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.

Funny's Last Race

Few people have ever heard the details of the closest finish in K300 race history.

Stories from the early years of the Kuskokwim 300 are often shared at social gatherings, but few ever make it into print.  One such tale, the 1983 finish, needs to be recorded while some of the participants can still recall the details.  I was one of the participants,  and it’s a story I have rarely told.  

The 1983 race boasted a field of mushing stars, but none more famous than George Attla, the Huslia  Hustler.  A movie of his life, “Sprit of the Wind” had won many awards and played to a packed house at Swanson’s Theatre,  now a relic of Bethel history.  Attla flew to Bethel to help open the new Alaska Commercial Company store, and was a legitimate hero, mainly because  of his many championships in sprint racing.  But he was also a distance musher, having finished the first Iditarod, and the 1982 K-300, in second place.

So when he came back in 1983, there was no question he came to win. The first half of the race was typical, with teams running and resting on their own schedules.  My team looked good on the way up river, and the highlight to that point in the race was passing  defending champion Jerry Austin on the way into Aniak. I ran a veteran team, with a 10 year old leader named Funny, my ace in the hole for the home stretch. Funny had been injured much of the fall, and only  made the team in the last week after having several weeks off with a sore shoulder.  He spent much of that time inside our house, and the night before the race woke me up at about 2 am  sitting on the end of the bed looking at me, as if to remind me that he was ready. He had been loose in the yard during his recovery, and only stopped limping the week of the race. He had two short training runs between Dec 1st and the race.

Funny had one blue eye, one brown eye, and a big head.

Funny rode in the sled to Tuluksak because of his age, injury, and lack of speed.  His head stuck out of the bag, and he watched the many trucks pass us with  little interest.  When I put him in the team, he managed a few barks and jumps, despite his age. I was using a few borrowed dogs as well, including a couple from John Riley.

After Aniak the trail looped back around Whitefish Lake before turning back onto the Kuskokwim River at Kalskag. The trail was not perfect, and most of the front runners had to park for a few hours in the dark near Whitefish because blowing snow had covered the trail making it it difficult to follow the sparse markers. I spent the down time parked near young Ron Kaiser, and up - and- coming Bethel racer.

When the crowd of teams left the camp on the open tundra near Whitefish, I  still had Funny back in the team, but shortly before Kalskag  I needed to move him into lead. I had hoped to wait longer to use him there, but I was actually short of reliable leaders so I moved him to lead where he stayed for the remaining 100 miles of racing. Immediately I noticed an improvement. The old guy knew where he was and his nose was pointed home. I quickly moved into a group of teams leading the pack. They included Attla, Joe Garnie, and Clarence Towarek.  In those days, the pace was less frantic than now, and  most of the teams took a good break in Kalskag.  Heading down river, Garnie, Towarek and myself were  behind Attla, and that continued as we passed through Tuluksak.  I recall he had about a 15 or 20 minute lead out of Tuluksak,  Towarek was in second, and Garnie and I were about even for third.  I pulled away from Garnie as we left  Tuluksak,  and the team was looking strong on the home stretch.  I was closer to  both teams  ahead of me at Akiak, and starting to sense that I could catch them.

I never did see Towarek’s team again. He lost the trail somewhere between Akiak and Kwethluk, and ended up behind me at the finish line.  I was moving well when I came upon Attla stopped in Kuskokuak  Slough, unable to move forward untiI I passed  him.   His team followed me into  Kwethluk, and I saw no tracks in front of me.  That was confirmed when we checked into Kwethluk, as I left in first place.  Fifteen miles to Bethel at about 4 am, and it was getting interesting.  

That year we used the  back trail from Kwethluk, which I had  never used. The trail wound through swamps and trees a few miles off the river. There were many forks, and Attla and I exchanged the lead several times as  one or the other would get off  the trail momentarily on the confusing forks.  Through it all it was obvious to me I had the slightly stronger team, mainly because of that old leader, who by now was limping on a sore shoulder but obviously determined to get home as fast as possible. He was running single lead, and   it was a sight I have never forgotten.  We would drop behind a ways because we took the wrong fork , but when the trails merged that old warrior would close the gap in short order and we would pass when the other team took the wrong fork. As I write this, I can recall the strength in the gait of that old  leader. He was trotting, and his gait was very smooth and steady. Funny was a heavily built dog, with a broad back and a big head. He looked like a bull dozer in front of the team.

