Many in the mushing community, mushers and fans alike, were stunned by the Race Marshal's decision yesterday to pull Lauro Eklund from the YQA550. The race cited Rule 22, the "competitiveness rule", as their reason for ending the musher's race early. Many were confused as up to the point that a statement was made, Lauro seemed to be doing just fine. In fact, the race had posted pics and praise for the musher as he reached the checkpoint of Central (where he would later be withdrawn from).
The YQA's facebook post on the news of the withdrawal quickly blew up with many mushers - even those who had just completed the 300 and 80 mile YQA races - calling for a better explanation. Comments were lobbied that the YQA lost the spirit of the race, other mushers said this had them rethinking entering the race in the future. An entire discussion on how dog sled races cannot just cater to the teams that have the money and means to run a full time operation and to heck with those with jobs outside of training dogs.
The race has stayed mum on the decision past what was released in the original statement. Lauro's friends and family have not. Now the musher has chimed in saying that the race was perfect for 300 miles and that, ultimately, he does not understand the Race Marshal's decision and feels that he and his team were robbed of a finish.
Instead of summarizing, it's best to let the musher tell it all himself. You can read his post in full on his facebook page:
