Work group hopes to reboot Canada's Yukon Quest

Earlier this month the CBC reported that Canada's Yukon Quest board had disbanded and the race in 2026 would not take place. The reason? Essentially volunteer burnout. 

But today, a band of long-time Quest volunteers announced they were planning a work group to reboot their beloved race - with the hope to make a 1,000mile race fully in Canada. The original message traveled the rounds on facebook in Yukon Quest group pages. 

"THERE IS going to be a Spcial General Meeting of the Yukon Quest on Feb 17 at 6:30 PM at the new Hyatt Place in Whitehorse, in The Yukon Territory," Harry Kern wrote on Facebook. "This meeting will welcome all who are interested in The Yukon Quest, and who wish to know what the heck is happening with this event, and who want to maybe become members, board mermbers, and/or work on a committee."

This post met with almost immediate questions on who was putting this on, how it would work, and all the standard questions trying to vet the information and make sure a scam wasn't in the works. Kern was good to answer questions for much of the morning.

"At present there is no board. They have all resigned. There is now a ‘working committee’ of very dedicated volunteers who have been putting together the pieces required to have a new board of directors in place so that we can plan for another race in 2027," Kern responded to one person's request for information.

Kern encouraged any and all to join the meeting - and pay for a membership to give them voting privaleges. At the Feb 17 meeting they will form an organizing board and committees that will have what Kern says will be a very short term - only until August when they will then hopefully vote a permanent plan and board.

In another comment Kern responded to fans wanting the race to go back to being 1,000 mile race that crosses the Al-Can border. "You cannot plan a thousand mile international race with a thousand volunteers and a million dollar budget and have it sunk by mad cow, covid, or politicians at a ‘whim’," he wrote. "There are opportunities for a thousand miler right here in Canada, and that’s what we aim to do."

As news started to spread there were mushers and fans who were excited and more who were ready to watch with interest but hedged bets. (Sounds like the early 70s and another race.) 

Now, the information appears on the Quest's website and their official social media - giving even more weight to at least the initial plans. Time will tell how far this goes and how successful this work group is.

Meanwhile, the 750 Yukon Quest Alaska is set to start out of Fairbanks on February 7, 2026.

Thoughts on the news out of The Yukon Quest today? Do you think it's possible to right the ship? Comment below!

Eddie Burke Jr wins the 2026 Knik 200

In a race that started off fast and is finishing just as quickly, Eddie Burke Jr. took a commanding lead from the get go and didn't look back. The man who used to "put money down" on races is now one puts money down on while racing. 

Burke won the race in 2023, running a team from his mentor Aaron Burmeister. The team was the one Burke worked with to learn how to mush and would run his rookie Iditarod with. Eddie would completely catch the bug as success came and he branched off on his own with his own kennel. He would run the Knik the next year with his own team before taking time off in 2025 to rebuild his team and be a "new dad" for the second time. 

Before this year's Knik race the musher took to his socials announcing that his team was pretty young and named several yearlings to his team. There was talk that he would go a bit slower because of their age, most onlookers expecting him to maybe take it easy. However, the trail was hard and fast and ones Eddie and team have been running on as of late. His team looked good - so he let them compete.

And compete they did.

Eddie took off down the trail and dominated most of Saturday. It shocked very few when he was first into the finish.

The Knik whizzed by this weekend with what seems like all teams off the trail (the trackers are glitchy and show mileage number instead of FIN). The award banquet is happening now so official standings and awards won will be announced later Sunday.

Kaiser dethrones King as winningest Kusko musher

Screengrab of video taken by Iditarod Outsider.

As stated in the previous update - in a world of chaos and unknowns one thing has remained constant: if Pete Kaiser is running the Kusko 300 he's most likely going to finish in lead. And finish he did. Peter Kaiser came into the finish chute on the river outside of Bethel Sunday morning winning his record making tenth win.

The record held for years of Jeff King's 9 wins was thought to never be broken. It was the record that helped King proclaim himself the "winningest musher in the world" in the late 90s. King was, well, King of the Kusko. But, as Pete Kaiser won nearly year after year (taking second place just a couple of times in the last 12 years or so) it was obvious that there was something to the magic the hometown hero was brewin'.

Kaiser was welcomed home by a raucous crowd of fans who braved the freezing rain and wind to cheer on history. Peter immediately went to each dog to give pets and kisses to each one before hugging family and friends. The musher snacked his dogs before returning to his sled to have a final gear check and be signed off the trail.