When we busted out of the woods and onto the wide expanse of the Kuskokwim, there were a number of fans cheering us on.  One guy hollered there was overflow ahead. I was leading, and my team was used to overflow so I was not concerned. Attla, who trained on trails designed for sprinting, chose to skirt the overflow which seemed to be the long way around. I went right into the water but it soon got deep enough that I turned the team to the left and got out of the water behind Attla. We quickly caught up, but now Attla was driving his dogs and mine seemed content to ride along right behind.    We had about 3 miles to the finish.

I needed to pass if I was going to win.  Before the race,  Bob Sept had delivered to me a  signal whip, which I had never used but had heard about from other racers. It was suggested that by cracking the whip, a musher could get extra speed from his team. I tried it  then as the lights of Bethel came into view. I  was unable to make it crack,  so then I tried slapping the ice with the whip.  There was no reaction, and Funny was still comfortably tucked in behind Attla’s sled as we approached town. I packed the whip away after about two minutes.

That year the finish line was located on Bethel’s Front Street, in front of what is now Swanson’s  Marina.  The trail left the river near a big boat moored in the ice at what is now the downriver end of the city dock. There was a narrow chute between the boat and the bank, and that chute was full of overflow. The water went from the boat to the bank, about  6-8 feet across and  about  2 feet deep in the middle.  Both teams tried to turn into Brown Slough, but managed to make it to the boat and start up the bank.  Attla was still right ahead of Funny, and when his dogs reached the deepest overflow, they stopped. Funny didn’t mind a little water, and was determined to get up the bank.I had run the trail to the finish a few days before the race. He tried to pass in the water.  Funny was about  10 feet past Attla’s sled when one of his dogs leaped over my  team trying to get out of the water.    That stopped my team , about half way past Attla’s team.  Attla was quick to respond.  “Untangle them!” he hollered.  He was thinking quickly, knowing that if I untangled the dogs, I would be off my sled when they were free, allowing Attla a chance to bolt for the finish. 

There were at least two eyewitnesses to the incident in the water, Bob Nelson, a local builder at the time, and Doug Dorland, an attorney from my office.  They were perched on the boat right above the teams.  They watched  as I splashed ahead in the water. I also had a plan.  I grabbed Attla’s dog and pitched it over the line, at the same moment as I urged Funny ahead.  He was standing in chest deep water, and needed little encouragement.  Funny was  off like a shot.  I grabbed the sled as it flew by.  When I emerged from the water, a moment later, I glanced back and Attla was still stalled.

We hit the street, and that old beast motored to the large crowd assembled at the finish line.  I crossed the line just 18 seconds ahead of Attla, the closest finish in  K300 history, and second closest ever in long distance racing. As I gave Funny a hug, Attla stormed up and said I cheated. He stated, “Boy, I think you broke every rule in the book.”  My mother-in-law pointed at his face and said, “you’re just a sore loser.”  Because I had helped write the race rules, I could think of no rule that was violated.  Race marshal Ernie Baumgartner agreed.  George complained about the use of the whip, which was not  even mentioned in our rules at the time and had no bearing on the outcome.

Attla skipped the awards ceremony and was fined by race officials for  doing so. He hired a lawyer to protest the fine, but the lawyer gave up after writing one letter. I remember clearly the argument raised in the letter.  It was suggested Attla’s fine should be returned because the rules didn’t state that  racers had to follow all  of the rules.  The controversy at the finish took a lot of the fun out of winning  that race for me. But as years go by, the controversy has faded and the classic finish  has emerged as one of  my most cherished memories.  I often travel that same stretch of river by dog team  or snow machine. When I do, I  never fail to recall that night, and that leader. When that happens, no matter how cold it is, I always feel a little warmer.   Funny never finished another race. He was retired to roam the yard, and spent part of his time inside. He later lost a tooth, which I put on a chain and wore around my neck when racing. He is buried under our house.

Funny resting in the house, with his Christmas bow slightly askew.

As for Attla, he never raced another  long distance race, but continued to race and win sprints for a few more years. Later that year, he raced the Fur Rondy which was televised from Anchorage.  As he came down fourth avenue to the finish line, the camera showed a close up image of him cracking a long whip over his team.  No one complained.

- Myron Angstman

Sunday Morning Analysis by Myron Angstman

So where has the race analysis been for this race?    Well,  it has been busy. Old Friendly Dog Farm  had a team in the  Bogus and the Dash, and  that’s a handful. In addition,  Ryan Air sponsored the basketball  tourney, and Andy has been heavily involved in that as a player and as one of the organizers.  Six from that tourney stayed at our house. You get the idea.

