After a 4 hour break, Pete and the Team are out of Aniak at 2:38 with all of their mandatory rest on the books.
Pete and his 12 dog Team were followed a few minutes later by Fr. Alexander Larson as they headed out for the 48 mile run over the Whitefish loop towards Kalskag.
We are seeing several different strategies play out this afternoon in terms of rest. Ryan Redington who lost 15 minutes to Team Kaiser over the Kalskag to Aniak run this morning, didn’t take a break in Aniak and will have to take 3 hours once he reaches Kalskag.
It should be an exciting afternoon as all these Teams make their way into Kalskag. Once Teams leave Kalskag it really will start to play out in front of us in terms of who will be at the top of the leaderboard.
It’s a heatwave up in the Aniak area- Haha! It’s a balmy -19!! Thank goodness there is no wind to speak of which will make it a pretty run over the tundra this afternoon. Skies are clear an the sun is super bright! Perfect weather, some mushers would say. There were reports of a rough trail on the Whitefish loop, to which Richie Diehl laughed- “It’s a whitefish trail!!” In other words it’s always this way.
More to come this Kuskokwim 300 evening! Stay tuned!
It’s a cold morning on the Kuskokwim as Pete and the Team are out of Kalskag on the trail to Aniak. Comparing the last several years races, this appears to be a really fast one. Ryan Redington is the apparent jack rabbit with a time of 4 hours 36 minutes from Tuluksak to Kalskag. Comparing other past races, Nicolas Petit made the run in 2019 in the same time.
Jason Pavila took an hour’s rest and will be the first Team into Aniak, while Fr. Alexander Larson, and Pete took 2 hours. Ryan Redington took 3 hours and dropped two dogs. It will be interesting to see how these strategies will play out. Many times in fair weather, Teams will split the runs into 2 hours at each checkpoint. That gives time to feed the dogs and give them a good break at each location. Since the breaks must be to the hour that means that Ryan will need to short rest one checkpoint or maybe even skip Aniak and rest again in Kalskag. It is going to be interesting to be sure!!!
Temperatures this morning are -24 with light wind which is good news for Teams as they head into what is going to be a beautiful sunrise this morning. Skies are clear and it’s going to be a beautiful run. The full moon last night that should be at their backs this morning must have made a really awesome experience for Teams last night. Aniak is reporting -29 with a high temperature to day of -22! BRRR!!! Skies will be clear and sunny with light wind.
In Pete’s early days he wasn’t as strict on checkpoint time management. He learned over the years, however, that wasted minutes in the checkpoints can bite you down the trail. He is exact in his out times and generally is waiting for the checker to say he is clear to go. This morning was no different as Pete paced back and forth waiting for his out time. When Pete takes a 2 hour break, it is EXACTLY two hours. This morning he had to wait a few minutes to take care of the differential time that is added to compensate for different start times. Watch for yourself when Pete is ready to go, you’ll see him checking his watch- He’s ready and no minutes will be left in the checkpoing. As soon as the checker says go, they are off!
I mention this because if you watch other Teams, especially the younger mushers, you will see a more loose checkpoint schedule and those minutes really can add up.
The Team looked great as we watched the first ever livestream from the Kalskag checkpoint. It is a tremendous addition to see and experience first hand what the mushers, Teams, and other conditions are present. It’s truly a front row seat! Thanks to SpaceX and Starlink and other technologies that are finally making their way to our region, we can finally get the most out of this technology! Check it out here!
Lots of action today! It’s a bit cold, but there’s hot action out on the trail!!
Comments Off on Run Raymond Run!! Let the K300 begin!!
The 2024 Kuskokwim 300 is underway and already we have excitement on the trail! Raymond Alexie’s Team has been burning up the trails for the last year. Those Kuskokwim bred dogs like nothing more than to run like the wind! Well it was time for Raymond and his Team to give the K300 a go and wouldn’t you know it but those leaders took off so fast that they left the rest of the Team behind! Next thing you know, they passed Pete and the Team on the way to who knows where, but luckily Team Kaiser’s own Sterling Rearden caught them and waited for Raymond to catch up and get reorganized for his first Kuskokwim 300. He’ll always remember this one!!
As per usual, it was a huge celebration of mushing as the 23 Teams gathered on the river to leave the K300 Starting Line for the 300 miles on the Kuskokwim. This is the 45th run of this historic race and the field is really the best of the best. We’ve got Iditarod Champs Pete Kaiser and Ryan Redington as well as Kusko champs Ramey Smythe, Matt Failor, Richie Diehl, and a whole host of newcomers. It looks to be a real nice run for all of the Teams.
The only weather this year is the temperatures. It is going to be pretty cold especially up near Aniak as temps could reach down in the low 3o’s below zero.
Tonight was expected to be very cold and windy, but though it was cold the wind was not to be found. A full moon rising over the Kuskokwim started the festivities and a real nice fireworks show ended the evening.
Everyone got off without a hitch except for Raymond, who I’m sure will have a great story to tell at the banquet on Monday.
Tonight Teams will make their way up to Kalskag via the Tuluksak checkpoint. It is a long 100 miles, but both Pete and Richie have described the trail as not too bad.
Here are photos of tonight’s festivities– Go Team Kaiser!
The 45th annual Kuskokwim 300 is about to get underway and last night was the kick off of what appears to be a cold one.
Temperatures are expected to be really cold for this year’s race, but Pete, Richie, or any other of the mushers seemed to have much of a worry about it. For the experienced mushers, they have been through it before. The K300 is known for weather issues– from rain to cold temperatures, the race generally is all about extremes.
The field of Teams this year includes several K300 champions. Pete and Richie of course are here, as is Matt Failor and others. Iditarod champ Ryan Redington is here so we have a couple of Iditarod champs as well in the field. There are quite a few Iditarod notables including Ramey Smythe and Travis Beals, but the really notable Teams are the local group that have been burning up the trails all season. Kwethluk’s own Raymond Alexie and is on a ten (YES TEN!!) race winning streak in cluding the 2023 Bogus Creek 150 and Akiak dash. He’ll be one to watch as well as Jason Pavilla, Fr. Alexander Larson and long time musher, Isaac Underwood. Local veternarian Jessica Klejka is also returning home to compete this year.
Weather is expected to be brutal. Richie and Pete were thinking that up near Aniak this weekend may have some cold spots into the -40’s. Whew! That’s a cold one for sure!!
This year’s race will be using the Aniak first route that then travels around the Whitefish loop after Aniak. It will be interesting to see time strategies this year given the cold weather. As fans will remember, Teams have 6 hours of rest to spend between Kalskag UP, Aniak, and Kalskag down. It’s always fun to see mushers play this game of rest as they run the upper part of the race.
In the K300, mushers get to choose starting position based on sign up. Pete was the second to sign up for the race and chose the 2nd position. Teams will leave in two’s out of the starting line at a later 8pm from Bethel. Pete and the Team will leave in the first duo tonight.
The trail is very icy for the first 20 miles. After a warm spell that melted most of the snow, a recent freeze has everything pretty slick. The upper part of the trail is better, but it is going to be a cold, hard, fast trail.
Pizza and words from the man himself, Myron Angstman, and race manager Paul Basile were the order of the evening as well as cookies and other goodies from the kids at the local Mikelnguut Eltinaurviat primary school. It was a fun evening. Here are the photos and the video! Go Team Kaiser!
