Update: Musher Emily Robinson arrived first to the Tuluksak outbound checkpoint on Jan. 24 at 12:19 a.m., followed by Riley Dyche, and Jessica Klejka.
All 23 teams competing in this year’s Kuksokwim 300 Sled Dog Race are on the trail to Aniak and back on what appears to be a perfect night for mushing.
Just two former K300 champions are running this year’s race. Rohn Buser – son of mushing legend Martin Buser – won the race twice, but hasn’t run the course in a decade.
“Sled dogs just kind of get in your blood. And especially for me, it's been in my blood so long I can't get away from it,” Buser said.
The other former champion, Bethel’s Pete Kaiser, has won the race nine times. In the 2025 race, he tied Jeff King’s all-time record. This year, Kaiser is in a position to make K300 history if he manages to clinch his 10th first-place finish.
“As a kid growing up watching the race and then starting to race it myself, I thought Jeff's record was untouchable,” Kaiser said. “And, you know, maybe it won't ever be beaten, but even just to match his record last year, it's kind of, it's just a crazy thought.”
The only true rookie in this year’s race – 17-year-old Charlie Chingliak – has never run a 300-miler. But the Akiachak teenager said he’s confident that his team can go the distance. He said one of his dogs has run the Iditarod, and he got three others from Akiak veteran musher Mike Williams Jr.
Williams Jr. is running his 15th K300 this year. He said that seeing Chingliak sign up to race was the motivation he needed to sign up himself after a difficult training season. He said he was happy to lend some of his dogs to the young upstart.
“He's a young guy with big ambitions, and I want to help him go for it,” Williams Jr. said. “His dad is my first cousin, and we kind of grew up like brothers. So, you know, in our Yup’ik way, he's my brother, and Charlie is my nephew.”
From Bethel, mushers and dogs head upriver to the Gweek River, on the overland trail behind Akiachak, and rejoin the Kuskokwim just before the first checkpoint at Tuluksak, about 50 miles into the race. It's typically a run-through checkpoint, where teams don't stop.
From Tuluksak, they'll continue upriver to the next checkpoint, Kalskag, another 45 miles upriver. From Kalskag, mushers will travel to Aniak via the river and return to Kalskag via the Whitefish Lake Loop.
Knowing when to rest is just as important as knowing when to run. Mushers must take six hours of rest, split as they see fit between the outgoing Kalskag checkpoint, Aniak checkpoint, and the incoming checkpoint in Kalskag. They must also take a four-hour rest in Tuluksak before the final 50-mile push to Bethel.
Riley Dyche, who finished second in last year’s race, said he was able to give champion Pete Kaiser a run for his money by limiting his rest to Kalskag. But Dyche said the return from last year’s daytime start to a typical nighttime start could throw off the timing.
“I blew through Aniak just because it was a very nice firm trail. I think myself and Cody (Strathe) did that, so it worked out for both of us. We were second and third, but that method can bite you also,” Dyche said. “So we'll just have to see what temperatures are doing. And you know, play it by ear.”
Keep up with the race action by tuning in to KYUK 640AM for trail updates six minutes after the hour, every hour. The K300 Race Committee will be livestreaming the finish, and KYUK will be carrying the livestream and posting updates regularly to our website, Facebook, and Instagram pages. You can follow teams on the race’s online GPS tracker, which will also be pinned to the top of KYUK’s web page.
