Preparations for the race ramped up in December, with Jackson running 40 to 80 kilometres a day while pulling a kit filled with various supplies like clothes, food, and sleeping gear. He would physically train six to 15 hours a day, three days a week, while also mentally preparing for the race by thoroughly researching the route.
Unlike past years, this year presented new challenges for racers because of the frigid temperatures. According to Stuart Thornhill, one of the race directors, this year was the most consistently cold yet, with average temperatures around -35C. Factoring in the windchill, temperatures occasionally dropped to -50 or -60.
On the second day of the race, Jackson trekked over Wright Pass on the Yukon-Northwest Territories border. Though the weather was beautiful for the majority of the race, he says this day was particularly difficult.
“The Yukon side was sunny and beautiful, but as soon as you cross over the pass, the wind coming off the Arctic Ocean comes full force and you are hit with winds going at 70 kilometres an hour from the north,” he says.
This intense wind blew snow across the route, up to Jackson’s calves in some places.
“I’d have to take my foot and hit the snowbank to make sure I knew where I was,” he says. “You’d have the mountain to the left, and on the right side, if you weren’t paying attention, you were going down the ravine about a hundred feet.”
Many competitors dropped out of the race early on because of frostbite or previous injuries, and by day six there were only two racers left: Jackson and Grant Maughan from Australia, who would ultimately win the race.
It was also day six when Jackson says he started to sleepwalk — a consequence of having slept only five hours total in the first four days of the race.