So what has happened so far?  No surprises in the Bogus and Dash.  Both winners are teams that are hard to beat.  Louis Pavilla races a fast team of dogs that is capable of winning  any race he enters.  He has threatened to enter the K300 but never has.  It is time for him to take that next step. 

The Nose team is even faster, and no one can catch them in the Dash it seems.  Even with rookie driver Randy Nose in charge, the team won by half an hour in the 65 mile race.  Perhaps with a little study we can learn if that is the biggest winning margin ever, but I am guessing it is.  As with Pavilla and the 300, the Nose team needs to move up to the Bogus and give it a try.

There used to be a rule that the winner of one of our shorter races was not eligible to compete in that race the next year, as a means of developing more local K300 teams, but that rule was not popular with some racers who didn’t want to move into the longer races. In fact, we even provided free entry into the next higher race for the winners. If you think we should still have that rule, let the race committee know and it will be considered.

Now for the 300. I suppose it can be called a surprise when a team like King’s can come back after not racing since 2009, and not winning since 2006, and win easily, but of course for an 8 time champion, it really is not a surprise.  King has a line of dogs that is obviously ideal for this race, and even though this batch of dogs has not raced here before,  their breed line has won enough times to qualify as contenders anytime they take part.  And of course King himself has the race pretty well figured out.  As for his age, that is not nearly as big a factor in dog racing as in most other competitive  events, because performing while sleep deprived is a trait that is often easier for  folks with more experience doing it.  Of course, new easy rider sleds make it more comfortable for  older racers to compete.  In this race, because of no hills, the dogs can do most of the work and an seasoned driver just has to work in the checkpoints.

What happened to last year’s champion Rohn Buser?  A blistering pace headed up river put him in a good position to win, but keeping up that kind of pace is tough.  After a layover in Kalskag, the dogs usually depart with a slower pace. With about 200 miles to go, that Saturday pace is the key to victory here.  Its not which team is the fastest that wins these kind of races, it’s the team  that slows down to the fastest pace.  In other words, you need to be faster when you are going slow.  The team I used to race in the 300 was a notoriously slow starting bunch, but they held that pace for a long time, often catching and passing teams that has passed us earlier. 

It is fun to see Tony Browning  running with the leaders.  Tony was a regular at this race for many years, but hasn’t raced here since 2000.  This promises to be his best finish ever.  Expect a finish for King between 11  and noon today. 

Team Racing Beringia at Kuskokwim 300

My name is Mille Porsild, I am sitting at the K300 Head Quarters in the midst of the incredible excitement unfolding on the trail. This is racing! My job is to make updates online at RacingBeringia.tumblr.com throughout the race, to get everyone fired up about what is ahead for our team:

I am here with my racers Mikhail Telpin of Chukotka, Russia and Joar Leifseth Ulsom of Mo I Rana, Norway -- right now Joar is in the 5-man chase group trying to catch Jeff King leading the race, while Mikhail is on the trail from Aniak where he rested his team of native Chukchi dogs as planned.

For both Mikhail and Joar this is a (very exciting) training race for the Iditarod start in a little more than one month from now -- when our education program goes live for the 2013 school year on February 25th at RacingBeringia.com

Mikhail, Joar and their specialized forces, the amazing sled dogs, are on the trail in our adventure learning program "Racing Beringia,"  exploring and sharing their experiences of the region of Beringia: As they travel across tundra, up rivers, on the sea ice and across mountain ranges and into remote native communities, they are racing indeed, but most importantly they are fueling excitement and curiosity of thousands of classrooms across the US and in 30+ countries around the world.

Beringia is the ancient Arctic region spanning from Chukotka (Russia) on the eastern side of the Bering Strait to Alaska (US) and the Yukon (Canada) on the western side of the Bering Strait.  During the last ice age the water of the Bering Strait was frozen in glaciers and the water level was so low that the entire region was a huge grass steppe connecting the two continents of Asia and North America. Over time mammoth, sable tigers and eventually people following their prey, made way from what is now Chukotka to Alaska. In this way the people on each side of the continent, their way of life, language and culture is still connected today.

Sled dogs and dogsledding is an important part of this connection. The oldest remain of sled dogs, some +7000 years old, have been found in Chukotka and the Chukchi sled dog native to this region over time migrated to Alaska with people; Then in 1907 - 08 teams of Chukchi sled dogs were brought to Alaska from Chukotka to win the All Alaska Sweepstake Race in Nome (setting a record that still stands today!). These Chukchi dogs eventually became Seppala's dogs and with the Chukchi dogs he bred and raced Seppala (who came to Alaska from Norway) proceeded to win most of the racing titles in Alaska and became world famous in 1925 as a result of their heroic efforts to get the badly needed diphtheria serum to Nome. Yep, Balto was a Chukchi dog indeed!

