Withdrawn Quest competitor vows to mush on

Alaskan musher J.T. Hessert plans to harness up and carry on down the Yukon Quest trailFridaydespite his "involuntary withdrawal" from the race in Dawson City Thursday.

"My plan is probably to continue down the trail," Hessert said Friday.

"I've got everything arranged for my dropped dogs to go stay with a friend in Fairbanks and I got to talk to the race officials here because I'm not going to leave with any question marks."

Race officials kicked the 23-year-old musher out of the 1,600-kilometre dogsled race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks because he did not have a handler to drive his dog truck along the race route and provide other support.

Hessert plans to file a formal protest against the decision but the Quest organization will not accept his protest until after the race is finished.

Race rules say officials can force a musher to withdraw from the race if they feel it's in the best interest of the dogs, the musher or the event itself.

Racers push on towardsEagle

The race'sfront-runnersleft Dawson City Thursday and are expected to reach the first Alaskan checkpoint of Eagle, 160 kilometres away, by late Friday or early Saturday.

Two-time champion Lance Mackey, ofAlaska,was the first to arrive and leave Forty Mile Thursday night, followed byYukon mushers Gerry Willomitzer and William Kleedehn.

About half of the 25 teams still in therace have left the midway point in Dawson City, with another half a dozenscheduled to pull out of the Klondike capital later Friday.

As of Friday morning, two teams still had not arrived in Dawson Alaskan Greg Parvin and Japanese musher Yuka Honda, who had a dog die on the first leg of the race.