2024 Knik 200 race preview

A full roster that saw a handful of changes nearly right up to bib draw, the Knik 200 will kick off at 10am on Saturday, January 6, 2024. It's a race that boasts a bunch of strong contenders and veterans, a couple of junior mushers, and a host of newer names fans will enjoy getting to know. The season's "opening qualifier" for the bigger races (like Iditarod and the two versions of the Yukon Quest) is always a popular one, and once again it looks to have perfect trail conditions for a race.

In the Twenty-Teens the Knik saw many postponed and canceled races due to lack of snow, this year, however, is another record breaking snow total for the area and earlier races have gone off without a hitch. The Knik 100 happened right before Christmas and was a huge success, and saw the Junior phenom Emily Robinson take the top prize. Emily is now on the roster for the 200 and the older more veteran mushers know better than to count her out. 

The race will leave from Knik Lake before traveling out to Deshka Landing (where there is not a checkpoint set up for teams to stop) before returning to Knik Lake for a six hour layover (plus time differential) before repeating the loop. The first team will leave the starting line at 10am, but teams must be at the starting chute no later than 8am as vet checks will happen at the start of the race. Each team needs to have one handler who can pick up any "return/drop dogs" at either Deshka Landing or the halfway point. They are also to assist the team coming into and leaving the midway point. 

Weather for this weekend looks to be just below freezing with Saturday seeing a high of 32F. Saturday afternoon is forecasted a "light snow" that will turn to heavy snow overnight and through Sunday. Along with the snow and warm temp, winds will steadily increase throughout the weekend. Sunday will see a high of 34F.

The mushers will get all of their race information, ask questions, and draw their bib numbers at the musher's meeting on Friday night at the Broken Boat Bar. This is also the host of the awards banquet on Sunday. 

The Knik 200 is a race run in Memory of longtime Knik community member and Father of the Iditarod Joe Redington Sr. The sport owes a lot to Redington for reigniting the love of dogs and the sport when it seemed mushing was going extinct thanks to the snow machine (snowmobile for you Cheechakos). He is well represented in this race both behind the scenes as well as on the trail as there are several teams of Redington dogs on the trail.

With (as of January 4 at 9pm) thirty nine teams getting ready to head down the trail, there's any number of scenarios that could happen, but let's take a stab at who may push for the top prize shall we? (We're going with an alphabetized list, this blogger isn't crazy enough to guess just who comes in what place.)

Who to Watch

Matthew Failor - The 2019 Kusko champion and new dad, Matt Failor has to be on anyone's top ten list. Matt learned from some of the sport's best and now boasts a very successful kennel full of happy dogs. Mentored by Martin Buser, you can see that influence in the way Matt is always a positive face on the trail. Look for Matt to have a strong run.
 
Brent Sass - The 2022 Iditarod Champion had a not so great end to his season last year when he was forced to scratch on the Yukon due to a dental emergency. The Quest and Iditarod Champion had signed up for several mid-distance races this season before making an announcement around Christmas that he had chosen to stay closer to home instead of traveling. Sass says the trails around his home in Eureka are prime training and so the Knik 200 is the only race not named Quest or Iditarod he plans to run this season. 

Amanda Otto - Remember when Amanda almost ran down Brent Sass on the final leg of the Yukon Quest Alaska last year? Yeah, she made a monster run look easy and gained a whole lot of respect from fans and mushers. While she's training young dogs don't expect her to not make things exciting this season. She could use the Knik as a way to stretch their legs, or she could be coming out of the gate ready to compete. Either way, you Otto count on Otto.

Wade Marrs - With no snow in the Midwest where Marrs now calls home with his wife and two kiddos and kennel of dogs, Wade traveled with Ryan Redington to Alaska this past week to run in the Knik 200. Marrs is reportedly running Redington's A-Team so that Ryan can focus on working with his puppy team. Marrs and Redington have both shared the excitement of getting to mush on a sled behind dogs and not use an ATV. Because Marrs has the reigning Iditarod Champ's A team in this race, we're looking for Marrs to have the better odds of pushing for a top finish.

Dave Turner - If you've followed this blog a while you know we can't have a race with Dave Turner on the roster and not have his name in the mix for the top dawg. Turner has a good track record in mid-distance races, and even a few wins. Turner could prove to be the spoiler once again.