He answered questions by the media, including the ever on everyone's mind question of Iditarod to which he slyly smiled "still undecided". One look at his dogs suggests they could be a formidable team in the thousand mile race, but with Iditarod just about a month away it would seem unlikely that the 2019 Champ will be returning this year.

But Iditarod Outsider hasn't dubbed him "Slippery Pete" for nothing and he could fool us all with a very last minute entry.

There are still twenty-two teams out on the trail with Riley Dyche the next to cross the finish line. A quick peek at the tracker has Dyche about 2.5 miles out. The red lantern is fan favorite Anna Berington who said before the race began she would run a very conservative schedule for her first Kusko, she's about 14 miles away from the final checkpoint and a four hour rest so the race is far from finished.

Catch all the action on the Kusko's official website.

Beals rests in Kalskag inbound as chase pack closes in

Travis Beals made a move earlier today when he elected to breeze through Aniak and run straight to Kalskag inbound. The veteran musher stayed just long enough in Aniak to snack his team and grab supplies before continuing down the trail. The team still had three hours of mandatory rest to complete and with his exit in Aniak every musher now knew his strategy - putting miles between his team and theirs before taking a long rest.

Mike Williams Jr. and team have been flying up the trail and were the first into Aniak Saturday. The hometown hero is running a nearly flawless race so far and chose to take the remaining mandatory rest for his team in Aniak. He's currently in the chase pack running third on the tracker, but is really in first as he is the furthest along the trail with all of his rest. It will be interesting to see how long Williams will rest in Kalskag before heading back onto the trail inbound.

Cody Strathe reached Kalskag nearly an hour behind Beals, with 2 hours of mandatory rest in the CP ahead of Strathe and his team of Squids. This puts both Beals and Strathe leaving within minutes of each other. Both teams have had their most recent Kuskos land them in third place (Strathe last year, Beals the year before). Cody won't have a lot of time to chill before other teams make it in. (As this blog is being typed Williams and Dyche came into the CP and left immediately after.)

Emily Robinson and Peter Kaiser should be next in and both have taken their mandatory rest. They are running close together. It's at least a four team race to the Tuluksak inbound checkpoint where every team must complete their final four hours of mandatory rest. Reports on the outbound trail said the trail was "punchy" due to the many "post holes" left by moose punching through the snow as they walk on the trail. Moose sightings have also been reported.

Never a dull moment on the Kusko!

2026 Two Rivers 100/200 musher roster

Like stated in earlier posts, this weekend is PACKED. The kick off to the weekend will be at 11am Friday with the 200 mile racers leaving first and having a ten minute "head start" before the 100 mile teams take off in pursuit. Well, not really pursuit. They aren't racing the 200 teams. 

Just like the roster, the club that runs the race is small but mighty. They are all heart and have done well to amp up their social media presence. You'll want to follow their Facebook page if possible, and they'll have trackers up and running. If you don't have multiple screens for this weekend... God bless you. Even with the extra screens it will be a challenge to juggle all the rosters, trackers, and other races.

Hopefully in future years the race schedules will balance out and we'll have more time for a more indepth look at this race, but you're really just reading for the rosters and how to find your favorite teams (and new teams) online.... bib numbers will have to come later but I am told that the roster is in start order.

200 Mile Roster

Bib	Musher	Kennel Name	Link	Link	Link
1	Sam Martin	17th Dog / Alaskan Husky Adventures	Website	Facebook
2	JJ Shelley	There & Back Again Sled Dogs	Website	Facebook	Instagram
3	Misha Wiljes	WW Kennel	Website	Facebook
4	Deke Naaktgeboren	Nautique Sky Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
5	Mille Porsild	Mille & Co	Website	Facebook	Instagram
6	Virag Racz	Mille & Co	Website	Facebook	Instagram
7	Abbey VandenBerg	Cloudberry Kennel		Facebook	Instagram
8	Jonah Bacon	Nautique Sky Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
9	Tyler Berger	Skookum Expeditions		Facebook
10	Richie Beattie	Wildthingz Dog Mushing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
11	Justin Olnes	ReRun Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
12	Annette Llanes	Honky Tonk Kennel		Facebook	Instagram
13	Isabelle Nicolier	Raven Clan Kennel	Website	Facebook
15	Michelle Phillips	Tagish Lake Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
16	Yann Vandercamp	Tagish Lake Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram

*Roster as of January 23, 2026 at 8:00am AKST.
**Bib #14 is omitted due to the actual bib being MIA.

