Kuskokwim 300

If there is one thing Bethel, Alaska is known for, it is the Kuskokwim 300.  The Kuskokwim 300 is the most well known, mid-distance dog sled race in the world.  It starts and finishes in Bethel on the frozen Kuskokwim River.  This year 21 teams raced for a piece of the $110,000 race purse, with first place taking $22,000.  The race trail follows an old mail route 150 miles up river to Aniak, then back to Bethel.  This year's winner, four time Iditarod Champion Jeff King, completed the race in 40 hours 30 minutes and 10 seconds.  This year's win was Jeff King's 9th Kuskokwim 300 victory; his first K-300 win was in 1991.  

Start of the Akiak Dash

Anxious to run!

Two other, shorter races, also share the weekend with the K-300.  The Bogus Creek 150 is a 150 mile race that starts about an hour and a half before the K-300 and finishes the next day.  The shortest of the 3 races, the Akiak Dash, is a 65 mile race that starts and finishes on the same day.
Everything kicked off Friday evening at 5:00pm.  The frozen Kuskokwim River was lined with more than a hundred cars and trucks.  The temperature was well below zero with the howling wind.  For the Bogus 150 and the K-300, teams start the race individually.  One of the biggest attractions of the Kuskokwim 300 kick off are the fireworks that begin shortly after the last team has left the start line.  Most of the people I talked to watched the start of the race from the warmth of their running cars.

Saturday features the finishers of the Bogus 150 and the mass start of the Akiak dash.  The temperature had greatly warmed up to just below freezing on Saturday, although still cold when you are standing on a frozen river.  
Sunday, Luke and I headed to the river after church to watch some of the finishers of the Kuskokwim 300.  We arrived minutes after Jeff King crossed the finish line.  Luke was all about loving on the tired dogs, patting each of their heads telling them "good boy".  We stayed long enough to see the second and third place teams cross the finish line before heading home.

4 time Idiatrod Champion and winner of the K-300 for the 9th time - Jeff King

The dogs get loved on by fans moments after crossing the finish line

Not even off his sled and
the media are interviewing
second place Tony Browning

Third place went to Peter Kaiser

Another great Alaskan first for the Aickens!