Eleven mushers are on the trail for the 150-mile run from Bethel to Bogus Creek and back.
The start of this year’s Bogus Creek 150 was anything but assured as freezing rain blasted the region the evening before the scheduled start. But by the evening of Saturday, Feb. 14, the clouds had parted, and the teams set out from the Bethel riverfront under blue skies.
There are no rookies in this year’s race. Four are former champions. One is longtime race veteran Lewis Pavilla of Kwethluk, who holds the all-time win record of four first-place finishes. Defending champ Mike Williams Jr., who also won the race back in 2006, will need to beat out another two-time winner, Bethel’s Pete Kaiser. Finally, Bethel’s Maurice Andrews won the race back in 2018.
This is the third consecutive year that the Bogus Creek 150 was pushed into February due to a smorgasbord of challenging weather and training conditions.
The beautiful weather at the start line may be short-lived, with a winter weather advisory from the National Weather Service predicting possible blizzard conditions for mushers during the return trip to Bethel early on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 15.
Aside from a roughly one-mile detour to avoid minor overflow near Big Bogus Creek, teams are running the traditional trail this year. They will race up the Tuluksak River to Little Bogus Creek, then take Big Bogus Creek to the race’s sole checkpoint. Every team has to take a four-hour layover at the halfway Bogus Creek checkpoint – the only required rest in the race. It’s also the only chance to drop dogs. Mushers had to start with at least seven and no more than 10 dogs, and have to have at least five dogs on the line at all points during the race.
On the line is a cut of a $100,000 race purse, one of the largest in the sport after the Iditarod and the Kuskokwim 300. The winner will take home at least $15,000. If all 11 teams finish this year’s race, the last-place finisher will earn at least $4,750.
You can keep up with the race action by tuning in to KYUK 640AM. Join us for a series of hourly updates 6 minutes after the hour on Saturday night. And catch the livestream for the start and finish at kyuk.org and on our Facebook page. You can also follow along on the race’s online GPS tracker, which will be pinned to the top of KYUK’s web page.