100 Mile Roster

Bib	Musher	Kennel Name	Link	Link	Link
17	Mike Parker	Northern Whites Kennel	Website	Facebook	Instagram
18	Jaren Ulrich	Alaskan Husky Adventures	Website	Facebook	Instagram
20	Falk Huettmann
21	Hailey Pearson	Skookum Expeditions?		Facebook
22	Abby Klager	Trailbreaker Kennel	Website	Facebook
23	Shawn Goggins	ATAO Kennel	Website	Facebook	Bluesky

*Roster as of January 23, at 8:00am AKST.

**Bib #19 is omitted due to the actual bib being MIA.

**Many thanks to Melinda Shore (Mushing Tech) who helped me out with roster info.**

Are you going to tune into the race? Who are you cheering for? Comment with your thoughts and your favorite musher below!

This blog has always been a hobby and will continue to be - and this list is more for myself than anything - if you can spare a few dollars to help keep this blog running I wouldn't say no. Please do not feel obligated, but know that all support (in every form, not just financial) is greatly appreciated! Click here to "buy me a coffee".

2026 Knik 200 race preview

After a rough beginning to the season in South Central causing races to be canceled or postponed, the Knik 200 is able to run its rescheduled race. The traditional season opener had to push the start back several weeks to try and get some snow on the ground so that trails could be put in. After a deep freeze and finally a dumping (or two) of snow, the race is a GO for Saturday.

One of the big problems with postponing a race is that everyone's schedules get discombobulated. There's an almost unspoken rule of sorts between the races that keeps one major race per weekend in the winter. Unfortunately for the Knik (or any race) to postpone meant that they would have to either take from other races or lose teams to other races depending on how each kennel planned their season.

The Knik went from a full roster with a waitlist to now just fifteen teams are listed on the roster. Not a huge deal all things considered with competing with the very popular Kusko 300 set to take off Friday night, and the Two Rivers 100/200. This may be a good chance for newer kennels and b teams to really have a fantastic placement. It's always good to see the "new guys" do well.

The race has gotten lucky weather wise as this appears to be one of the weekends that the area will have normal winter temps for the teams. With highs in the upper teens and the lows forecasted to be just above 0. Perfect temps for the dogs, and for the bundled up spectators. There's no snow forecasted until possibly Monday, which most if not all teams should be finished will before the snow starts (unless it comes early, which hasn't really been the case this year).

With the small roster, it's anyone's game for the top placings, but there are still some well known names in the mix who are probably thought of at the favorites. We'll take a look at who might be the one's to watch, but really they're ALL worth paying attention to!

**Note Fantasy Mushing is only planning to run an Iditarod game this year, no other races, so no need to run over and create a team.**

Who to watch

Brenda Mackey - Let's not pick her just because of her name. While she does come from Champion bloodlines (as do the dogs) Brenda's no slouch when it comes to mushing dogs. While it's a good guess that Knik is being used to train up and evaluate her team ahead of the Iditarod, if things are going well it wouldn't be surprising to see Brenda let the team cut loose and burn up the trail in front of them.

Eddie Burke Jr - Eddie shared his team line up earlier this week and it looks like he's using this more as a training run for a lot of his younger team with this being their first race. Don't be surprised if he doesn't run a super competitive race, but there's something about Eddie that makes you not want to count him out ever.

Dave Turner - Dave's one of those mushers that if he's in the race, there's a good chance he'll be one of the ones to watch. After running in the Copper Basin the Knik should feel like a vacation (temp wise, anyway).

Hunter Keefe - Hunter's back! After having his season last year derail due to a broken leg in the Kusko last year, Keefe is back! It's unsure what Hunter's hoping to do here on the Knik, but he's a fan favorite and is always one of the fun ones to watch.

Robert Redington - It would feel wrong to not have at least one Redington listed as one to watch in the race dedicated to Robert's grandfather, right? It's also another return of sorts for Robert as he's been away from racing for a couple of years (though we did see him at the ceremonial start of the Iditarod this past year running a team to carry an Iditarider after a last minute WD by another musher).

