Setting a pace almost equal to his starting pace, Diehl and team flew down the Kuskokwim River to land a strong finish. The team came under the arch (after trying to detour into the crowd) with energy and tight lines. He was met under the arch by a fan who gave him a red rose and wished him a Happy Valentine's Day - Richie passed the rose onto his Partner Emery.
When asked what made this team the one he knew could win, Richie said he didn't know if there was one thing as it is a combination of feeding, training and breeding. When further pressed he said it was the breeding. 10 of his team are direct siblings ages 3 and 4. He did the same breeding twice and ended up with a group of highly energized dogs. He calls them the Spring Breakers because, "everyday is a party with them."
Richie is the first of several local mushers in the top five, reporters asked how he felt to see such a strong local showing. Diehl credited the sign up as being due to the Bogus Creek 150 being run almost 2 weeks ahead of the Kusko. He suggested it continue that way as the Bogus saw far more entries and more local teams joined the Kusko. "There's definitely something to be said about that," he stated.
When asked how it felt to beat five-time champion Pete Kaiser, Richie said it felt good. He said you always want to win by competing with the best, and Pete has dominated this race. Diehl noted that Pete is his "best friend" and said Pete told him thay this was the best Kusko (Pete) had ever had so to win after that, it felt really good.
Richie Diehl was quick to shut down questions about winning the Iditarod next month. "I'm not even thinking about that," he said. Diehl pointed out he grew up with the Kusko, that this was his race, he wanted to take the next few days and just think about how he won his race.
Next into the chute should be Pete Kaiser followed closely by Nicolas Petit.
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