Knik 200 cancelled

The Knik 200 Joe Redington Sr. Memorial Sled Dog Race has been canceled.

Race organizers made the announcement Thursday on social media.

“Due to a number of trail route concerns caused by rain, warm temperatures, and the lack of sufficient snow, the Knik Race Committee has reluctantly determined that holding the 2020 races is not a viable option. In the interest of safety for the dogs, mushers, volunteers, and race fans, we are forced to cancel the 2020 Knik 100 and 200 races,” race organizers said on Facebook.

The race had been scheduled for Jan. 4.

The cancelation of the 2020 race follows a tough trend of weather related obstacles for organizers of the Knik 200. This is the second straight year organizers have been forced to cancel the races completely. In 2018, organizers moved the race from its traditional start on Knik Lake to Willow because of poor conditions in the Knik area. It marked the second time during a four-year span that the race start was moved to Willow.

“Our hope was to establish a new race course that was not dependent on crossing any creeks or rivers, but that has proved impractical. Cancelling is not the outcome we wanted, and we understand that many mushers rely on our race as a qualifier for the Iditarod and Yukon Quest races. However, we have several mushers and their support teams traveling here from great distances so we do not wish to delay in making this difficult decision as we feel that conditions will not sufficiently improve before race day,” organizers said in the Facebook post.

The Knik 200 had a field of 40 teams. The list included four-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey and Nic Petit, the 2018 Iditarod runner-up.

Contact the Frontiersman at sports@frontiersman.com.