The 45th Kuskokwim 300 sled dog race is underway as of 8pm Friday, January 26th, 2024. 23 mushers began their race on the river in front of Bethel starting two by two under the start/finish banner. Mushers chose their starting positions at Thursday’s K300 starting position selection event at the Bethel Longhouse, K300 Race Headquarters.
Bib#/Musher
1 Joe Taylor
2 Pete Kaiser
3 Josh McNeal
4 Raymond Alexie
5 Dave Turner
6 John Snyder
7 Hunter Keefe
8 Gabe Dunham
9 Fr. Alexander Larson
10 Matthew Failor
11 Jessica Klejka
12 Richie Diehl
13 Riley Dyche
14 KattiJoe Deeter
15 Jason Pavila
16 Bailey Vitello
17 Dakota Schlosser
18 Ryan Redington
19 Ebbe W. Pederson
20 Jeff Deeter
21 Ramey Smyth
22 Isaac Underwood
23 Travis Beals
KYUK Radio provided live broadcast of the start of the race. Race emcees Myron and Andy Angstman sent off the mushers at the starting line with commentary and the countdowns.
From the start mushers will travel upriver to Straight Slough, then continue on upriver until they get on the Gweek River. At roughly the 20 mile mark, teams will turn onto an overland trail behind the villages of Akiachak and Akiak. Below Tuluksak they’ll return to the Kuskokwim then pass through the Tuluksak Checkpoint and quickly return to the Kuskokwim, bypassing Little Bogus Creek.
From there the K300 trail continues up the Kuskokwim to Big Bogus Creek, past the traditional Bogus Creek race checkpoint and on to Kalskag on the Kuskokwim. From Kalskag they will travel to Aniak via the river and then will return to Kalskag on the via the Whitefish Lake Loop. From Kalskag they will follow the same route downriver to Bethel.
Fans lined the starting chute to cheer on the mushers. Fans were holding up red light sticks lighting up the way and race volunteers kept the chute clear for the safety of the mushers and dogs and spectators. Temperatures were at -15 F on the river and folks were bundled up.
Raymond Alexie, wearing bib #4, lost two of his dogs at the starting line, the two dogs hooked together took off running down the chute. They were quickly recovered, thank goodness.
After the race start fans were treated to the Lead Dog Light Show fireworks presented by First National Bank Alaska on the river.
Racers can be tracked online at the K300 website. Mushers are expected to finish on Sunday.
