Nenana teen repeats as Knik 200 champ

The Knik 200 Joe Redington Sr. Memorial Sled Dog Race started and finished on Knik Lake Jan. 4-5. Twenty-one teams competed in this year’s shortened 150-mile race on a fast and slippery trail. Emily Robinson, a 17-year-old from Nenana, won the race for her second year in a row following her previous win of the Knik 100 in December.

“It’s always fun to be competing with all of these top athletes in the sport of mushing,” Robinson said. “And to be competing as a woman, and also as a teenager.”

Robinson started in 17th place and said she was passing teams from the beginning of the race. She was traveling fast on the first 18 miles of hard-packed trail, a challenge with a fresh dog team on steep, rutted hills. She said she had to take time to switch out one of her dogs from the front of her team as they moved into the swamps where the views of the mountains opened up.

“There was Denali in the front of my dog team,” Robinson said. “It was just super sunny and it was so beautiful.”

Robinson passed her dad, Walter Robinson, two miles from the finish line on the first day of racing. After taking care of her team, eating a quick meal and getting in a quick nap, she was back on the trail in second place behind Ryan Redington. She said she had some nerves while trying to get some rest about going into the second half.

“You’re waiting for the second day and you're nervous because you're thinking about that trail,” Robinson said. “You're sleeping in your truck and you're laying there but you're kind of half awake because you’re thinking… you have the nerves.”

Robinson passed Redington within the first two miles after leaving the checkpoint. She was able to stay ahead of him, watching for his headlamp as they raced.

“I was a little bit nervous that he was going to catch up to me and pass me and then walk away,” Robinson said. “But he never got close enough to where he could call trail and pass me.”

She described the feeling that mushers have when a competitor is close behind and when to push the dogs to run faster.

”There’s always an urge to ask your dogs to give it that last 10% towards the end of the race,” Robinson said. “When you have a musher who's putting that pressure on you that urge gets so much stronger to want to ask your dogs for that extra 10% maybe a little bit earlier than what you're intending based off of the fact that that competitors behind you.”

Robinson came in first place, 20 minutes ahead of Ryan Redington in second. She credits her dog team for their hard work and her family for their support and for working together to take care of their dogs. She is optimistic about competing in the Kuskokwim 300 and Junior Iditarod in the coming weeks. She will be chasing her fourth straight win in the Junior Iditarod this year. She is always thinking ahead and preparing mentally for her next race.

“Whether you're on the sled, whether you're sleeping in a checkpoint, whether you're training your dogs for the next race, or in the beginning of the season, you're always thinking about what you're going to be doing next,” Robinson said.

Robinson was one of four junior mushers in this year’s race.

Ryan Redington, the 2023 Iditarod champion from Knik, placed second this weekend.

He had four teams from his kennel, Redington Mushing, in this year’s Knik 200. Redington was excited to try to improve from his third place finish last year. He said he knew that the competition this year would be tough.

Redington said that the race went well for him and that it means a lot to be competing in this race so close to home.

“It’s a great honor for me to race in a race that honors my grandfather,” Redington said. “It’s a race in his hometown and home trails that he has mushed thousands and thousands of miles. He loved mushing, the dogs and racing and bringing the dog mushing community. It was a great race this weekend. He would be very proud of the event. The volunteers, the fans, the mushers and all the dogs had so much fun this weekend.”

Redington said he feels good about taking his team into Iditarod 2025.

”It’s a long ways to go yet, but we're doing the right thing with training,” Redington said. “We're having fun and the dogs are happy and healthy.”

Barbara “Barb” Redington sits on the board of directors for the Knik Iditarod Trail Blazers. She is the daughter-in-law to the late Joe Redington Sr. for which the race is named after. Barb helps plan the race and keeps it running smoothly.

Barb originally had concerns about the race with a lack of snow and windy conditions. She was happy to be able to host the race and adapt the trail to the conditions.

“With the lack of snow that we have, I'm just super happy we can have this part of the race here and some people can still use it as a [Iditarod] qualifier,” Barb said.

This year’s race was dedicated to Terry Langholz, a long-time volunteer that passed away last June.

”The volunteers all have the same passion that the mushers do for their dogs and mushing,” Barb said.

Barb appreciates seeing the generations of mushers coming from racing families. She works hard to keep the sport of mushing alive in Alaska.

“It means a lot,” Barb said. ”I'm glad to take part in helping organize and helping put it together. Mushing was Joe's passion and it was great that it could continue in his memory.”