In that way, Joar's team of small fast Alaskan Huskies that he brought with him from Norway is connected to Mikhail's sturdy Chukchi dogs -- just like the people, culture and nature is connected across the Beringia region, a connection that in turn is connecting learners online.

The online education program involves a natural and social science curriculum for teachers in classrooms and the programming is free to all participating classrooms. Whether you are inside our outside the classroom -- join the team today at RacingBeringia.com!

Racing Beringia is made possible though generous contributions from our sponsors and support by the Shared Beringian Heritage Program.

Settling in for a night at headquarters...

The headquarters night shift is trickling in. We're ready for a night of keeping you all posted on the progress of our K300 mushers as they make their way down the river towards Bethel.  With the Akiak Dash and the Bogus Creek 150 wrapped up and in the books, all eyes are on the Kusko. Our volunteers will be maintaining contact with Kalskag and Tuluksak checkpoints for official times throughout the night, updating facebook with unofficial info from the tracker, logging raffle tickets for the big drawing tomorrow night, projecting finish times, eating pizza, drinking coffee, drinking coffee, drinking coffee...

At this point, all K300 mushers have taken their six hour layovers, we've adjusted for start times, and we have a pretty good idea of who is where and how people are moving.  The weather in Kalskag is reported to be good, the trails are fast, and the night is young.  Anything could happen.  Stay up with us and stay tuned to K300 race coverage through the night...

Headquarters Update and LKSD Media Coverage

Things are busy at headquarters, with lots of locals stopping by, enjoying the food, and watching the numbers change on the leaderboard.  The coffee will be on all night, so stop by!  We are fortunate to have so many ways of following the events in Bethel and up the Kuskokwim this weekend.  LKSD has brought in some high school students interested in media and publishing, and they have been making and posting videos.  Link to their work through:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmX2h0k1Ak8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Khev_l5xE

They will be posting more stuff throughout the weekend... ENJOY!  

For all you Facebook holdouts out there, here are  few updates that haven't yet appeared on this blog: the Bogus Creek 150 is over. I know, feels like it only started yesterday, doesn't it? Congratulations to Lewis Pavila and Bad River Kennels out of Kwethluk for their 2013 victory. The Akiak Dash started this afternoon and is dashing into Akiak around now, according to the updates on the radio by KYUK's Shane Iverson. Randy Nose of Akiachak is currently leading the pack. Good to have Shane back on trail coverage. It has officially warmed up considerably out on the trail, but the wind has picked up and some snow has been falling. Much of the region is under a blizzard warning. Mushers out on the trail may encounter whiteouts and snowdrifts on the trail, though the snow seems to have abated for now.

The K-300 leaders are out of Aniak into the Whitefish Lake loop with Rohn Buser and Jeff King leading the pack. Local musher Pete Kaiser has been moving up and is currently around 5th or 6th place, not far in front of other local favorites Mike Williams, Jr. and Richie Diehl. Kaiser's website, www.kaiserracing.com, has been providing some phenomenal race coverage. Make sure you check it out.    --Ben Kuntz

Headquarters still busy with tasks all night but few visitors after 1 am.  Unofficial  Bogus Creek K300 check in shows Rohn Buser, Mike Williams Jr and Joar Ulsom through there around 0120 - 0138.   Per the unofficial GPS trackers - 1st K300 mushers - about 8 miles out from Kalskag.

Bogus Creek mushers are on their 4 hour rest.  Thanks so much to the Bogus Creek checkers up there - it is a chilly night and starting a fire has been challenging.

Looks to be perhaps a record setting pace - we will have to see how the next 24 hours goes.

K300 is always such a time of excitement for the Delta.  Lots of volunteers pulling together - host families cooking up delicious dishes for their mushers and caring for their dropped dogs.  Kind supporters drop off bags of awesome cookies and casseroles at all the checkpoints and headquarters.  Jesuit Volunteers and lots of other villagers care for dropped dogs and cheer on the mushers as they race through checkpoints. Lots of hard work go into this race - by the mushers and dogs as well as the planners and volunteers of the K300.  It is great to see the YK Delta come together to support the dog mushing community.

We encourage you all to participate and support the races!! Come cheer for the Akiak Dash tomorrow at 2:00 pm on the Bethel river front.  Watch all 12 Akiak Dashers start at once - Definitely a photo opportunity.

Stay warm and sleep well those of you who can - Kalskag Checkers are just getting ready to check the first K300 musher through in the next hour.