Sports

Photos: Back In Bethel, But Only Halfway Through The Race

KYUK | By Katie Baldwin Basile

Published January 20, 2018 at 3:01 PM AKST

1 of 20

The sun rises over the Kilbuck Mountains behind Mikelnguut Elitnaurviat School in Bethel as mushers make their way into the checkpoint on January 20, 2018.

Katie Basile / KYUK

2 of 20

Checker, Jen Peeks, and K300 Race Assistant, Emma Reichard, watch for Pete Kaiser to reach the Bethel checkpoint.

Katie Basile / KYUK

3 of 20

Pete Kaiser consults with checker, Jen Peeks, after reaching the Bethel checkpoint.

Katie Basile / KYUK

4 of 20

Pete Kaiser tends to his dogs after reaching the checkpoint in Bethel. Bethel is the halfway point on the K300 trail this year.

Katie Basile / KYUK

5 of 20

Bethany and Aylee Kaiser, Pete’s wife and daughter, wait at the Bethel checkpoint.";

Katie Basile / KYUK

6 of 20

Race volunteers strategize on where to direct all the dog teams coming into the Bethel checkpoint.

Katie Basile / KYUK

7 of 20

Nels Alexie, the K300 Race Marshal, oversees the Bethel checkpoint.

Katie Basile / KYUK

8 of 20

The National Gaurd is charged with watching over the mushers’ dogs and equipment and providing hot water to the mushers at the Bethel checkpoint.";

Katie Basile / KYUK

9 of 20

Pete Kaiser’s dogs take a rest at the Bethel checkpoint.";

Katie Basile / KYUK

10 of 20

Jessie Holmes’ dogs take a rest at the Bethel checkpoint.";

Katie Basile / KYUK

11 of 20

Pete Kaiser makes his way into the Bethel checkpoint on a patch of glare ice, leading the field of eighteen mushers.

Katie Basile / KYUK

12 of 20

Jessie Holmes makes his way into the Bethel checkpoint.

Katie Basile / KYUK

13 of 20

Dogs rest at the Bethel checkpoint before completing the second half of race.

Aleina Tanabe / KYUK

14 of 20

Mike Williams Jr. puts booties on his dogs during a break at the Bethel checkpoint.

Aleina Tanabe / KYUK

15 of 20

Richie Diehl gets ready to depart from the Bethel checkpoint.

Aleina Tanabe / KYUK

16 of 20

Pete Kaiser puts one of his dogs in his sled before departing the Bethel checkpoint.

Aleina Tanabe / KYUK

17 of 20

Pete Kaiser prepares to depart from the Bethel checkpoint.

Aleina Tanabe / KYUK

18 of 20

Ari Kaiser says goodbye to one of his dad’s lead dogs. ";

Aleina Tanabe / KYUK

19 of 20

Brent Sass checks into Bethel with two dogs in his sled.

Laura Kraegel / KYUK

20 of 20

Brent Sass talks to checkpoint veterinarians upon arrival in Bethel.

Laura Kraegel / KYUK

After roughly 150-miles of racing, Pete Kaiser returned home to Bethel for a short rest, only to turn around and repeat the loop to Bogus Creek. The three-time defending K300 champion led the field of 18 mushers into the Bethel checkpoint.

"Slippery," Kaiser said of the race route, "and kind of nerve-racking. You've kind of got to hang on tight in a lot of spots. It feels like we should be done, but we've got to go back up, I guess."

Another challenge in this year's race is the possibility of running head-on into mushers competing in the Bogus Creek 150, but Jessie Holmes of Nenana said that it wasn't a problem.

"Everybody has such well-trained teams that it went real good and I actually didn't run into anybody in the portages like I thought I might," Holmes said. Holmes slid into Bethel 28-minutes behind Kaiser in second place

Kaiser and Holmes were later followed into the Bethel checkpoint by Brent Sass, Ray Redington Jr., Joar Ulsom, Jeff King, and Richie Diehl, respectively.

SaveSave