Nicolas Petit - The "king of the mid-distance" will start off fast and hope he stays fast. Petit likes to let the dogs pick the pace and race schedule most of the time, which works well in the 200 and 300 mile races. The musher is well known for his quirky attitude - often aloof - as well as some of his mishaps (like his many wrong turns over the years). He calls himself dad and the dogs are his kids. Expect much the same this season.

Eddie Burke Jr. - Speaking of new dad, Eddie has a brand spankin' new daughter as of Friday morning. The reigning Knik 200 champion still plans to race this weekend saying "she gave me permission, but I have to win." No doubt he'll be riding high on the excitement of the new bundle, but that may prove a distraction. Burke has also gone from working with Aaron Burmeister's kennel to running a kennel of his own with dogs bought from several mushers. The Iditarod Rookie of the Year has won this weekend either way. 

Emily Robinson - The Junior Mushing Phenom is at it again this season already having won the Knik 100 race against some of these same teams just last month. Emily seems completely unfazed running with the big dogs, having done so several times last season along with winning junior race after junior race. This IS her "biggest race" to date, and with the tad longer trail length it could offer her a challenge. Look for Emily to once again make sure she is a force to reckon with. 

Michelle Phillips - Michelle is one of the top female mushers in the sport, she was very competitive in last year's Knik 200 and there's no indication she won't be again this year. Look for Michelle to start out strong and challenge for the front and stay there.

Travis Beals - The third "new dad" on the list is also running on trails he's recently moved to (within the last year) so they are quickly becoming "home trails". He'll most likely use this as a training run, but if everything is working well he could easily contend for a top spot.

**Not ignoring Ryan Redington, but with his plan being to train the puppy team, it's safe to assume he won't be pushing for the win - look for Wade Marrs with Ryan's A team to try to pull the win off.

Be sure to check out the full roster and follow all of the teams along the way.

How to Watch

For those of us who cannot watch in person, there will be a lot of refreshing of internet pages, here's a run down on how you can follow along with this weekend's race.

Official Website
The race had to restructure their organization a couple of years ago and is now under the direction of the Knik Iditarod Trail Blazers, so they have just a page on their site for the race, but it has the rules and basic information. They also have a way to follow the times in and out LIVE via a spreadsheet (I know there's a group of my readers who LOVE a good spreadsheet).

GPS Tracker
What would we do without these little trackers that drive us crazy when they go haywire (I will always blame the aliens), trackleaders.com will once again keep us obsessively refreshing our screen with their wonderful GPS map. The 2024 map and trackers can be found here.

Social Media
The race is most active on Facebook. The race has not been active on Twitter in years. There's also no Instagram. 

For live feeds I'm told the hope is Kale Casey will be on Knik Lake - though he was due to fly to Alaska Friday. If he is there he'll go live on Facebook!

Schedule of Events

Friday, January 5, 2024
4:00pm-6:00pm Musher's Dinner and Bib Draw

Saturday, January 6, 2024
8:00am Mandatory Vet Check
10:00am Start
**Teams will start on Knik Lake**

Sunday, January 7, 2024
6:00pm Award Banquet

And, as always, you can Buy me a slice of pizza to help keep the blog up and running. It's always appreciated but never expected.  

We *OTTO* know better by now

In the words of Yogi Bera, it ain't over til it's over. Amanda Otto shot from seventh place when she left Two Rivers last night to now sitting in Nenana in second place. That whole "Wade and Nic racing for second" prediction was a day too soon. We *Otto* know better by now, dog races are far from predictable.

Well... mostly far from predictable. Fans noticed Nic Petit stalling several times over night, some had expected a turn like this earlier in the race. Nic likes to run at a fast clip and while that seems to work for him in the 200 and 300 mile races, it's bit him in the butt a few times and it has here. Nic posted a pic on the trail saying that they were having to camp for more rest after "making mistakes" and that now he's turning from race mode into fun trip mode. He turns a lot of races into "fun trips". Which is all well and good, but one wonders when he'll try to take a page out of Brent Sass' book and re-evaluate his [lack of] strategy and maybe coach the team differently. 

Wade Marrs also reported difficulty before leaving Two Rivers. He left three dogs behind with handlers to preserve his core team for the Iditarod, but also reported he had some dogs in heat and so the males were less than focused. Both Marrs and Petit were considerably slower on the leg from Two Rivers to Nenana neither having made it into Nenana by the time noon rolled around. 

