A community comes together!

One of the amazing things about the K300 is it brings an entire community together. The Kuskokwim delta is indeed a very large community with Bethel as it's hub. The race is not possible without all of the volunteers. To host the premiere mid distance race takes a lot. Much of which goes on behind the scenes. People work year round planning. When race week comes the host families get ready. Local airlines ready themselves for food drops and dog recovery. Hundreds of local people are needed to support this event. All of the villages prepare for the teams, handlers and spectators traveling the course. It brings 150 miles of people together for something very positive. This could not be accomplished without the relentless dedication of volunteers. Thank you to everyone involved.

Great finish by the second wave

It is quite an accomplishment that Jake finished with all 14 dogs at the finish line if the leaderboard is correct. That goes to show you what top quality dog care and training can bring you. This was a great race to watch play out from across the state. The GPS tracking is such a great tool to see where folks are. Technology sure has made this a great spectator sport. All of the checkpoints did and amazing job posting up from the check points. Far better than the phone calls from not that many years ago. We get to see the race progress in as close to real time as we can.

Great job to everyone involved. Thank you from a loyal fan and supporter.

Rohn Buser 2014 K300 champion

Awesome job Rohn. I was surprised to hear you wouldn't be running Iditarod. Here are photos and videos from John Wallace from Pete Kaisers racing page.

http://kaiserracing.com/2014/01/rohn-buser-wins-2014-kuskokwim-300/

A past champion will be crowned again!

The K300 has always brought out the best mushers in the sport. The K300 is a very short tight race in terms of the ability to make up time. You don't get an extra day to make up time. You have to have everything perfect to step onto the podium from the Kuskokwim. 300 miles in under 48 hours is a very brisk pace. Checkpoint stops are a sprint. Getting the dogs fed and resting as quick as possible then waiting for your time to go. I can only imagine what goes through a mushers head in the final stretch from Tuluksak to Bethel. In your sleep deprived state staring at the times doing calculation after calculation to see where you stand. The new rule of the floating six hours does not appear to have altered the outcome much. The dogs after months of training are not tired and need minimal rest. People who say that dogs are forced to run need only look at a team that has run 200 miles and the dogs are barking and harness banging to get going. Jeff years ago came to Bethel with his now famous sit down sled. He at one point had a caboose on it that allowed him to carry a dog and to cycle them out as needed. Superb innovation is what the K300 brings out of mushers. Technology and strategy that will be used for Iditarod is tested in Bethel. It truly brings out the best of the best.

The K300 Preps for another possible photo finish!

5:00 AM UPDATE: Rohn Buser and Jeff King have left Tuluksak and are headed along the overland trail to Bethel setting up what should become an incredibly close finish.  Rohn and Jeff are the two most recent champions of this race, with Rohn winning in 2012 and Jeff taking home the title last year.  Fans are encouraged to come down to the finish line and cheer on both mushers as they push their teams and selves to the limit for the $22,000 grand prize!

As if Rohn and Jeff's battle wasn't enough, third place through sixth place is separated by a measly 12 minutes. 2011 Champion Paul Gebhardt leads Joar Ulsom, Cim Smyth and Jake Berkowitz.  Paul is eligible to leave Tuluksak 1 hour and 13 minutes after Rohn.  Local fan favorite Pete Kaiser sits in seventh place and is eligible to leave 2 hours and 48 after Rohn leaves.  Hot on Pete's heels is Ken Anderson sitting a mere 3 minutes behind Pete.

Anyway you slice it, this ending projects to be an action packed, take-no-prisoners affair.  Fans of the sport will not be disappointed!

A Perspective from Mille Porsild of Racing Beringia!!!

Jeff King, Rohn Buser, Paul Gebhard, Joar Leifseth Ulsom, Jake Berkowitz and Cim Smyth  are all in Tuluksak, the last checkpoint of the race before the mad dash. After the 4-hour mandatory stop the teams will cross over the Kuskokwim River to put this mighty highway behind them, instead heading overland the last stretch to the finish-line. 

From what I gathered at the Musher Meeting on the day before the race, this change of route - forced by poor ice conditions as the river gets closer to its mouth into the Bering Sea - is quite welcomed by the mushers… Most of the mushers at this time having slept less than 5 hours in the past 40 hours, they are happy to get off the wide…meandering.. booooring river!  

The name "Kuskokwim" comes of the native Yup'ik word "kusquqviim," which means something like "big slow moving thing"… This river is indeed a broad flat body of water that runs more than 700 miles cutting its way from the interior of Alaska to the west coast where it mouth feeds tremendous amounts of water into the Bering Sea. 

The 2nd largest river in Alaska, The Kuskokwim River is the  9th largest river in all of the United States. The river is one of four making up the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, one of the largest delta areas in the world. An immense landscape of flat marshland dotted with lakes, ponds and sloughs which was once part of the land mass called Beringia have had people living here for thousands of years since they first came across the Bering land Bridge, from what is today known as Chukotka in Russia. 

About the size of Oregon, today this remote, still pretty much road-less region is home to about 25000 people, mostly Yupik---and millions of waterfowl. It is one of the world's great waterfowl nesting areas.

This time of the year, its the time of flying sled dogs in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta! A most exciting experience for all of us to explore and re-discover this magnificent ancient region of our planet, the beautiful culture and traditions of people here, and not least: sled dog racing at its best.

Mille Porsild, Racing Beringia

View from Homer

The race rule change allowing the six hour mandatory layover to be taken in increments and as needed is certainly interesting to see play out. Paul Gebhardt has often pushed to Aniak to take his six hour layover. He now has the advantage to take some rest in Kalskag and then push on. I think if history serves me the race started with the mandatory layover being taken in Aniak. For years now mushers have blazed through Aniak stopping to snack the dogs and grab some grub. Now Aniak spectators will get to have some time with mushers and see the athletes. I am sure this will be a very welcome change.

Jeff King posted the fastest time so far on the way to Aniak but the top five are all still very close at the halfway point. I am eager to see if they all finish the mandatory six in Aniak knowing they will have another 4 hour layover in Tuluksak on the way down. The race is never run in perfect weather; it is always one extreme or the other. The slick wet trail can present various issues. Dogs can slip and hurt shoulders easier. It is also harder to set the cruise control to the desired MPH. Mushers that train in good snow conditions are often surprised by the absence of snow as they fly around the K300 trail. Dogs wear boots almost constantly during races these days, so foot injuries are not what they used to be in snow less conditions. I'm pretty sure this is the standard, anyway... I have been out of the loop for quite some time. Please correct me if I am wrong about any of this.

Congratulations to Schouviller on his Bogus creek 150 win. He is one of the friendliest guys in the sport and has always done well. I don't think he has done the K300 yet but I think his entry fee will be paid next year. It is one way the K300 tries to get local mushers into the longer distance race. Schouviller is a previous winner of the Akiak Dash and has won several other local races. It will be exciting to see if he gets into distance racing as other local sprint mushers have.

From Myron Angstman

Armchair mushers might think the warm temperatures experienced  thus far on the race trail are a welcome change from recent years below zero temps.  But the heat causes problems  as well.  This year above freezing temperatures have caused a  meltdown of recently fallen snow, creating water on the trail.   Slushy conditions were reported between Bogus Creek and Kalskag, and racers can expect more of the same on the Whitefish loop.   Early standings show few surprises as  Paul Gebhardt leads the pack with Rohn Buser and Jeff King  not far back.  In recent races, those three have often been near the front approaching Aniak.  Trail conditions on the river between Aniak and Kalskag are being checked right now,  as early reports suggested there might be a need to re-route the trail in that area because of water.