Pete Kaiser is a hard guy to beat on his home trails — but Matt Failor, Richie Diehl and several local mushers sure made the Bethel native work for his sixth Kuskokwim 300 title on Sunday morning.
Pete Kaiser
Kaiser arrived at the Bethel finish line with 11 of his 12 starting dogs at 7:59 a.m. after 37 hours and 31 minutes on the trail, the sixth fastest time in race history. His sixth title in eight years was worth $25,000 of the $100,000+ purse.
Failor, of Willow, followed 16 minutes behind at 8:15 a.m. to claim a $17,000 prize. He passed Diehl, the defending champion from Aniak, on the final stretch and finished four minutes ahead of him.
This year’s race, held amid wind and on icy trails, returned to the traditional out-and-back route of 276 miles from Bethel to Aniak, with checkpoints also at the villages of Tuluksuk and Kalskag.
Kaiser, the 2019 Iditarod champion, began as the 16th and final musher in the staggered start on Friday evening, when the reported wind chill was 30-below Fahrenheit.
Kaiser, racing his 14th K300, bided his time and eventually passed every musher. At the return stop in Kalskag, Kaiser leapfrogged Failor and Seward’s Travis Beals, who both arrived there before Kaiser but fell behind after completing their mandatory rest. Kaiser left Kalskag just five minutes ahead of Diehl.
Travis Beals (photo by Dave Cannon)
“Typically, most of the races I’ve won are kind of a come-from-behind type thing,” Kaiser told KYUK Radio, which live-streamed the start and finish.
In race history, Kaiser now only trails the legendary Jeff King, who won nine times, a mark that Kaiser initially considered insurmountable.
“I guess now it definitely seems possible if I keep doing this for a while,” Kaiser told KYUK.
Failor may have challenged Kaiser the whole way if not for losing considerable time early in the race near Aniak.
“We made a big mistake in a windstorm and went down the ice road and had to double back, and it was really slippery,” Failor said. “We got tangled up for maybe 25 minutes.”
Jason Pavila (photo by Katie Basile)
Father Alexander Larson, the early leader into Aniak, was penalized 20 minutes for not stopping the second time through Kalskag as required. Larson, who had finished his mandatory rest by then, wasn’t aware of the requirement. He wound up 10th.
The Lower Kuskokwim maintains a strong mushing tradition, with seven of the 16 K300 racers from the area. Many locals also raced the accompanying Bogus Creek 150 and Akiak Dash 60-miler.
Kwethluk High School senior Jason Pavila, 18, turned heads by reaching Kalskag first and placing eighth overall at 10:26 a.m.
“You look at Jason Pavila and the race he put together. Just really impressive,” Diehl said. “If this mushing thing wants to stay happening in rural Alaska, younger kids like him have to keep moving up like Pete and I did. I think it’s very important.”
Added Kaiser: “I guarantee you, if Jason wants to keep doing this, he can win a race like this no problem. And, Father (Larson) could do it too,” Kaiser told KYUK.
Meanwhile, several Iditarod veterans finished not far off the podium, with Beals fourth, Norwegian Joar Leifseth Ulsom fifth, Cim Smyth sixth and Aaron Burmeister seventh.
Willow 300 starts Monday
The Willow 300 and Willow 150 got started Monday morning in Willow. It was originally scheduled to begin January 28 but was postponed due to open water.
The start list for the 300-miler included 25 mushers, among them Nic Petit, Jeff King and Hugh Neff (several other big names, among them Mitch Seavey, Brent Sass and Ramey Smyth were initially signed up but withdrew).
Visit www.willow300race.org or follow on Facebook for more information.