The inaugural February 50 Doubles Sled Dog Race has its new winners – Raymond Alexie and Michael Larson who ran a team from the Alexie Racing Kennel of Kwethluk. On Sunday, February 19th the K300 Race Committee introduced a new event – the February 50 Doubles Race. Each team had two mushers. Teams can choose to pull a second sled or have both racers ride on one sled.
The Alexie/Larson team finished with an elapsed time of 4 hours 15 minutes in a field of 11 teams.
Coming in second were John George and Schouviller Wassilie Jr. Their total time was 4 hours, 39 minutes. In third place was Isaac Underwood and Connor Andrews who finished in 4 hours 44 mins.
Winning the Red Lantern Award were Leondre Demientieff and Michael Demientieff of Kasigluk racing their Blizzard Kennel team.
The race began with a mass start at 11:00 AM on the Kuskokwim River in front of Bethel. The start line was located a little further downriver than usual, opposite the Lion’s Club building near the far bank of the river.
From the start line teams headed downriver towards Oscarville then crossing the river to Napaskiak. There they traveled upstream on Napasiak Slough until turning off onto the overland trail towards Kwethluk. Racers made a turnaround near the Kwethluk airport then head back to Bethel following the same route. In total the trail is about 47.5 miles. Trailmarkers reported very good conditions.
This event is part of the Delta Championship Series. This is another win in Raymond Alexie’s race season, he also won the 50 mile Kwethluk Sprint Mushers Club Race on February 11, 2023.
