After 9 days and 700 km, France's Thierry Corbarieu wins Yukon Arctic Ultra

After nine days and nearly 700 kilometres, France's Thierry Corbarieu has won the 2019 Yukon Arctic Ultra.

Corbarieuarrived at the race's finish line in Dawson CityTuesday at about 5:18 p.m. local time. His closest competitor, American Christof Teuscher, arrived in the early morning hours Wednesday.

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Race organizer Robert Pollhammer says he hasn't yet figured out the times for the pair, but they're "way ahead of our deadline."

Corbarieu was "in great shape," coming across the line, said Pollhammer.

"Every year we have a couple of people who seem to function pretty well on very little sleep and still not get in trouble, and he's one of those people. He didn't look at all like someone who's hardly slept and went all that way. It was pretty amazing."

The Yukon Arctic Ultra is billed as "the world's coldest and toughest ultra." Competitors can choose their distance, from a standard marathon to the 690-kilometrejourney between Whitehorse and Dawson City, travelling through Yukon wilderness on the same trailas the Yukon Quest sled dog race.

Hallucinations and frostbite

The race can be dangerous. Competitors left Whitehorse in 37 C temperatures, and several dropped out due to injury or technical issues. Others have reported hallucinations, in part due to isolation and lack of sleep.

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Despite this, an update on the Yukon Arctic Ultra's website says that all athletes remaining in the full-length race are "doing fine."

Pollhammersaid there have been a few cases of frostbite, but no serious injuries have been reported.

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"Conditions were changing a lot, which in a way is nice," saidPollhammer. "They've had a little bit of fresh snow, trails with plenty ofsnow, trails with not so much snow. Cold days, warm days. It was a big variation. They got the whole that the Yukon has to offer in winter."

Pollhammersays 10 more racers are still on the trail. The expected third place finisher, Italy's Laura Trentani, should be in Dawson City Wednesday, he said.