Mushers Drawing; Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race

Live from the KYUK Television Studio, this is the 1988 Cuskakwim 300 sled dog race, and now here's your host, Richard Goldstein. Good evening, sports fans. Welcome to the drawing for positions for the 1988 Cuskakwim 300 sled dog races. This is our 9th. Can you believe it? 9th race. Tonight you're going to meet 32 mushers. I know that I say this every year, but this is perhaps our most competitive field. We have probably four or five mushers, any one of whom could win and several others who with any kind of luck might sneak in there. Before we meet the mushers, they're going

to come up. They're going to pick their starting positions. They're going to talk a bit at the camera. We're going to find a bit about them. Before we do that, however, I'd like to introduce our race officials who are going to help us out on the trail. First from Annie Ag back for his second year. Couldn't resist not coming down, Steve Bush. Where are you? Stand up, take a bow. Let everybody see you. Hey, thank you Steve. As one of the race judges again back for his second year by popular acclaim. Nelson Lexi from Bethel. Nelson. He's in the studio. One of our two judges, the other judges, also doubling as one of our vets is Dr. Tex Cody back for his umpteenth year. Where are you, Tex? But five years for you, I think. And the chief race vet this year will be Dr. Jim Wimpy from the Arctic Tundra Animal Clinic here in Beth, where are you, Jim? Thank you very much.

Okay. Before we go any further, I want to have a ask our long suffering and hardworking K-300 president, chairman of the board to come up and say a few words he's been doing this now for three years. He gets to retire after this year. Come on, down, boy. Well, it's really not a happy thing, but in the past few months, in the 1987 three people who have been very special to the Kuskow 300 and have been very supportive ever since it's beginning of past away. So in their memory, this year's race is dedicated to Eddie Hoffman, Chrissy Shance and Ruth Southern. And we hope that everybody has a good run. They've been very supportive and real helpful over the past few years. And so it's to them that we run this race. Thank you. Thanks, Dan. Alright, let's get right to it. We only have an hour and I'm sure you guys want to say a lot about your sponsors and about how wonderful

your teams are. First up, Bart, a goth look from a monarch. These mushers come up in the order in which they signed up. And let's have you stand over here, Bart, please. That's not right. Stand over here. Sorry. Try it again. Bart, a goth look from a monarch. He's a commercial fisherman, 45 years old. And you got started because your snogo kept on breaking. What was the problem there? Well, I was just getting tired of repairing it and frying some parts. So I decided to use my dogs. Up in a monarch, we don't hear about a lot of the teams from up there. Who do you mush against there? There's a couple of teams down there. I, I must against your dogs a couple of times. And I know there's, there's some people that are starting to get interested in musking. And I know there's about maybe 10 teams

have caught me, which is about 30 miles. Okay. Who are your sponsors? My sponsor for transportation is Mark Heiko. And I paid my own entry fee. Good. Pick a number right out of that head. Number 26 down towards the back of the pack. Thanks, Bart. Very much. Dee Dee John Rowe, come on up here. Dee Dee John Rowe, many time mushroom of this race. Best finish was six the couple of years ago. You had a tent last year. This is an extremely hot field with a, with a fast track. How are you going to improve on six plays? Well, I don't know, but that's my goal. When you, when you think about it and you dream about winning this race, how do you beat Mackie, Myron, Susan, et cetera? Well, you know, everything's got to go right. This race track is fast enough now. And there's enough good drivers in

the race. You know, I expect to see a sprint for the finish line. There's been one several years in a row. So it's going to have to be done with no mistakes. Got enough miles. Hope so. Pick a number. And then tell us your sponsors. Sure. Number 31. 31 is almost at the end. Probably the last team out, but that's all right. And I'm sponsored by Camp Pollucci Fisheries that operates here in town, also by Dr. Bobsepp, Baron Sanibel Clinic, and the Mad Hatter in Anchorage. What's that? It's a hat chop. Great. Thanks. I'm looking at Dee Dee. Thanks, Ricky. Next up, Francois Verigas, friends by way of Dawson City, Yukon territory. Second time in this race, Francois, good to see you again. Thanks for coming back. Did you tell me that? Yeah. I told you, I will be right. Great. You have the distinction of being the only person in this race who's being sponsored by a professor. Yeah, I'm still by Professor Verigas from France. He was here a couple of months ago in Gabby. How

