"A Great Day for a Dog Race." Knik 200 brings out veteran and freshman mushers

A field of 16 mushers took to the trails for the Knik 200 Joe Redington Sr. Memorial Dog Sled Race this weekend. Some mushers were seasoned veterans from the trail, while others were competing in a race for the very first time. The weather was clear, calm and cool and the trails fast and hard.

“Great day for a dog race,” Race Organizer and Knik Trail Blazers Board Member Barb Redington said.

Barb is the daughter-in-law to the late Joe Redington Sr. for which the race is named after. She has been a part of the mushing community for many years and has helped to make the races out of Knik a success year after year.

Several junior mushers participated in this year’s race, including fourth-generation musher Isaac Redington, who finished in fourth place.

Races like this one provide local mushers with a chance to compete close to home and for young dogs to gain experience.

“It’s fun to be at a local race,” Musher Sydnie Bahl said. “This is really just a training run for us. We have quite a few yearlings who have never camped or have never raced. This run is just a big confidence builder for the younger dogs.”

Bahl operates out of Vern Halter’s Dream-a-Dream Sled Dog Farm in Willow. She raced in the Copper Basin 300 earlier in January. Bahl will be running in the Iditarod again this year and will be looking for a finish.

Hosting an Iditarod-qualifying race in the Valley is important for spreading the message about the sport of dog mushing. Inviting the public to attend can have large impacts for years to come.

“It's nice to have some community members come out and we can spread awareness,” Bahl said. “Maybe some young kids come out and get inspired and turn into mushers someday.”

With a three-week delay due to weather, the trail crew was able to come up with a route that navigated around treacherous water crossings and provided a well-groomed trail for the dogs and mushers.

“We were lucky enough to get a snowstorm in here that was enough to give us the opportunity to have the race,” Trail Manager Richard Plack said.

Total mileage was roughly 160 miles, with teams racing 40 miles out and 40 miles back twice, with a mandatory six hour rest in between. Plack and the other trail crew members were working nonstop. He said hosting races in Knik is integral for the local dog mushing community.

“The importance of it is to give our local mushers an opportunity to be here,” Plack said. “They don’t have to travel clear to Kotzebue or Bethel or Kobuk, all those races cost money to go there. Even going out to Glen Allen to the Copper Basin race. Those are important races too, but we’re important too, just for our local community. It gives them an opportunity to come and have a race or just participate.”

Growing up in Knik and the youngest grandson of Joe Redington Sr., Robert Redington said that he enjoys the opportunity to race in the Knik 200 in an area he is familiar with. His first ever race was the Knik 200 in 2012.

“This is where I learned to mush,” Robert said. “It’s really fun to come back home.”

Robert raced against his nephew Isaac and the two took off for the restart at the same time early Sunday morning. Robert would unfortunately experience a scratch in the second half of the race. But being able to participate in a race named for his grandfather with the next generation of mushers means a lot for him to be a part of.

“He’d be happy we’re keeping mushing alive and our family still has dogs,” Robert said.

Eddie Burke Jr. was the first to return to Knik Lake Saturday night just before 6 p.m. and was the first to leave for the restart at 12:20 a.m. on Sunday. He maintained his position and came across the finish line with a fully-frosted beard and icicles hanging from his face in first place at 7:18 a.m. His total elapsed time for the race was 20 hours and 18 minutes.

Kevin Hansen came across the finish line about 45 minutes later at 8:04 a.m. to secure second place. Dave Turner finished in third place at 8:33 a.m. and Isaac Redington finished in fourth place at 8:49 a.m. Brenda Mackey came in three minutes later to round out the top five finishers.

The next dog sled race in the Valley will be the Su Dog 300 taking place in Willow on February 21st.