The Kuskokwim 300

Last weekend was eventful in Tuluksak. The Kuskokwim 300 dog sled race is one of the more competitive and well-funded races in Alaska, and Tuluksak is a mandatory checkpoint for mushers. The race starts in Bethel and travels on and along the Kuskokwim River to Aniak and back. The race is a qualifying race for the Iditarod so there were many famous mushers passing through the village. Between Tuluksak and Kalsgag (50 miles upriver) there is a mandatory 6 hours of rest. Our school was the base where vets and race officials stayed over the weekend. Many mushers spent their rest time sleeping on the floor of our gym. 

Teachers volunteered to bring food and help people coming in and out of the school over the weekend. Even though many mushers came and went in the middle of the night, it was still pretty neat seeing the dogs and meeting race officials. I even got to chat with Iditarod legend Martin Buser for a while :)

The dog teams stayed on the river behind the school while the mushers rested. 

There were 30 dog teams in the race so lots of dog food and straw had to be flown into the village the week before the race. 

Race officials traveled along the course keeping the dogs and mushers safe. The ice road is currently open, but the conditions are very rough for both sled and vehicle travel. 

Dogs that mushers had to drop from their team stayed next to the school until they could be flown back to Bethel. I think these dogs were probably more cozy than the ones that had to stay on the river. 

This area of the school is visible from my house so Birkie had a very difficult weekend being able see, but not play with, all these dogs. 

The Alaska National Guard was also here over the weekend helping with the race, completing "arctic training" and driving around in these crazy beasts.  The guardsmen were supposed to sleep outside and only eat their rations packets, but many of them spent a lot of time in the school enjoying the heat and snacks. 

The race conditions this year were very challenging. It has been cold here recently, but we don't have much snow.  The mushers often had to travel across glare ice as shown in this video of the race winner Pete Kaiser crossing the finish line in Bethel. 

It is unfortunate that mushing has become a spectacle rather than a way of life in Western Alaska, but this was still a really cool event to be a small part of.