Sports

Seventeen Kuskokwim 300 teams are through the Kalskag checkpoint and on their way to Aniak. It’s an extremely tight pack: within a 20-minute period this morning, the front nine teams left Kalskag. 

Twenty-one Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race teams charged out of Bethel the night of Jan. 17 on a hard-packed trail headed to Aniak, while seven teams raced upriver in the Bogus Creek 150. Hundreds of race fans came out to send off the teams before being treated to a fireworks show.

Thirteen mushers will race in the 2020 Akiak Dash. Two-time champion Greg Larson will seek his third title in the approximately 65-mile race that begins on Saturday, Jan. 18. Last year’s fourth-place finisher, Nicholas Ayapan, is the top 2019 finisher to race this year. Eleven mushers are veterans, and the race’s only rookie is Abby Klager. Racers signed up on the night of Jan. 17 in Bethel.

On the night of Friday, Jan. 17, 21 of Alaska’s top sled dog racing teams will run up the Kuskokwim River to Aniak and back in the 2020 Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race. Several past champions are back, including four-time champion Pete Kaiser and last year’s winner, Matthew Failor. 

The Bogus Creek 150 will see seven teams race overnight to Bogus Creek before turning around and pushing to the finish line in Bethel. 2019 champion Jason Pavila is back to defend his title against six of the Y-K Delta’s fastest teams.

On Friday, Jan. 17, some of the best sled dog teams around the state will gather on the Kuskokwim River to compete for a piece of the $160,000 purse for the 2020 Kuskokwim 300.

Two shorter races will also take place: The Bogus Creek 150, and the Akiak Dash.

KYUK will take you to the race starts, tell you the standings, describe the trails, and recount stories about the race. Veteran K300 reporters Will Petersen, Lillian Michael, Angela Denning, and KYUK General Manager Shane Iverson sit down and talk about covering the race, relate stories and memorable moments from the trail, and discuss how reporting on the race has changed over the years. The show will air again on Jan. 17. 

The Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race trail is great shape thanks to cold and snowy weather. Race Manager Paul Basile said that the latest reports show thick ice on the Kuskokwim River between Bethel and Aniak.