2026 Kuskokwim 300 race preview

How can you not love the Kusko 300? Really, how can you? Short answer: you can't. This race has it all. Star studded roster, huge purse, FIREWORKS AFTER THE START. The trail may be considered "easy" by some because it's mostly frozen river run, but it's proved time and again to be anything but easy.

The Kuskokwim-Delta knows how to hold a sled dog race. They have their own "grand prix" of mushing events all winter long with the Kusko being the grand finale (though, okay, they have a few races set for after the Kusko this year). 

Last year the race was pushed to February as most of Alaska dealt with obscenely warm temperatures for much of December and January. This year the opposite has been an issue with a crazy cold snap dropping temperatures to nearly -50, forcing the Bogus Creek 150 to reschedule its race in hopes of a warm up.

Mother Nature just likes to keep everyone on their toes it seems. Looking at the projected forecast, teams are in for a windy start with wind gusts of up to 20 miles per hour factoring in a windchill of about -2. The wind will continue through the weekend which will make it a close to 0 average temp for the teams (but man even with the "feels like" temp having wind the whole time can be brutal to the mind).

There are twenty-three teams set for the Friday Night start as of January 20. Teams have traveled most of the day and will continue to arrive Wednesday ahead of musher meetings and vet checks. The Kusko is not on the "road system" so teams that don't live in the area have to fly their teams to the start line. They stay with host families around Bethel and it's just a huge party for all involved. 

Of those teams there are some very familiar names, each with a really good chance to push for a win (or close to it). Peter Kaiser will be running to win his tenth Kusko, a huge accomplishment should he Re-PETE yet again, but he will have a lot of teams challenging him. Let's take a look.

**Note: I've confirmed that Fantasy Mushing will NOT have a Kusko tab this year, they will only have Iditarod for 2026.**

Who to Watch

Cody Strathe - The Squids just finished second in the famed "toughest 300 miles in Alaska" known as the Copper Basin 300. His rookie run on the Kusko was last year when he placed third. It will be interesting to see if he does like he did with the Copper and repeat his placement or improve upon it. It would be a very good bet to choose Cody as likely to challenge the reigning champ on the river run.

Emily Robinson - She ran her first Kusko last year and took the Kusko as a training and learning experience. She finished 6th in a very challenging race. Typically by this point in the season Robinson and her team have had at least one race under their belt (normally with a championship trophy to boot). This is her opening race and there's no doubt she'll take what she learned last year and apply it to this year's strategy. If taking it easy in 2025 landed her in 6th, a lot of teams will be keeping an eye out for her this year.

Jeff Deeter - The 2025 Yukon Quest Alaska champ has tasted victory and is no doubt looking to keep riding that success. While his Iditarod last year did not go as planned, Deeter has an upbeat and positive attitude when he comes into a race and that no doubt translates into the team. After taking last year off from the Kusko he's back in one of the races his kennel says they love. Expect a competitive run for Deeter with him taking a chance at the lead if given the opportunity.

Pete Kaiser - The champ is back to defend his title on his home trails. Kaiser may be the most experienced on the roster just because of how he grew up on the Kusko trails. The 2019 Iditarod Champion has focused more on building and supporting mushing in his home region in more recent years, and he's still the King of the Kusko. He'll be running for his 10th win this year and while it's not a for sure outcome, it's a solid bet.

Rohn Buser - One of the other former Kusko Champions, Rohn's won it twice in 2012 and 2014, but it's been just shy of a decade since he took a team down this trail. "Back in the day" he was running teams out of his dad's kennel that they were co-managing/training - now he has his own kennel with his wife with a very successful program. One of those generational mushers that has a lot of success Buser should make a pretty impressive return to the race. His last time running he finished 8th and it could be that he decides to take it easy and ease back into this race, but he's another team that given the opportunity he should push to make a statement.

Ryan Redington - The 2023 Iditarod Champion finished towards the back of the pack last year, and it's not entirely clear what his plans are for this year's race, but you can never count Ryan out. It could be he's working with a newer, younger team than what he had in his Iditarod winning year, making it a rebuilding year, or he could be just testing the waters with Iditarod his main focus. Either way, Ryan in the mix makes things exciting.

Travis Beals - He was third place in 2024, the last time he ran the Kusko. Travis has studied dog mushing his entire life. He's learned from some of the best in the sport. His kennel literally turns heads (what a coincidence that his kennel's name is Turning Heads!) He just became a dad of TWO a few weeks ago, so this may be a celebratory run for him. One things for sure, with a newborn at home, Travis has been practicing that working/mushing on no sleep for weeks - which will help him out this race season.

Wade Marrs - Wade is back! Yeah, he ran last year with a team borrowed from a musher, but this year Marrs is back in Alaska full time and is making the trip with his team. Fans are no doubt to have the former Stump Jumpin (renamed to 49th State Sled Dogs) on their list of one to watch. He was 12th last year, but mostly stays within a top ten finish when he runs the Kusko. Expect him to improve on last year's finish.

Honorable mentions go to Bailey Cross Vitello, Cim Smyth, Mike Williams Jr, and Riley Dyche. Seriously this roster is STACKED. Pete's really gonna have to keep one eye behind him if he wants to win this thing. You can view the whole roster in start order here.

How to Watch

Things may look a little different this year with coverage. Make sure to pay attention to the changes!

In years past the school did a live feed of the start, however they had equipment failure several years ago and were unable to continue their program. Radio station KYUK lost its funding thanks to, well, you know, and will not be able to give as much coverage as they have in years past. The race has employed one of the former radio broadcasters to help with the livefeeds on the race's Facebook page, Youtube, and Website. With this new format we could end up seeing some glitches, so please please please be patient and understanding. We're all navigating these new normals.

Official Website

The Kusko's website is pretty slick. You can follow all of the races, fundraising and news from their site. It's easy to navigate and they have great musher bios. And this is where you will find those ever important in and out times from the checkpoints. Be sure to check it out.

GPS Tracker

Real time updates will come through the trackers as always. With the cold there may be more glitches than we'd like (blame the aliens!) but there's not much we can do. Cold and technology don't get along. The link for trackleaders hasn't gone live yet, so this will get edited once it does. Once it goes live you should be able to view them here.

Radio Broadcast

KYUK Radio lost their funding this year and as a result cannot do their live broadcasts on the race as they have for years (don't get this blogger started). One of the former radio station employees has been hired by the race, however, to help with their plans to keep everyone as informed and up to date as ever with the race. (They will still give news updates on the race, but the LIVEfeeds seem to be minimal.)

Social Media

Updates will most likely be posted on the race's Facebook page, and possibly their twitter account. Photo updates should come from Instagram. They typically try to have a Facebook live feed. If you are tweeting, instagramming, etc. the traditional hashtag is #K300.

Most mushers have facebook these days, and many of them have someone monitoring and posting to those pages during the race. To find and follow all mushers in this year's race, check out the 2026 Kusko 300 musher roster on this blog where all socials are linked.

Schedule of Events

Wednesday, January 21
Vet Checks

Thursday, January 22
Vet Checks
5pm - Musher Meeting
7pm - Bib Draw 

​Friday, January 23
8:00pm - Kuskokwim 300 START
8:40pm - FIREWORKS

Saturday, January 24
NOON - Akiak Dash Mass Start

Monday, January 26
6pm - Musher Awards

Did we miss anything? Thoughts on who might take home the prize? Comment below with your thoughts!

If you like what you see and want to support my addiction (I mean HOBBY) of following these races and stalking (I mean cheering on) the mushers, you can buy me a slice of pizza (that really goes to paying for my internet/web expenses).