Fairbanks musher wins 150

DARRELL L. BREESE/ Frontiersman reporter

SHEEP MOUNTAIN - Fairbanks musher Ken Anderson took advantage of a good trail and a healthy team to surge to the front of the field in the final stage of the Sheep Mountain 150 Sunday.

Fourth after two of the three 50 mile stages, Anderson committed to charging to the front over the final 50 miles.

&#8220Most of the team ran the Fur Rendezvous last year,” Anderson said in a phone interview. &#8220So they have a little speed. I decided to let them run early and then reign them in, but they didn't tire and were able to keep a pretty quick pace over the final leg.”

Anderson finally took the lead about 30 miles into the final stage, passing defending Sheep Mountain 150 champion Lance Mackey, of Kasilof. Mackey had moved to the front through the ice fog that settle in over the area surrounding Eureka.

&#8220Lance had a good race go bad,” race director Zack Steer said. &#8220He looked really strong over the first two legs and appeared on his way to a second straight title. But then his dogs were stricken with a virus and he hurt his hand on his snow hook and that took its toll.”

Adding to the pain, Mackey injured his hand the first day of the race - the same hand on which Mackey had a finger amputated before the race. Mackey dropped a heavy ice hook onto his hand during the race.

&#8220I really feel for Lance,” Steer said. &#8220It was like adding insult to injury or pouring salt on an open wound. He was disappointed that things went south for him, but he was pleased with how his team performed before everything went against him.”

The race to the finish was an exciting one as less than eight minutes separated the top five mushers at the start of the last stage.

&#8220We were anticipating a good finish,” Steer said. &#8220Then we started getting reports of Ken (Anderson) moving through the pack and we all got excited because we knew we were in store for a good finish.”

Anderson made up the eight-minute deficit he had on Mackey and eventual runner-up Sebastian Schnuelle of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory Canada, to win the two-day race in 24 hours, 28 minutes. Schnuelle held on for second, finishing six minutes back.

It was not smooth sledding for all the competitors. According to Steer, apart from Mackey's mishap with his ice hook, Andy Moderow also experienced a major problem.

One-mile from the start of the race, Moderow collided with a road sign and was thrown from his sled. His team continued without him. Elizabeth Klukan was watching the race from the end of her driveway and bravely thrust herself onto the sled in an effort to control the dogs.

In the meantime, Moderow was picked up by a passing motorist who changed direction and brought the musher to his team. The dogs had drug Klukan approximately 200 feet along the trail. Moderow yelled out a quick thank you and resumed the race.

He went on to finish 19th with a time of 27 hours and 41 minutes.

Anderson's winning time broke the record set by Mackey last year. He knocked over 30 minutes off the previous best time of 25 hours and 1 minute.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@frontiersman.com.