With Marrs and Petit faltering, it gave Otto even more of a chance to really jump in the standings. The musher out of Husky Homestead took a chance and made the bold move to run the full 100 miles without camping partway through - something Brent Sass elected to do. She rolled into Nenana a little before 11:30am. She is only four hours and fifteen minutes behind Sass.

Brent Sass, of course, had Nenana all to himself for most of the morning. The Champion team made it to the checkpoint at 7:09am and left right on time after his six hour mandatory rest at 1:09pm. He will have about fifty miles until the finish mostly on the Tanana river that they ran on all night. Judging by speeds it won't be a fast run, and without knowing the current trail reports one can only wonder if the spots that slowed Sass and stalled Marrs and Petit have gotten worse.

Judging by Sass's current movement we're looking at 5 to 6 hours before a finish. Right now it looks like a 7pm ish finish, but things can change. It ain't over til it's over.

Oh, and Amanda Otto can leave at 5:26pm.

2022 Iditarod Meet the Rookies

The Iditarod class of 2022 boast a lucky number of thirteen names prepared to head down the trail. Some are fulfilling bucket list dreams, others are taking the next step in their mushing journey, and still others seem to plan on making their mark. As with most rookie classes, many are running dogs from another musher's kennel, though this year some are the only representation of their kennel. 

The six women and seven men all look to have fantastic runs to Nome, and their chances have never been better. There are several names that could easily take rookie of the year, and others that will no doubt surprise us all.

Each year I like to give a brief run down on who these mushers are and which team they run for (if not their own). Paws and fingers crossed that this year all thirteen earn that Finisher's Belt Buckle on this historic 50th running of the Last Great Race on Earth. So, let's meat them, shall we?

Amanda Otto - Otto came up to Alaska several years ago chasing her dream of mushing dogs. She landed at the Husky Homestead, home of four-time Iditarod Champion Jeff King. While King is not signed up to run in the 50th Iditarod, his dogs will no doubt be in the capable hands of his handler. Amanda is an avid athlete and adventurer and made mushing her focus after an injury in 2016 "derailed her soccer career". Otto is quite active on social media - especially her Instagram account, and is worth a follow. You can follow Amanda via Husky Homestead's Facebook page, her Instagram, and you can support her by joining her GoFundMe. You can also view her Iditarod Bio.

Bridgett Watkins - The musher from Kennel on a Hill and her dogs come from a very distinguished pedegree. Bridgett is the daughter of Yukon Quest Champion Allen Moore; Aliy Zirkle is her step-mom. Many of the dogs in Bridgett's kennel are either from Allen and Aliy's kennel or their bloodlines trace back to them. There will be a lot of eyes on Watkins to see how she measures up (but let's remember the Seavey's and Mackey's didn't blow the competition away their rookie races). Watkins had a tragic run in with a moose a few weeks back, but still plans on running Iditarod. You can learn more about Bridgett in her Iditarod Bio, as well as her website, Facebook page, and Instagram.

Eric Kelly - Another musher running dogs from his own kennel, Eric got into mushing after meeting Jamaican mushing sensation Newton Marshall. After helping Newton prepare for one of his Iditarod runs, Eric found himself working at Kathleen Fredrickson's kennel of Shameless Huskies before starting his own kennel 4 years ago. Like many Alaskans, Eric and his family fell in love with Alaska during a vacation to the great state and decided to pack up and move to the land of sled dogs. Eric's daughter Aspen is also an aspiring musher. You can learn more about Eric from his Iditarod Bio, as well as his Facebook page, and Instagram.

Gerhardt Thiart - A somewhat world traveller who got hooked on mushing a decade or so ago, Gerhardt is running Iditarod to raise awareness and support for US Veterans through the GAT Foundation. Gerhardt trained and completed his qualifiers under the mentorship of Mitch Seavey, and will be running a team of Seavey dogs in the Iditarod. You can read more about Gerhardt in his Iditarod bio, website, Facebook page, and Instagram.

