The last man standing has spoken, there's no one left on the board of directors for the Willow 300. Essentially, the race is no more as of this weekend. On the eve of registration, an announcement was made that put the final nail in the coffin.
After a dramatic announcement over two weeks ago sent the Alaskan mushing community into a bit of a tailspin. Hyperbole, maybe, but when half of your board resigns in a single day with a reason of concern of the "morals and values" of the race - you maybe deserve a bit of hyperbole.
In response, Board President Al Eischens (who also played the part of Race Director/Marshall) wrote a statement shared by the FORMER social media page for the race where he offered to step down immediately. Eischens posted on September 16:
"To the membership of the Willow 300 Dog Sled Race.
Pursuant to and responding to the recent actions and internet posts by the former Board of Directors of said race, I Alan Eischens, after much consideration and concern for the race - which has always been uppermost on the minds of the BOD and mushers - will gladly step down as Director of the race immediately. In the interest and love of the sport I am sorry to see that there has been what I feel are misinterpretations and misunderstandings by some of the board members of the W300.
I will gladly step aside and let the membership of the W300 vote in a new board of directors from its current membership to continue this race. We will gladly help with a smooth transition so as to facilitate a swift and easy transition to whomever is elected to take over. I feel the new board needs to come from the mushing community and not board members who have previously stepped down. I am sure a fresh BOD and approach to the race moving forward will be welcomed by all W300 members. My withdrawal from this race is effective immediately and I thank the membership for allowing me to try to make this race better. God bless."
Essentially, with Eischens stepping down that left only a couple of members on the board according to the list on the race's website. According to that list, only two were left standing the VP and the Treasurer. With Eischens stepping down the writing was on the wall that there would most likely be no Willow 300 or 150 for the 2023-24 season.
Then Saturday the Willow 300's official page posted yet another update on the race ahead of the October 1 opening of registration. A simple exchange between whomever runs the page and the last known standing board member Matt Smith. The question was what was to happen with registration day, Smith simply wrote back: "There is no board there is no race I resign my position".
With other races having opened registration earlier this summer, and a handful opening this weekend, fans may see an uptick in rosters for those races, but this further complicates many kennels' plans to qualify/train for Iditarod and Quests. The Willow 300 was a newer race, but one that was very popular and centrally located in an area that has hosted a race even in the worst of winters.
Because of the latest happenings with the board, the race's website has been taken down. In response to a question of where the website went, someone with inside knowledge of the decision wrote "As a rule today October 1st was the 1st day for sign ups/payment to race. So this also prevents people from depositing money and it needing to be returned."
The only question remaining - at least by fans - has do do with Nicolas Petit's winnings. At this time, no one has responded to inquiries.
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