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Seventh Heaven King Nails Down Seventh Kusko Crown with Record-Setting Effort 1/22/03 by Tommy Wells
Jeff King continued to write his name into the Kuskokwim 300 record books Sunday afternoon by becoming the first musher in the race's 23-year history to win the grueling 300-mile sled dog race three straight years. And he did it quickly by posting the fifth-fastest time in the race's history, completing the course in 38 hours, 8 minutes and 32 seconds to pocket the $20,000 first-place prize. King, who has now won the Kuskokwim 300 seven times, mushed his team across the finish line at 9:08 a.m. Sunday and finished the event more than an hour ahead of runner-up Martin Buser, who placed second behind King in consecutive years. Despite warm temperatures, King said the trail was in good shape and that his team seemed to get stronger as the race progressed. "There were a few spots along the trail where it was slow, but otherwise, it was picture-perfect," said the Denali Park mushing veteran. "The dogs were just awesome and it was a good trail. I think the dogs were as well-matched as any that I've brought to Bethel because they got better and better as they went along." Their efforts helped King stage the fastest finish to the state's premier mid-distance race in five years. The last musher to complete the race in a faster time was Greg Swingley in 1998 when he finished in 37 hours and 42 minutes. Martin Buser holds the course record set in 1994. The Kuskokwim 300, according to King, is a race that seems to be custom made for him. "I think this is a predictable parameter of my attention span," said King, one of several Iditarod veterans that competes every year in the K300. "When it starts getting over 48 hours, I start making a few mistakes." There were few, if any, mistakes on King's part this year. After starting the race with daughter Cali King, an 18-year-old high school student making her debut in the event, King quickly established himself as the man to beat. He blazed his way through the course, trimming nearly two hours off his winning time of a year ago. Buser, despite suffering a tough blow early in the race when one of his dogs — a 2 1/2 year-old dog named Onyx died before reaching the first checkpoint in Tuluksak — pushed King for much of the race. He trailed by less than six minutes at the Kalskag checkpoint, which lies just 102 miles from the finish line. King, with 11 dogs in harness, was able to hold off Buser's 8-dog team over the final 20 miles, however. Checking out of Kwethluk at 7:16 a.m., he completed the run to the finish line in 1 hours, 52 minutes. Buser, who left Kwethluk 19 minutes after King had rolled out of the race's final checkpoint, turned in a time of 2:55 from Kwethluk to the finish line. Charlie Boulding helped push the pace early. The 60-year-old musher who has recently battled colon cancer was in second place when he checked into the Kalskag checkpoint — 14 minutes behind King who led the race almost the entire way. Buser checked into Kalskag 14 minutes after Boulding. King and Buser opted to take their 6-hour layovers in Kalskag. Boulding moved into the lead briefly from there as he went back onto the trail, heading for Aniak before declaring his break. King and Buser overtook Boulding on the way back to Kalskag and never looked back. Kotzebue's Ed Iten finished third in the race's final standings. He finished approximately an hour behind Buser. Boulding eventually finished fourth in the final standings, finishing the race with just five dogs in harness. Ramy Brooks was fifth overall, edging out fellow Iditarod veteran Aaron Burmeister. The Best in the West Award given to the highest place resident musher from Western Alaska was awarded to Tomas Israelsson finishing overall 7th with a time of 45:11:49. Mike Williams, Andy Angstman, Ira Jackson and Nathan Underwood finished 9th, 10th, 11th and 13th respectively. Cali King was the red lattern winner completing the course early Monday morning. She ran the race as part of the requirements needed to compete in the Iditarod, which is slated to start in Anchorage in March. For King, seeing his daughter on the trail was one of the more memorable aspects of the race. "Only a parent can appreciate the pride when one of their kids does something that graduates them from childhood to adult," he said. "It was great to be a part of that." King expressed confidence that the oldest of his three daughters would complete a Kusko course that is often tougher than the 1,100-mile Iditarod race. She was 14th at the race's halfway mark at Aniak. "She knows what to do out there," he said. "I have a lot of confidence in her abilities. If she can do this, she can complete any race. In fact, I think they ought to make the Iditarod a requirement before you can qualify to race in the K300." Ekamrak Erased 40-minute
Deficit by Tommy Wells