Hanna Lyrek - Well, we couldn't let the boys of the QrillPet racing team have all the fun could we? Hanna hails from Norway and is part of the "exclusive" club of mushers who will no doubt be repping the bright orange of the mushing sponsor (and Iditarod partner) QrillPet. Hanna was born in Alaska, and her family moved to Norway when she was 5. She says she's always run dogs and she is excited to finally see her dreams become reality in running the Iditarod. Hanna could be one of the front runners for rookie of the year, and it will be exciting to watch her race. You can read more about Hanna from her Iditarod Bio, website, Facebook page, and Instagram.

Joe Taylor - Joe is another one of those California transplant turned musher. He got the bug after working at the UAF mushing program (like so many) and now has his own small kennel outside of Fairbanks. You may think it a little bit of Malarkey, and that's exactly what Joe Taylor went for when naming his kennel. You can learn more about Joe via his Iditarod Bio, website, Facebook page, and Instagram.

Julie Ahnen - The B-team from Team Can't Stop racing is in the capable hands of Iditarod rookie Julie Ahnen. Julie has worked with this team since their puppyhood. Going on four years working with Jessie Holmes, Julie is eager to achieve her childhood dream and get her finisher's belt buckle under the burled arch. Ahnen should be fun to watch as she makes her way across Alaska with what should be a strong and fast team of young dogs. You can learn more about Julie through her Iditarod Bio, website, Facebook page, and Instagram.

Kailyn Davis - The high school math teacher is living out a childhood dream with the opportunity to run the Iditarod this year. With Wade Marrs splitting his kennel between Alaska and Wisconsin (and not running the Iditarod this year) Kailyn was given the opportunity to run with his dogs to Nome. The team won't be entirely Stump Jumpin' Kennel dogs, but will be a solid core and help her get that belt buckle. You can learn more about Kailyn via her Iditarod Bio, website, Facebook page, and Instagram.

KattiJo Deeter - We all knew it was just a matter of time before the other half of Black Spruce Kennel took down the trail. Deeter's made it to Nome several times to greet Jeff and the team as they finished in past years, but now KattiJo will be running the kennel's second team in the race. With the insane winter weather this season brought to the Interior of Alaska, the Deeter's have had to change their racing schedule early on. Training was also changed up while they continually dug out and recut their trail. Still, both teams should have no trouble running to Nome. You can learn more about KattiJo via her Iditarod bio, website, Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter.

Martin Massicotte - Martin is back to try again at finishing the Iditarod after starting in 2020 and not completing the race (like so many once they hit the coast). Martin is a lifelong musher with a great team of dogs, and hopefully this year's race doesn't prove to be a chaotic one of plague and overflow and snow storms that wipe out much of the trail and stall even the most champion of teams. Martin and his wife have shared a lot of their season via social media including how they got the Alaska and the adventure they've found just in the last month. You can learn more about Martin from his Iditarod bio, Facebook page.

Matt Paveglio - Team DEEtermined (in honor of his mother) is hitting the trails thanks to the generous offer of Iditarod veteran Kathleen Fredricks to have Matt run a team from Shameless Huskies kennel in the Iditarod. Matt has worked and dreamt of this moment and now it's finally here. Matt is a supporter of many kennels throughout the years and very vocal about his love for the sport. One can only hope that this run to Nome is everything he's hoped it would be. You can find out more about Matt and Team DEEtermined from his Iditarod bio, Facebook page, and Instagram.

Sean Williams - After having to withdraw just moments before the start of last year's race due to his mother becoming seriously ill (not Covid related), Sean is back to try again to make it this time to Nome. Williams has great support from Martin Buser and Matt Failor and should have a solid team of dogs with him. You can learn more about Sean via his Iditarod bio, Facebook page, and Instagram.

Sebastien Dos Santos Borges - Sebastien is known and loved for his work with "rescues" that he's added to his team. He is fun to watch in the mid-distance races, and one can only hope he has a wonderful run to Nome. He and team came in 7th in this year's Yukon Quest 300, and he certainly looks to have a strong rookie run in this year's Iditarod. You can learn more about Sebastien from his Iditarod Bio (which is very short), website, Facebook page, and Instagram.

So here's to the class of 2022! May they each have swift and safe trails, with "nary a moose" in sight. And when they come off the trail we will wait eagerly to hear them tell their tales and celebrate with them. GOOD LUCK ROOKIES!

Have a favorite rookie? Who do you think will win Rookie of the Year? Comment below with your thoughts and cheers. And, if you like what you see and want to see this blog continue, you can buy me a slice of pizza (that actually goes to internet costs)!