2000: 15% dropouts