The biggest question Saturday afternoon at the finish line of the Bogus Creek 150 wasn't if Willie Ekamrak could win, but whether the Akiachak musher would really allow himself to win. The answer on both parts was a resounding yes. Ekamrak, in one of the biggest comebacks in Bogus Creek 150 history, erased a 40-minute deficit in the final 75 miles of the race and then allowed his team to outrun defending champion Jim George to the finish line to claim his first-ever Bogus 150 victory. Ekamrak, who had held his team back in the past, edged out George by 80 seconds at the completion of the 150-mile race. "I did it," Ekamrak said. "I made a couple of mistakes on the trail that cost me some time, but I finally won it." Ekamrak completed the race in a time of 18 hours, 15 minutes and 40 seconds. George was second at 18:17. Ekamrak and George both finished more than an hour ahead of the pace set by third-place finisher Curtis Erhart, who checked in at 19:19.2. Walter George edged out Schouviller Wassillie for fourth. Ekamrak's win didn't come easily, however. The toll the trail had on his team will likely force him out of the remaining Kuskokwim Delta sprint racing season. "In the past, I've always concentrated on the sprint racing season and saved some of my better dogs," he said. "Even when I was doing well, I always held some back. This time, I said to myself I was going to get every ounce of energy they've got to try and win." His team, lead by the lead tandem of Robin and Sparky, more than answered the challenge on the trail. It didn't appear Ekamrak was ready to retire from the sprint scene early. He held his team under a tight rein for much of the first half of the race in an effort to conserve their energy. George, who won last year's race despite having to run the last few miles without the aid of a headlight, didn't waste any time in building what seemed to be an insurmountable lead. Ekamrak, who placed third a year ago, trailed by more than half an hour when he pulled into the checkpoint at Tuluksak. When I pulled in, they (race officials) said he (George) had left about 40 minutes ahead of me." It was enough to make the quiet Ekamrak wonder if he had held back too much. "To be honest, I was a little worried. But I knew I had a good bunch of dogs and I had seen where he had made a few mistakes so I just let them run." The strategy began paying dividends quickly. By the time Ekamrak had reached the Akiak checkpoint — a distance of 22 miles, his team had shaved 20 minutes off George's lead. Lady Luck didn't help George any. He was forced to drop his lead dog in Akiak and head into the final 40 miles with a make-shift lineup. By the time Ekamrak had reached Kwethluk — 15 miles farther down the trail — George's lead had been cut to less than 10 minutes. Ekamrak caught George approximately five miles from the finish line and overtook him. Winning wouldn't be that easy, however. George regained the lead moments later when Ekamrak's team became tangled while trying to cross an ice overflow on the Kuskokwim River near Church Slough. The news George had retaken the lead and become the first musher to reach the upper end of Church Slough sent race officials in Bethel scurrying about in anticipation of George successfully defending his title. Ekamrak refused to concede the race. "Once I got my dogs untangled and going again, I asked them for everything they had. They responded and we managed to pass Jim and get to the finish line first," Ekamrak said, who said he now plans to turn his attention to the larger races. "That's my plan," he said. "I've been telling people I'm going to step aside from the sprints and concentrate on beating the big boys now. I think it's time for me to try that." Last-Minute Woes Lead to Win for Chase by Tommy Wells
Sometimes good can come from a bad situation. Just ask Vernon Chase. Chase wasn't even supposed to be in the field for the Akiak Dash when it began Saturday. He and his brother, Larry had originally hoped to enter their team into the running of the Bogus Creek 150. Late trouble in training caused them to scratch their plans and enter the Akiak Dash instead. It was a decision they hadn't wanted to make, but it turned out for the best as Chase mushed his team to the top spot in the race and earned a $3,000 payday. Chase edged out George Manutoli for the win, finishing the race in 6 hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds. Manutoli finished 2:26 back. "My brother and I had planned to run the Bogus Creek 150 but we had trouble in training. So we backed out and decided to run the Dash," Chase didn't begin the race in the best of situations. He was the final musher out of the chute Saturday, meaning his team had to endure a trail that had been tore up by the first 13 teams. It didn't take long to begin making up ground. Chase passed 11 mushers on the trail through the first half of the race and arrived at the Akiak turnaround third in the overall standings — behind Greg Larson and Manutoli, respectively. "It surprised me that I was third at Akiak," he said. "But the trail was good and fast and the (dog team) leaders worked well with me." They worked real well. Chase's team — led by Preston and Suzi — tracked down Larson in Kwethluk and then caught Manutoli about two miles above Straight Slough. Once he caught Manutoli, Chase said his team, which included a dog leased from Charlie Boulding's team, gained new confidence. "There was no looking back from there," he said. "My dogs speeded up on the way home." For Chase, the win was his first in three tries at the Akiak Dash. Prior to winning this year, his best finish had been fifth last year. He was ninth overall in his first race in 1998. "The third time is a charm, I guess." Larson finished third in the final standings, checking in at 6:25.16. K-300 Race Results
Bogus Creek
150
Akiak Dash
Buser team meets tragedy, "He was a special dog" by Tommy Wells
