The 3rd main mid-distance race for the 2015 winter happened this weekend in Bethel, Alaska. The Kusko 300 attracts many of the best teams of the distance mushing scene. With the Kusko not being on the road system, it is neither easy nor cheap to get there. Now add to that one of the most demanding race schedules of only 10 hrs of total accumulated rest, coupled with often very challenging trail conditions, the Kusko is a true test of a team’s strengths and a good indicator of how well those teams are going to be performing during Iditarod, also.
More than a few times, has the victorious Kusko team also been in the top dog a few months later in Iditarod. As many of the Alaskan races, the Kusko 300 has had weather worries. Pictures of huge jumbled ice were circulating the news a few weeks back. Unusually warm conditions had caused the river level in the Kuskokwim River to rise, break up the ice, which then lodged again further downstream. The local villages pulled together and a dozer was hired to carve out a path through the rough ice, not only for the K300 race, but also to make travel between villages possible again, as overland routes did not have enough snow.
Of 31 signed up teams, 25 made it to Bethel. This year the K300 committee had announced, that once a team would start the K300, they would receive a full refund of their entry fee. That coupled with a record high purse attracted more mushers than in recent years.
The race route however had to be shortened and stayed entirely on the Kuskokwim River. In the end, looking at the GPS tracker, the clock stopped after 267 Miles. Talking about the GPS tracker, it is worthwhile to take a good look at the GPS data from Pete Kaiser. Talk about a well executed race. http://trackleaders.com/kusko15i.php?name=Pete_Kaiser Consistent speed, precisely chosen rest times and very few stops along the trail.
Talking to Pete about the trail, he stated that it was not as bad as expected and that is was not just pure glare ice as it had been in races past. According to him the ice had some grip to it and the well marked trail was easy to follow. ” The only bad thing was, that it rained on us for the first 9 hrs straight ” Pete commented. Rain is sure not a welcome sight by mushers. Once resting in Kalskag on the ” way up ” it changed from fall to winter during that rest. By the time Pete came outside from his 4hrs rest things had frozen up.
For the most part 2 time K300 and defending Champion Rohn Buser led the field. His dad and 4 time Iditarod Champion Martin Buser was not far behind. None of the competitive teams are actually far behind. By standings, teams like Jeff King dropped to 9th place, but that would only mean a time distance of about 40 minutes. And in true fashion Jeff made up a lot of that time during the final runs back to Bethel.
Snow was starting to fall and made travel much more pleasant for the teams and by the time mushers returned to their mandatory 4 hrs of rest in Tuluksak, it looked and felt like winter out there again with temperatures back to 0F. Talk about a quick change in weather. By that point Pete Kaiser had gained steady ground on Rohn and it would come down to the last run of who would be the 2015 K300 Champion.
Already before the last checkpoint of Kwethluk Pete had passed Rohn and was building a steady lead. For us armchair mushers it meant watching the ” blip ” moving down the imaginary trail on the computer; for the mushers it meant steady hard work of helping the team with pedaling and skipoling.
In the end, in true hometown fashion the K300 went to Pete Kaiser, who received a very warm welcome, including being showered in champagne. His lead dogs Rosie and Palmer raced across the finish line, leading a very nice looking team after such a tough race. A well deserved victory and also a dream come true for Pete Kaiser to bring the trophy home. It had been 29 years since a local team had won the race. In1986, Myron Angstman, who had also won in 1983, was the champion. Now Myron is instrumental in organizing the K300 and keeping the K300 tradition alive and well.
It did not take long for the other teams to follow, Rohn Buser a mere 13 minutes behind, followed by 9 time K300 Champ Jeff King. Tony Browning ( who is teamed up with Aaron Burmeister ) and Ken Anderson round out the top 5. Full standings here: http://www.k300.org/wordpress/kuskokwim-300-detailed-leaderboard/
Well, Pete, now you have a target on your back and high expectations riding on your shoulders for Iditarod.
Happy trails,
Sebastian
