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DAWSON CITY – Carcross musher Crispin Studer won the 2013 Percy Dewolfe Memorial Mail Race on Friday, in a time of 22 hours, six minutes.

The main race is a 338-km (210-mile) run – mostly following the Yukon River – to Eagle, Alaska, and return. Running times for the race typically vary between 20 and 30 hours.

There's a mandatory six-hour layover in Eagle and a two-hour break that must be take at either Forty Mile or Eagle.

Michelle Phillips finished second, while Hans (I can't believe I forgot my bib!) Gatt placed third.

Last year, Whitehorse musher Gerry Willomitzer took first place in 24 hours and 14 minutes.

It was -24 C, with the sun just creeping over the hill and a loader spreading the last of the fresh snow on King Street when the crowd began to gather for the start of the memorial race Thursday morning.

It's a timed start from between the Palace Grand Theatre and the old post office on King Street, with teams leaving at three minute intervals, starting at 10 a.m. with the departure of sled No. 1 – the spirit of Percy himself.

Sled No. 2 – Michelle Phillips this year – gets the honour of carrying a sack of memorial mail to Eagle.

At a pre-race mushers' meeting, Ann Claxton gave a short talk on DeWolfe and the history the race.

DeWolfe ran the mail back and forth from Dawson to Eagle from 1910 to 1949, when the route was finally cancelled. For his ability to get the mail through in all kinds of weather he was called the Iron Man of the North.

In 1935, he received a silver medal from King George in honour of his work.

At 10 a.m., race announcer Gaby Sgaga said that the spirit of the Iron Man was on his way and Phillips' team from Tagish headed out three minutes later.

The remaining 13 teams headed out over the next half hour. Included were Nicholas Mears (Pierceland, Sask.), Willomitzer, Marie Royer (Tagish), Christian Eiterer (Whitehorse), Simi Morrison (Carcross), Studer, Dyan Bergen (Yellowknife), Brian Wilmshurst (Dawson), Ed Hopkins (Tagish), Gerry Walker (Pierceland), Jorge Perez (unknown), John King (Whitehorse) and Hans Gatt (Whitehorse).

Two hours later, the ice bridge was crowded near the starting line for the Junior Percy Race, with 10 teams lined up for the mass start – an increase of three mushers over last year.

The Percy Junior group runs half the distance of the main race, heading down to Forty Mile before spending the night and racing back to Dawson.

Both sets of teams generally manage the return trip by late Friday afternoon, and the banquet is held on Saturday.

Junior Percy mushers included Jason Biasetti (Dawson), Nathaniel Hamlyn (Yellowknife), Jacob Heigers (Whitehorse), Marcel Marin (Yellowknife), Nora Vom Endt, Anne-Sophie Strauss (unknowns), Maren Bradley (Whitehorse), Jonathan Lucas (Whitehorse), and Dany Jette (Dawson).

The trail was reportedly smooth as far as Forty Mile, but the trail makers had trouble remaking the trail after a night blizzard early in the week, so the second half was rough, and rougher still near Eagle, where the river froze in the jumble this year.

Top Junior Percy mushers were Bradley, Lucas and Marin.