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Bogus Creek 150 Sled Dog Race Postponed One Week To Jan. 30

Sled dogs get ready to race during the 2020 Bogus Creek 150 Sled Dog Race in Bethel, Alaska on Jan. 18, 2020.
Gabby Hiestand Salgado
/
KYUK

The Bogus Creek 150 Sled Dog Race, scheduled to begin Jan. 22, has been postponed until Saturday, Jan. 30.

Race organizers pushed back the race due to above-freezing temperatures and rain in the forecast for the Jan. 23 weekend. Temperatures are predicted to be much colder on Jan. 30, with the forecast calling for a high of negative 3 degrees, a low of negative 10 degrees, and north winds blowing 15 to 25 miles per hour.

The race will begin with a mass start at the mouth of Bethel’s small boat harbor. Mushers will race upriver, following a 75-mile loop that curves back to Bethel’s Hanger Lake. The lake will serve as the race’s only checkpoint, where teams will be required to lay over for four hours before repeating the route a second time to finish the race. Organizers designed the course to avoid villages during the pandemic.

Seventeen local teams have signed up to compete, including four former Bogus winners: Pete Kaiser of Bethel, Matt Scott of Bethel, Jason Pavila of Kwethluk, and Jackie Larson of Napaskiak.

Anna Rose MacArthur served as KYUK's News Director from 2015-2022.