by Greg Lincoln
Kwethluk musher Raymond Alexie has successfully defended his Bogus Creek 150 champion title, making this his second Bogus win in a row, congratulations to the Alexie family and Alexie Racing Kennel.
Alexie, age 20, mushed his 10 dog team across the finish line at 9:03am in Bethel. His total elapsed race time was 18 hours and 3 minutes. For his win he will take home $12,000. He has been winning every race since last season, except for this year’s Kuskowim 300.
“I’m tired and sore,” he said at the finish – from kicking, running, and poling after coming off the Gweek. His lead dogs are Apollo and Scotty.
Coming in second place was Pete Kaiser of Bethel. He finished the race with 9 dogs and a total elapsed time of 18 hours and 48 minutes. The 2019 Iditarod Champion and 8-time Kuskokwim 300 champion will be competing in this year’s Iditarod.
Third place musher and Bogus Creek 150 Rookie of the Year Darren George finished with 8 dogs and a time of 19 hours and 23 minutes.
Other Bogus Creek 150 rookies included Charlie Chingliak, Byron Pasitnak Jr., Kenneth Snyder, Sigurd Napoka, and Robert Charles Jr.
15 teams began the race in Bethel on Saturday, February 10th at 3pm with a mass start to compete for the $75K race purse. Six past Bogus Creek 150 champions took part in the race: Father Alexander Larson (2004), Pete Kaiser (2008), Richie Diehl (2021), Mike Williams Jr. (2006), and Jason Pavila (2019), and current winner Raymond Alexie (2023, 2024).
Teams mushed up the Kuskokwim to the Gweek River. Racers followed the route used by 2024 K300 racers, traveling upriver from Bethel on the Kuskokwim, then continuing up the Gweek River. About 20 miles from the start, mushers left the Gweek for the overland route towards Tuluksak. Due to dangerous conditions on Little Bogus Creek the trail bypassed the village of Tuluksak and remained on the Kuskokwim until racers entered Big Bogus Creek. From there they followed the normal route to the Bogus Creek Checkpoint, where they spent the mandatory 4 hour rest before returning home on the same trail.
Mushers checked in to the Bogus checkpoint in the following order and time in hours/minutes:
Raymond Alexie, 6:33
Darren George, 6:34
Aaron Alexie, 6:43
Peter Kaiser, 6:50
Mike Jr Williams, 6:58
Sigurd Napoka, 7:01
Jason Pavila, 7:05
Alexander Larson, 7:21
Richie Diehl, 7:22
Robert Jr Charles 07:23
Isaac Underwood 07:26
Kenneth Snyder, 7:36
Byron Jr Pasitnak 07:46
Charlie Chingliak 07:54
Tory Fitzpatrick, 7:56
Mushers took a 4 hour layover at the Bogus Creek checkpoint upriver from Tuluksak. Once their mandatory four hours was up, they could leave the checkpoint and make their way back down to Bethel following the same route.
Receiving the Red Lantern Award was 18 year old Kenneth Snyder of Akiachak. He finished the race at 12:56pm on Sunday, February 11th, 2024. Musher Byron Pasitnak Jr.’s tracker stopped registering right after coming off the Gweek River. Word came that he will not be finishing the race.
Race fans flocked to the Kuskokwim River to watch the start of the exciting race and to cheer for the mushers. Photographers, reporters, race officials and volunteers, were buzzing with activity all around the mushers and their pit crews who were busy getting their teams hooked up and ready to go. The weather was in the mild 20s. Good job to all the teams and mushers!
2024 Bogus Creek 150 Race Results
February 11, 2024 in Bethel, AK
Place/Musher # of Dogs Total Elapsed Time
1 Raymond Alexie 10 18:03:00
2 Peter Kaiser 9 18:48:00
3 Darren George 8 19:23:00
4 Richie Diehl 9 19:48:20
5 Aaron Alexie 8 19:49:55
6 Mike Williams Jr. 10 19:52:11
7 Jason Pavila 9 20:00:00
8 Sigurd Napoka 9 20:31:00
9 Robert Charles Jr. 8 20:40:13
10 Alexander Larson 10 20:40:34
11 Isaac Underwood 7 20:55:00
12 Tory Fitzpatrick 8 21:34:00
13 Charlie Chingliak 8 21:50:00
14 Kenneth Snyder 9 21:56:00
15 Byron Pasitnak Jr. 10 Scratched
Up next in Kuskokwim dog mushing will be the February 50 Doubles scheduled for Feb. 24th.
