Hello Iditarod Fans,
Time for some more armchair mushing. True armchair mushing for me too, as I am not in Bethel for the Kusko 300. Many top notch Iditarod Mushers are. At times I wish I would be. But the weather in Bethel sure throws a curve ball once again. But it’s Bethel and the K300, the race known for adversity. Running there myself in 2008 I vividly remember the Kusko Swim. Trail markers floating down the river, blinking lights at night trying to show the way. Reading this at Joar Ulsom’s website
“Plowing through water on the river. It is hard to see the trail to follow because it is under water. They are saying we need to go overland back from Aniak also, not run on the river — to poor conditions. It will make the run a bit longer. But, it’s the same for all of us!”
This sounds challenging, wet and ugly. So armchair mushing is not that bad after all. I hope everybody stays save out there. In 2008 running back from Akiakchak to Bethel I saw two headlights on the river. Getting closer, plowing through the water with 9 dogs and one in the bag, I came upon Andy Angstman and Jim Gallea. Not quite grappling the situation I asked them what they were doing there? ” Enjoying the night…. we lost our snowmachine in a hole in the ice “. Reality set in pretty quickly. Those last 14 miles back to Bethel were the longest 14 miles of my life.
Looking at Martin Busers tracker, who left Kalskag in 2nd place and then going astray up a slough for a few miles, one can read between the lines what is going on out there on the Kusko River. Martin is back on track, but dropped a few places and has been passed by his competitive son Rohn and Jeff King and is now traveling right behind Joar Leifseth Ulsom. Yes that strong running Norwegian from Team Beringia. Loosing the trail during a race is very disheartening and usually means lost time which is next to impossible to make up.
Paul Gebhardt is leading the race, but he has taken the least amount of rest in Kalskag with only 3hrs and his start time differential. Most other Mushers have taken four hours. Kusko rules changed this year and the mandatory six hour rest break can be taken “floating“ and broken up in increments. It used to be a common schedule to run to Kalskag, take a full six hours plus start time differential there and then race with as little rest as possible all the way back to Tuluksak to take the mandatory four hours rest there. Now there are many more options on how to and where to take the six hours. As a musher I always prefer floating rest, as it enables me to rest when I feel the dogs need the rest the most. Each team can play it out a bit more to their strengths and to what they have trained for. In the long run, short rests at the beginning does slow the team down. Depending on the trail conditions, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. Allen Moore just won the CB 300 with taking one of the longest rests ( 5 hrs ) early in that race. Time will tell if Paul’s strategy will work, or if the is going to be passed on the way back.
Other than Paul being in the mix, the Kusko looks much like a repeat from last year with Rohn Buser und Jeff King setting the pace. Jeff is about double the age of Rohn. That is one thing which is pretty neat about mushing, where very different generations race neck on neck. The lead pack is followed by many hungry younger mushers like Joar, Jake Berkowitz and Cim Smyth, who is in the hunt too. You never want one of the Smyth brothers hunting you down in any race. Known to wear running shoes themselves, they will put on a strong surge at the end.
Normally mushers run up the river to Aniak and back overland to Kalskag, but due to the trail conditions and water on the river, both ways seem to be run overland. That will make for a few head-on-passings, but yet is much better than wallowing in water. It makes this year’s Kusko a bit longer. Each checkpoint in the Kusko is run really well. In bush Alaska villages the people are really into dog racing and roll out the red carpet for the mushers. I have very good memories of resting in Tuluksak, Kalskag and Aniak. Their hospitality is simply great!
For teams used to train in colder weather, like Tony Browning who is teamed up with Aaron Burmeisters Wild Style Racing, as well as Katherine Keith and John Baker these warm temperatures will sure pose a challenge, as their teams are not as accustomed to them as others. Warren Palfrey who is teamed up with Iditarod musher Jessie Royer has trained in much warmer British Columbia for most of the winter and that could potentially play out to his advantage. Warren is a rookie in the K300, and thus this race might be a real eye opener to him. It sure was to me when I first raced there.
The Happy Trails Teams from the Buser Kennel clearly play the speed card this year. That speed card is what had won Martin the fastest time to Nome in 2002. His feat stayed unbeaten for along time until John Baker finally broke the record in 2011, with a considerably slower team which needed less rest. To me it looks like the Busers want to prove that it is still the fastest team that can win Iditarod. I am very much looking forward to this year’s race to see how the different strategies will work out.
In the meantime, enjoy following the Kusko 300 and cheer on your favorite Iditarod Team. www.k300.org. There is a great section on there called the “ Daily Bark” Bethel musher and lawyer Myron Angstman does offer some very nice insights and analytics there! Happy trails!
Sebastian
