Musher Mike Williams Jr. of Akiak surged to the front of the race in the first half and held on to win his second Bogus Creek 150 title nearly 20 years after his first.

Williams Jr. and his 10 dogs made the run up to the race’s sole checkpoint in 6 hours and 29 minutes and arrived at Bogus Creek at 9:29 p.m., 7 minutes ahead of defending Bogus Creek 150 champion Raymond Alexie of Kwethluk, who arrived at Bogus Creek at 9:36 p.m.

Sixteen mushers are on the trail for the 150-mile run from Bethel to Bogus Creek and back. It’s a deep field, with six former champions in the mix, as well as a handful of race rookies.

The mass start of the 2025 Bogus Creek 150 will take place at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 22.

Sixteen mushers and their dogs are set to race from Bethel to Bogus Creek and back this weekend in the annual Bogus Creek 150 Sled Dog Race. Here’s what to expect from the race and how to keep track of the action.

Feb. 11 marked the closing of the 2025 Kuskokwim 300 race weekend with the annual Mushers Banquet.

High school boys in Akiachak can “forget the muscle cars,” said Barron Sample, principal of the village’s school. “You get the muscle dogs,” he said. Welcome to the mushing-crazed Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta — the one region of Alaska where the sport of mushing seems to be thriving, not just surviving.

The Danish musher, who splits his time between Alta, Norway and Takotna, Alaska, clinched the award given to the last musher into Bethel, still a staple of the race after 46 years.

Seventeen mushers embarked upriver in the 46th running of the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race this weekend, visiting the communities of Tuluksak, Kalskag, and Aniak before heading back to the finish line in Bethel.

Bethel’s Pete Kaiser was the first musher to return, crossing the finish line at 1:57 a.m. and officially tying Jeff King for the all-time record of most first-place finishes in the race.