Martin Buser's second-place finish in the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race was marred by tragedy Friday night when one of his dogs collapsed and died on the trail outside of Tuluksak. It was a loss that hit Buser hard. "It was a pretty good finish but I would give it up for that 2-year-old," said Buser Sunday morning after completing the 300-mile race. "$15,000 will buy a lot dog food and good supplies for the dogs, but if I could trade, I would buy my two-year-old back." Buser said the dog, named Onyx, died Friday on the trail to the race's first checkpoint in the village of Tuluksak. He carried the dog into the checkpoint at 11:45 p.m. and visited with race officials and vets before leaving with a heavy heart and more than a few questions. "I was not really racing, I was training dogs," said Buser, who has won the Humanitarian Award for his dog care on several occasions. "It puts a damper on the whole thing for me. The first 150 miles I was really contemplating what I was doing. When something like that happens you are down on yourself and down on the situation. I rationalized to keep on going for the better of the team and the kennel and the race." Onyx's death wasn't the first problem Buser had on the trail during the race's first 50 miles. Prior to the animal's death, he was forced to stop his team and remove another dog from the line because of a nerve problem in its back. "When you have a dog in the sled already and down goes another dog. You start to question your program and whether there is something wrong with the team," he said. "Every time a dog dips for snow or looks back at you, you are scared that something else might happen." After Buser had delivered the dog to race officials in Tuluksak, a pair of race veterinarians immediately performed a necropsy examination and concluded the cause of death was a ruptured liver abscess — a condition not unheard of in dogs that normally results in death. Both veterinarians said Buser would not have know the dog was ailing without having had several specialized tests conducted. Buser said the dog, which was a playful, labor-intensive animal, had not been acting differently prior to the race. He said the only difference he noted in the animal, which was making its first race appearance, was a little bloating. "He didn't ill-behave or slack off or anything," Buser said. Buser remembered the dog affectionately as a fun-loving animal that was special. He said he spent countless extra hours working with the dog in an effort to make a leader of him. "He was a very labor intensive dog, like an ADD kid." he said. "I spent a lot of time with him and tried to teach him a lot of things that didn't come natural to him. He was a little crazy, always chewing lines and getting tangled up, but he was a special dog. He was extremely athletic, probably the most ideal body of any dog in the team. "The mission for this race was to show him a little what toughness was all about. Unfortunately he didn't come back," he added. Buser is one of the most-respected dog handlers in the sport. His care and treatment of his dogs once prompted Iditarod legend Rick Swenson to say upon his death that he hoped he would "come back as one of Martin's dogs." Area mushers vie for
Race Starts Under The Stars A First for Kuskokwim-300 1/15/03 by Myron Angstman A moonlight start awaits racers and fans for the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race. In an effort to attract more race spectators to the start and finish of the Kuskokwim 300, the race committee elected this year to stage a 7 p.m. start. All other K-300 races have started during the work day, either Wednesday or Thursday, usually at noon. As a result, many working folks were unable to take part. Starting at mid-day also increased the chances that the race would finish in the wee hours because in recent years the race has usually taken a little more than 1 1/2 days to finish. By starting 7 hours later, it is hoped the race will finish Sunday during daylight hours. Monday is a holiday for many, and the banquet has been moved to Monday night giving racers a bit more time to rest after the race before the ceremony. Bethel's best attended event, the K-300 fireworks display will immediately follow the K-300 start. The start is planned for the river in front of town where the fireworks will be held. Later Friday night the Bogus creek 150 will start, also on the river. That starting time has been moved back 5 hours to 9:30 to promote a daylight finish the next day. Starting in the dark poses new challenges for the race, but such starts are not new. The John Beargrease race in Minnesota has featured an evening start many years as has the UP 200 race in Michigan. Both events have a large following, with the UP race claiming attendance of more than 10,000. The K-300 is planning extra lighting for the race staging area and will have lighted markers for the first part of the race trail as an aid to racers. Of course, much of the racing occurs at night. In fact, in most years the Bogus Creek winner spends only about 1 hour in daylight, compared to this year's expected 3-4 hours. Attracting fans is an important part of the K-300's effort to entice sponsors to contribute money to the race. Sponsorship money has increased dramatically in recent years, with larger contributions from Yukon Fuel, Crowley, First National Bank, GCI, and the City of Bethel. Sponsors expect exposure for their investment, and that means people. While running a dog race in total solitude is part of the mystique of mushing, spectator appeal is part of the business of racing. The K-300 pays the racers and increasingly, the K-300 looks to sponsors to help pay the K-300's bills. Make a full night of it Friday. Two race starts, fireworks, a fiddle dance, and a tour of headquarters at the Long House. The next day, two races finish along with another fiddle dance. Sunday is another race finish, and Monday is the banquet. A lively weekend in Bethel.
