Klondike 300 back on for weekend start

KNIK — Better late than never.

After nearly a month’s worth of postponements, the Klondike 300 sled dog race is on. The start of the annual event that sends teams from the Tug Bar in Knik to Yentna and back has been rescheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m.

Less than ideal racing conditions, thanks to a lack of snow and abundance of ice, caused race organizers to postpone the event on three separate occasions.

But things are much better now, according to race organizer Ben Kleinenberg.

“The snow and ice conditions have improved greatly,” Kleinenberg said Monday afternoon. “We’re definitely going for the start on Feb. 7.”

As of Monday evening there were a dozen teams in the field, according to www.klondike300.org. Several mushers were forced to withdraw, Kleinenberg said, mostly due to scheduling conflicts with other races.

The Tustumena 200, another race that was pushed back from its originally scheduled date, ended Monday in Clam Gulch. The Don Bowers 300 also ended in the Talkeetna area on Monday.

The Yukon Quest International sled dog race starts Feb. 14 in Fairbanks.

Despite the losses of teams, the Klondike 300 still boasts a field that includes a number of Iditarod veterans. Big Lake’s Cim Smyth, who won the Tustumena on Sunday afternoon is slated to compete in the Klondike. Iditarod regulars Ray Redington Jr., Ryan Redington and Aaron Burmeister are also in the race.

Kleinenberg said mushers can still enter the race, but must have their food drops and completed veterinary examination paper work to the Willow air strip before Friday.

The 300-mile Klondike race route will take teams from the start at Tug Bar, Mile 18.5 Knik-Goose Bay Road, through the Deshka checkpoint to Yentna Station, where they will take a six-hour layover.

From there, mushers will head to Angel Haven Lodge, which sits along the Yentna River, for another six-hour layover before heading back to Yentna Station for one final six-hour layover.

Following the last layover, teams will race back to the finish line at the Tug Bar. Kleinenberg expects the first team back sometime Monday morning.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Cantwell musher wins Don Bowers 300

MAT-SU — Mike Santos won the annual Don Bowers 300 sled dog race on Sunday evening.

The Cantwell musher cross the finish line at 9:44 p.m. and represented the only team to cross the finish line until early Monday morning.

Jan Seavey, of Sterling, finished at 3:33 a.m. Sunday to finish second. Wasilla’s Wade Marrs followed at 4:26 a.m. to finish third.

Quinn Iten, the son of Iditarod veteran Ed Iten, won the Don Bowers Memorial 200. Iten crossed the finish line at the Willow Community Center at 12:15 a.m. on Sunday, more than an hour ahead of second-place Sarah Spinola, of Willow.

Talkeetna’s Heather Siirtola finished third.

Don Bowers Memorial 300

Into finish (Sunday):

1. Mike Santos, 9:44 p.m.

Into finish (Monday):

2. Jan Seavey, 3:33 a.m.; 3. Wade Marrs, 4:26 a.m.; 4. Karin Hendrikson, 5:48 a.m.; 5. Carmen Perzachino, 11:45 a.m.

Scratched:

Robert Sexton; Christine Roalofs; Katherine Frederick, Dave Charette.

Don Bowers Memorial 200

Into finish (Sunday):

1. Quinn Iten, 12:15 a.m.; 2. Sarah Spinola, 1:35 a.m.; 3. Heather Siirtola, 4:19 a.m.; 4. Karen Ramstead, 5:02 a.m.; 5. Alan Peck, 8:18 a.m.; 6. Steve Geiger, 9:58 a.m.; 7. Mark Ramstead.

Scratched:

Jan Steaves.

Big Lake Musher wins Tustumena 200

CLAM GULCH — Big Lake’s Cim Smyth posted a narrow two-minute win over Lance Mackey to earn the top spot in the Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race on Sunday.

Smyth crossed the finish line at the Clam Gulch Lodge at 2:50 p.m., just ahead of Mackey, the defending champ of not only the Tustumena 200, but also the last two Iditarod and Yukon Quest races.

The Tustumena 200, which starts at Caribou Lake and ends in Clam Gulch, is the Kenai Peninsula’s longest sled dog race.

Tustumena 200

Into finish (Sunday):

1. Cim Smyth, 2:50 p.m.; 2. Lance Mackey, 2:52 p.m.; 3. Jon Little, 4:26 p.m.; Pete Kaiser, 4:51 p.m.; 5. Ken Anderson, 5:32 p.m.; 6. Robert Bundtzen, 6:06 p.m.; 7. Jessica Hendricks, 6:16 p.m.; 8. Gerald Riley, 6:46 p.m.; 9. Paul Gebhardt, 6:57 p.m.; 10. Kristy Berington, 7:02 p.m.; 11. Jake Berkowitz, 10:10 p.m.

Into finish (Monday):

12. Wattie McDonald, 1:59 a.m.; 13. Mike Barnett, 2:01 a.m.; 14. Rachael Scdoris, 4:12 a.m.; 15. Tim Osmar, 4:14 a.m.; 16. Will Faulkner, 4:15 a.m.

Tustumena 100

Into finish:

1. Dean Osmar, 2 a.m.; 2. Bruce Linton, 2:20 a.m.; 3. Cain Carter, 2:52 a.m.; 4. John Larrison, 3:03 a.m.; 5. Aaron Caldwell, 3:11 a.m.; 6. Jonathon Cox, 3:20 a.m.; 7. Elaine Martin, 3:48 a.m.; 8. Michael Raffaeli, 4:34 a.m.; 9. Jason Cameron, 6:37 a.m.; 10. Travis Stagg, 6:53 a.m.