AddieAnn Randall, Isaac Redington, and Talia Martens could all play spoilers with Randall and Redington most likely vying for top junior musher of the Knik. With Emily Robinson aged out of Junior mushing (and running the Kusko this weekend) it's wide open for juniors as to who will be the next top team.

Make sure to check out the full roster so you can cheer for everyone (go like/follow their socials while you're at it).

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. (And good luck to us all with how many races there are to keep track of!)

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.

GPS Tracker
What would we do without these little trackers that drive us crazy when they go haywire (I will always blame the aliens), and there's hope of trackers at this race, but at publishing time it has not been confirmed. Trackleaders is once again providing all armchair mushers a way to follow the race, you can catch all the tracker action here.

Social Media
The race is most active on Facebook. The race has not been active on Twitter in years. 

For live feeds it may be best to follow the official race page and hope for some feeds there. Kale Casey was supposed to cover the Copper Basin this year but had something come up that made him miss out. There's been no posts by race or Kale to say if he would be in Knik this weekend. If he does end up attending the Knik 200, he'll go live on Facebook!

Julia Redington is a photographer who is often at the race.

Schedule of Events

Friday, January 23, 2026
4:00pm-6:00pm Musher's Dinner and Bib Draw

Saturday, January 24, 2026
8:00am Mandatory Vet Check
11:00am Start

Sunday, January 25, 2026
6:00pm Award Banquet

What are your thoughts on this year's Knik 200? Who do you see taking the big prize? Who are you cheering for? Comment below!

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.  

2026 Knik 200 musher roster

After a dismal December where all South Central saw was rain and ice, the Knik 200 had to postpone its traditional date of the first weekend in January hoping that by the end of January the weather would have changed. And change it did. First there were weeks of flipping cold, record breaking low temps that had many wondering if they hadn't been transported to the Fairbanks area. Then the snow. Oh, the glorious snow.

That snow was threatened somewhat with a brief warm up with, yes, more rain, but snow returned just days later. And, so, we have the Knik 200 ready to go this weekend. Unfortunately the postponement had the Knik 200 competing for teams with the Kusko 300 and the Two Rivers 100/200 races. A robust roster went down to sixteen names according to the race's facebook page as of January 21. 

There are a couple of junior mushers as well as several first time racers on the new roster. Some fan favorites as well. All in all a diverse group of dog teams getting ready to head down the trails of Knik on Saturday. So let's get to what you came for, shall we?

**Note the Fantasy Mushing will not have a Knik 200 tab this year, just an Iditarod one.**

As always, the roster will be updated with bib numbers and start order after the bib draw on Friday.

Joe Redington Sr. is honorary bib #1.

Bib	Musher	Kennel	Link	Link	Link
2	Brenda Mackey	Mackey's Alaskan Distance Dogs	Website	Facebook	Instagram
3	Kevin Hansen	Hansen Kennel		Facebook	Instagram
4	Isaac Redington	Redington Racing		Facebook
5	Eddie Burke Jr.	Off the Rails Racing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
6	Sydnie Bahl	Dream a Dream Kennel	Website	Facebook
7	Baydon Ketts	Redington Racing?		Facebook	Instagram
8	AddieAnn Randall	Rock On Racing	Website	Facebook	Instagram
9	Josh Schlosser	Sled Dog Systems	Website	Facebook	Instagram
10	Robert Redington	Dogsled Alaska	Website	Facebook	Instagram
11	Talia Martens	49th State Sled Dogs	Website	Facebook	Instagram
12	William Baker	49th State Sled Dogs	Website	Facebook
13	Addy Pederson	Windchill Kennel		Facebook	Instagram
14	Dave Turner	Racing Chaos		Facebook	Instagram
15	Hunter Keefe	Redington Mush Alaska	Website	Facebook	Instagram
16	Austin Moore	444 Sled Dogs	Website	Facebook	Instagram
17	Marina McGourty	East Wind Mushing	Website	Facebook	Instagram

*Roster as of January 23 @ 8:00pm AKST.

Who do you think will take the whole thing? Who are you excited to cheer for? Comment below with your thoughts, cheers, tears, etc!

This blog has always been a hobby and will continue to be - and this list is more for myself than anything - if you can spare a few dollars to help keep this blog running I wouldn't say no. Please do not feel obligated, but know that all support (in every form, not just financial) is greatly appreciated! Click here to "buy me a coffee".