Racing musings, Kusko 300

Hello Race fans,

The first major mid distance races of the 2016 Winter season are in full swing. Last weekend the Copper Basin 300 wrapped up in Glennallen. That race ended with the defending Champion Allen Moore losing his title to youngster Matt Hall, 23. Matt is young by age, yet he has much more dog running experience than many of his peers double his age. Matt grew up in Eagle, Alaska running dogs with his parents Scarlett and Wayne for their Bush Alaska Tour Business. Tough dog running that is. No big surprise, that on his 4th try, he won the raced touted “ the toughest 300 miles in Alaska “. Another youngster, Ryne Olsen claimed 2nd place, right ahead of Allen Moore and Aliy Zirkle of Sp Kennels. Now 3rd and 4th is by no means a bad showing in any race, for any kennel, yet is shows a trend in the sport. A younger generation of mushers is pushing hard into the winners circle, simply look at Dallas in Iditarod.  The Copper Basin 300 had a fast and hard packed trail this year. It also was ” only a 280 miler “, as the start got moved from Glennallen to Gakona. A wise move on the organizers’ part.  Runtimes from the 1st Checkpoint of Red Eagle Lodge to the 2nd Checkpoint of Meiers Lake were a good hour faster than in 2015. The dreaded Gakona River costing was dry. Matt rested a bit longer earlier in the Race and stayed only 3 hrs in the last Checkpoint of Mendeltna Lodge ( great food ). That is an 86 mile hilly run, with a a 3 hr break, followed by a 59 mile, mostly downhill run. That last run can have some real punchy and slow trail, not so this year, with recent rain, glazing over the trail.

The next 300 miler, the Kusko 300 is happening as I type this. That race has also recently been won by a younger generation, Rohn Buser and then by the K300 hometown man Peter Kaiser. So it is not too surprising, to see that Rohn is running right up front again. Currently Brent Sass is leading the way. Brent’s season in 2015 was by no means disappointing with pulling off his first Quest Championship, yet he must be very hungry to do well this winter, after his Iditarod ended prematurely in Tanana. Usually a strong headed musher comes back hard, after such a setback. Brent has had near ideal training conditions in Eureka and has been putting on long miles. Those are very much needed for a 300 Mile race, with only 10 hrs of mandatory rest. Brent has proven in shorter races like the Gin Gin 200, that his team, albeit being bigger dogs, can hold a fast pace. Reports have 40 mile an hour winds on the Kusko, coupled with glare ice, not an easy combination. Brent must love it, as the tougher it gets, the more he thrives.

Martin, Jeff and others sure will have their hands full, trying to fend off this younger generation from taking the podium  ( again ).  It is going to be a nail biter. It is fun to see Lance Mackey right in the mix. Lance has never won the Kusko. He seems to run a bit more conservative race. The word conservative not being really fitting for a Kusko. He rested 3 hrs during his 1st break, as opposed to a bit more than 1 hr for Martin and Rohn. Usually longer rests pay dividends later in the race. Most likely most of you reading this know this link anyhow, just in case…. Follow along the Kusko here

http://www.k300.org/wordpress/kuskokwim-300-live-gps-tracking/

Time to go out and run some dogs, happy trails, occasionally I still do that

Sebastian

Author at CB 300 in Sourdough

Author at CB 300 in Sourdough