Bethel musher Pete Kaiser has run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race 14 times — that’s nearly one race for every dog on the line. Typically he’s registered in June, training the whole season with the 1,000-mile race in mind. This year, though, the decision to compete came just three weeks before its start.
“I don't really have, like, an exciting answer, besides the fact that I just, I just felt like doing it,” Kaiser said, chuckling. “And [I] felt like going through the process of getting everything ready again and felt like my head was in the game enough to put it all together.”
Kaiser was the 2019 Iditarod champion. He’s placed in the top 10 in most of his 14 runs of the race. Last year, though, Kaiser did not compete in the iconic race. He said that the decision to take a break came down to a number of factors, including navigating an ankle injury, building a house, and facing some burnout when it came to preparing for the 1,000 mile race.
Kaiser said that for so many years, the Iditarod was the big looming race ahead of his team each season.
“Just as of recently in the last few years, you know, just kind of taking it more one year at a time approach as the kids got get older, and we just have, you know, busier lives and things going on,” Kaiser said. “Just trying to balance everything and keep everything in check with family stuff, and work stuff, and dog stuff.”
This year, Kaiser said that the Kuskokwim 300 was the focus of his training, an intention that granted him a historic win in January. In his 10th victory, Kaiser became the winningest musher in the race’s history. Kaiser said later in the season, though, he began to seriously consider the longer race a possibility.
“By the time the [Kuskokwim 300 is] over, you know, you've done 90% of the work,” Kaiser said. “We started training in July, and so I just felt like things were looking okay. And felt like, felt like going down the trail again. So here we are.”
Kaiser said that the decision was made after discussions with his family. With their support, Kaiser officially put his name in the hat on Feb 16.
About 10 of the dogs on Kaiser’s Nome-bound team are veterans of the Iditarod. Kaiser said that the six new dogs, who have run shorter races on the Yukon-Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta, seem to be handling the new routines of traveling and gearing up for the longer distance race well.
Overall, Kaiser said that this winter has been a decent training season for his team. And as for this last stint of training through the Y-K Delta’s recent cold snap, Kaiser said that getting the mileage his team needed wasn’t an issue, though it required some working around the weather.
The 2026 Iditarod is anticipated to be a cold one. Kaiser is preparing for negative 30 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, which he said is an annual challenge of the race, as well as managing sleep deprivation.
Kaiser is an annual competitor in mid-distance races on the Y-K Delta, speedy matches over the frozen Kuskokwim River or tundra terrain. Kaiser said that with more time and mileage, the Iditarod lends itself to a different kind of experience.
“Iditarod just is more like you're traveling. And it's really, it's fun to travel with dogs, especially when things are going well,” Kaiser explained. “I usually really enjoy those first few days of the race because it's, you know, you're finally getting out of Anchorage and all the weeklong pre-race hoopla. You're just out on the trail.”
Kaiser said that he’s looking forward to setting up the team in those early days of the race, as well as getting to return to familiar checkpoints and connect with volunteers he’s gotten to know over the years. He said that he’s feeling confident in his team, and like with any run of the race, he’s eyeing a top place finish.
“Ultimately, it'd be nice to win. But that's not, you know, races aren't always defined by that,” Kaiser said. “There's a lot of other little, little victories you can find as you're going down the trail, and things are difficult, and you're trying to manage a bunch of different things.”
Since his rookie run in 2010, Kaiser has gone on to solidify his mushing career and distinguish himself as a rising Y-K Delta figure, now running the trail for the first time as a K300 record holder. He said that he’s thankful for all the support up and down the river over the course of his career.
“It's always meant a lot to have that, that support from that region, and kind of represent all the mushing history of the Bethel area in the Iditarod,” Kaiser said.
This year, Kaiser will be the only Y-K Delta musher on the roster. He said that it feels good to be back; he’s excited to embark on the trail.
The Iditarod ceremonial start will take place in downtown Anchorage on Saturday, March 7. It’s followed by the race’s official start on Sunday, March 8 in Willow. From there, the roster of 37 mushers will embark on the 1,000-mile northern route towards Nome.