Late Entries
Boulding, by Tommy Wells With less than two weeks to go before the start of the Kuskokwim 300, Race Director Rich Gannon said he wasn't worried that the number of entrants was closer to zero than 12. He was confident the mushers would come. Gannon's faith was proven correct over the past week as a handful of big-name mushers penciled in their names for the 300-mile race. In all, 16 racers have tossed their headlamps into the mix for Saturday's event. The latest to join the field are former Kuskokwim 300 champions Rick Swenson and Charlie Boulding. Gannon said both mushers had mailed their entry forms last week. Swenson, a three-time Iditarod winner, finished second in the race two years ago. Swenson, the winner of the inaugural K-300 race in 1980, last won the Kuskokwim 300 in 1984. Boulding, one of the top mushers in the state for the past few years, won the race in 2000 and 1996. Several other mushing veterans have also signed up, including Ramy Brooks, Aaron Burmeister and Bethel's own Tomas Israelsson. Brooks was a Top 5 finisher in 2001. Burmeister, a Nome musher who is coming out of a short retirement, has competed in the K-300 on several occasions while preparing his team for Iditarod runs. K-300 regular, Akiak's Mike Williams announced his intention to run in the event. "It's one of the best races in the world," Williams said. "I really only get once chance to get out and visit my relatives up and down the river and that's in this race. The people are so good. They make the whole trip worthwhile for me." Other mushers scheduled to participate in the event are Two Rivers' rookies Jan Napoli and Melody Sayles, veteran Roy Wade and Bethel musher Heather Hamblin. They will join three other mushing legends, including Martin Buser, 6-time Kuskokwim 300 winner Jeff King and Ed Iten. King has won the last two races. Last year he edged out Buser by less than an hour. Other mushers scheduled to run the race include Callie King, the 18-year-old daughter of Jeff King, and a pair of local mushers - Andy Angstman and Aniak's Nathan Underwood. Gannon said there was still a chance that several mushers could enter the event prior to its Jan. 17 start.
Williams: "I Ain't Quitting Until I Win It"
by Tommy Wells
Mike Williams has been running sled dogs for as long as he can remember and his credentials show he has become one of the top dog mushers in the world. Indeed mushing has been good to him. A 9-time Iditarod finisher and a veteran of 12 Kuskokwim 300 events, Williams doesn't harbor any dreams of mushing dogs across the Alaska countryside forever, or of becoming the grandfather figure on the trail. He knows, all to well, Father Time will eventually overtake him and relegate him to a spectator role in a sport he helped put on the map. That day will have to wait for a while, however. Williams has no intention of retiring until he accomplishes the one dream he's harbored for more two decades — winning the Kuskokwim 300. "I'm not getting any younger," Williams said. "But I ain't quitting until I win it. This has been a goal of mine for as long as I can remember. It's one of the greatest races on earth. Because of the people running it and the people up and down the river that make it such a beautiful thing." Williams, who finished fifth last year in the final standings, is one of 16 mushers slated to compete in the state's top mid-distance races this weekend. He will join an all-star cast of veterans such as six-time winner Jeff King, Martin Buser, Rick Swenson and Charlie Boulding in attempting to cover the 300-mile course from Bethel to Aniak and back in the fastest time. This year's race takes on an added
challenge for Williams — and most of the other entrants. Thanks to an
abnormally warm fall, most of the state's mushers have struggled to
find suitable conditions to run their teams. Recent cold weather and
a good amount of snow have transformed the Kuskokwim 300 into a testing
ground for teams before the start of grueling 1,100-mile Iditarod race
begins.
