Redington wins Knik 200 race

The Joe Redington Sr. Memorial Knik 200 turned out to be a family affair.

Ryan Redington won the annual dog sled race that honors his grandfather.

Redington drove his sled across the finish line at Knik Bar on Knik Lake at 10:35 last Sunday morning to win the race. The Willow musher finished in 22 hours and 25 minutes.

Aliy Zirkle finished three minutes later to take second.

Redington's cousin Ray placed third with a time of 22:40.

One of the most exciting points of the race came at 12:45 p.m. Sunday, when William Haines edged Ken Anderson by just 11 seconds to take seventh place. Haines finished the course in 24:35.08. Anderson finished in 24:35.19.

The Knik 200 is a qualifier and generally a practice run for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race held in March.

The Valley will host another Iditarod qualifier, the Klondike-300 on Jan. 17. That race begins at 10 a.m. at the Call of the Wild in Big Lake.

Joe Redington Sr. Memorial Knik 200

Top 10 finishers

1. Ryan Redington 22 hours, 25 minutes, 2. Aliy Zirkle 22:28, 3. Ray Redington Jr. 22:40, 4. Tyrell Seavey 22:55, 5. Randy Shappell 22:57, 6. Jason Mackey 23:56, 7. William Haines 24:35.08, 8. Ken Anderson 24:35.13, 9. Kelly Griffen 25:00, 10. Jerome Longo 25:02.