Things are coming together for one of the world’s toughest winter endurance races.

Cain’s Quest, a snowmobile odyssey across Labrador, is normally held every two years but organizers accelerated planning activities when the decision was made to host the event just a year after the previous race was abruptly cancelled for safety reasons.

A sudden thaw resulted in near-disastrous consequences for racers last year, with one of the riders in Team Wild Nordic Finland ending up in open water.

Cain’s Quest Chair Chris Lacey says Team Wild Nordic Finland was unable to participate this year, but they have lots of interest from teams across Canada and throughout Labrador.

He says they have one racer from the US, but none from Europe this year. Organizers have been in contact with Wild Nordic Finland, but they couldn’t make the logistics work with a such short turnaround. Lacey says it typically takes about nine months to ship their sleds and equipment over from Europe.

This year’s race is set for March 3 with a number of events planned in the days leading up to the race.