"I've had a terrible time putting miles on my team this year," he said. "This race will enable me to put some miles on them and prepare them from the Iditarod. Recently, all I've been able to do is put a few miles on my team by running through a wooded area around the house." Minus-32 degree weather earlier this week added even more down time for Williams. He said he didn't spent much time on the trail running his kennel of approximately 50 dogs as a precautionary measure for his team. Despite the hardships created by the weather, the 49-year-old musher who travels throughout the state preaching the benefits of sobriety, Williams still feels his team can compete for the Kuskokwim 300 crown. He proved his point last January by staging his best-ever finish in the contest. Last year, despite warm conditions, Williams remained competitive throughout the race and finished fifth and walked away with the Best in the West Award — an honor that goes to the highest finishing musher from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Prior to last year, his highest finish was seventh — accomplished in his first-ever K-300 outing 20 years in 1983. He was eighth in the 1992 race. "We (Williams and his late brother, Walter) have come close a few times over the years but we haven't won it yet ... and I'm not quitting until I do. "Besides, I'm still having fun doing this," he added.
Ekamrak - Quiet Star on Local Mushing Scene by Tommy Wells
Willie Ekamrak will probably never be the Deion Sanders of his sport. The soft-spoken Akiachak musher doesn't have any desire to strut or high-step his way across the finish line. He'd just as soon shuffle his team off the main stage and be just what he is — a common man who drives a sled dog team. "I don't really like the publicity," said Ekamrak, who has become one of the region's top sprint racers over the past nine years. "I just like to race dogs. That other stuff doesn't interest me." Like it or not, he knows the publicity will come — especially the more he continues to win. Since he began mushing almost a decade ago, Ekamrak has become a big player on the local sprint-racing scene. He's won almost every major sprint mushing championship in the Kuskokwim region with the exception of the Bogus 150. Ekamrak will try and remedy that omission on his resume this Saturday when he joins the field of entrants for this year's race. A win, he says, would be nice — and set the tone for a future that could see him move into the big time. "It would be nice to win the 150," Ekamrak said, who finished last year's race with just five dogs in harness. "Any race I get into I want to win. In the past, I've concentrated on the smaller races, but I want to concentrate on the 150 and work up to the (Kuskokwim) 300." Last year, John George beat him to the finish line by just 29 minutes. Runner-up Anthony Olick crossed the finish line just 4 minutes, 19 seconds ahead of him. Both George and Olick completed the race with seven dogs. Despite finishing third, Ekamrak was pleased with his effort. Especially considering he hadn't ran his team much prior to the race. Late last fall, his father John Ekamrak, became sick and passed way, forcing him to be away from his dogs for an extended period. "I felt good about how I finished last year," he said. "I didn't expect to be in that position because we got off to a late start. I didn't start running the dogs until January." During his father's illness, Ekamrak's brothers, Carlie and Dan, helped picked up the slack. They tended to the kennel and took the dogs out whenever possible. Ekamrak, the brother-in-law of Iditarod veteran Mike Williams, was fourth in the 150 in 2001, having completed that race in a time of 17 hours, 50 minutes and 53 seconds. Not bad for a musher who only began running a team in 1994 — and one who planned only to compete for three years. Originally, he entered the sport with the goal of raising a few puppies and then selling them off after racing for a few years. "I didn't plan on doing it this long," he said. "I told my wife I'd make it a 3-year thing to see if the pups I was raising could win. Then it got to the point where I had to prove to myself that it was more than just a fluke that I was winning." Nine years later, Ekamrak has proved he's no fluke. Ekamrak has considered joining Williams in the upper echelon of the sport in the future. It's a move that will require him to change his training methods and increase the size of his kennel. "My wife, Carlie, Dan, Mike and a lot of other people have been trying to talk me into running the big races. It's kind of gotten into my head," said Ekamrak, who professed to have minimal interest in running a sled dog team as a youth. "When I was a young boy my father was a pastor and we would go from village to village and people would always be talking about dogs. I didn't really get into it then. I remember Carlie, Walter (Williams), Uncle Al (Ekamrak) and Uncle Sam (Ekamrak) were always talking about dogs when I was growing up. They kind of got me interested, and when I got a few dogs I found out what they were talking about. "I've even used some of the stories they told me about training them," he said. Today, Ekamrak is at peace with his team on the open tundra. "I love everything about it," he said. "When you're out there, you don't have anybody to answer to. I just enjoy raising the dogs ... and see them do good." Doing well this weekend in the Bogus 150 would make it even better.
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