Baker and Mackey dual for the lead

John Baker arrives into Aniak

Photo by Dave Cannon

John Baker has been hanging with the Kuksokwim 300 leaders the entire race. Somewhere along the 30 miles from the turn around point at Napaimute and the second stop at the checkpoint in Napaimute he grabbed the lead from Lance Mackey. Mackey left Napaimute after only resting there for 2 minutes with a 46 minute lead. By the time they got back to Aniak, Baker, who only stopped at Napaimute for 1 minute, had practically reversed that spread arriving 39 minutes ahead of Mackey. Both chose to grab some rest again at Aniak with Baker stopping for 1 hour 44 minutes, and Mackey leaving at the same time only resting 1 hour 23 minutes. They both arrived in at the same time, 33 miles later at Kalskag, did their business, and left a few minutes later with Baker having a slim 2 minute lead. Mackey required a few extra minutes at that checkpoint to drop 2 dogs. He now has 8 on his team compared to 11 for Baker.

From here the trail runs to Tuluksak where a mandatory 4 hour layover is required. If the teams do not break until then, it will be a welcome break. In past years, teams have chosen to take about a 2 hour break on the return trip somewhere between Aniak and Kalskag. For these 2, the rest was cut short at Aniak, plus they are dealing with a longer course, so we'll see. After Tuluksak, the trail takes a different route then the outbound loop traveling to Kwethluk instead of Akiachak. There is a checkpoint at Kwethluk, so any sleep deprived musher who mistakenly misses that route will be disqualified.

Following Mackey out of Kalskag 43 minutes later is Martin Buser. The next 2 teams coming down the trail come from some impressive bloodlines. 22 year old Dallas Seavey currently running in 4th place is son of Iditarod and 3-time K300 champion Mitch Seavey. Mitch himself is the son of Dan Seavey who placed 3rd and 5th in the first 2 Iditarods. Following Dallas is 18 year old Quinn Iten. Quinn is the son of Ed Iten who has won the K300 race before and finished 2nd in the 2005 Iditarod. Both are scheduled to run the Iditarod next month, Dallas for the 4th time and Quinn for his first.

Mackey dealing with wind going out from Aniak Photo by Dave Cannon