did you get connected with him? Oh, several years ago, we're working on the same project and this guy know about the dog nutrition and that's how we started together. Are you still using the one and only feed? Yeah, we are still working on that with supplement. No, the same stuff that people can buy now. One feed though, four of the dogs. Yeah. All right, and we responded. Oh, Quebec, Fudenfield, Fudenfield, and Pita and Leonardo Jenkins and Leonardo from Dawson City. Okay. Can I take a number? Yes, please. 17. 17 for Francois Verigas of Dawson City, Yukon territory. Peter Galila, are you here? Peter. Come. Of Actiac, one of two Actiac mushers is our first of nine rookies this year. Peter says you're you list your occupation as a musher. Is that a full-time job? Yeah, it is now dogs from who, from Actiac, from some

or mines, some are, well, it's from the breed up in Actiac. I got a whole bunch of them that I got from our breed. No, I got a couple of them, a couple of dogs from them that breed. Okay. There's lots of prizes for the rookie of the year. Are you shooting for that? I'm going for everything, I guess. Go for it. You got ten dogs. Ten dogs might be a little thin, but we'll see. Pick a number to see your position. 18 for Peter Galila of Actiac. That's it. Head on over. Please. I'd like to thank my sponsors. The cutting edge for buyers and the Actiac Native community. My host, Smosh and Melina Owen and my grandmother for all the help that she gave to me to make this race possible.

Great. Thank you, Peter. Next up, another rookie Leslie Monk from England. This is our second foreign ferner. Leslie, thanks for coming to our race all this way. It says here that you've sprint raced in England. Come on. Yeah, we have sprint races. We only have two scheduled snow races, but the rest of the country. We'll cut something. What part of England is that done in? It's done all over the country, from Scotland down to the south of England. What breed? Siberian Husky. From England. There was something else. One of your sponsors, Barclays Bank. Would it be great to be sponsored by Barclays Bank or City Corp? They might regret having sponsored me out of it. Good luck. Good luck. Hang on. You have quite a list of responses from many countries.

Quaker lats from Germany. Mountain equipment. Barclays Bank, British Airways, Denmark, all from England. Timberland, Europe, Smith & Wesson, USA. I'd like to thank my coach, Harry Silverland, and Joy and Mike Shants from here in Bethlehem. What is that first group do that people? Quaker lats. Dog food. Dog food. German dog food. Chicken number. Number 16 in the middle of the pack. Leslie Monk. Thanks for a million good luck to you. Next up, Harry. Harry Silverland. In this race a couple times, he has a fourth and a fifth to show for it. Last year he came with his entire candle, 12 good dogs. Bigger this year. I got a few more dogs this year. From where? Where did I get the dogs? Yeah. Well, I got them. I'm trying to protect. Okay? Any particular breed or? No. We're not dogs. Just dogs. Did you race the cold foot? Yes, I did. Okay. I think you are the

only mushroom here. Correct me any of you folks if I'm wrong. Let's race the cold foot, the quest, get dinner out, and this race. You want to draw a quick comparison. Quick. No, I can't do that. No. I can't even run them all through my mind at the same time. It's just bottles. If you had your draw, which would you run? Right here. Good boy. If you want to thank your sponsors, go ahead. Harry's got a list of sponsors. I'd like to thank Shovelhead at Drawlocks in Fairbanks, Kenroyd dispersions from England, National Dog Food, close-pot feeds in Fairbanks and Deal Shopping Center and Delta Junction. Okay. Pick a number. We still have all of the first 10. Yes, there are those teens work that were kind of on top. What's that? Number one. Number one. All right. Before the next mushroom comes up, I want to take a very quick break and remind you all that there's a mushroom's ball happening Saturday night. It's called

The Tucks and Tails Mushes Ball. Tickets can be bought at the door at the Joe Lomag building down at the old AC building on the riverfront. At the same time, there's a fireworks live music and my informants tell me that there's several kegs of you know what. So be sure and come on down to that one. You'll have a good time. Quickly, quickly, they say, next. Moving right along. Harvey D'Manel is not here. Harvey D'Manel is here. Come on up your Harvey. We missed you with the drawing. From Actiac 29 years old, Williams family Kennell's dogs. Who are your sponsors, Harvey? I'm sponsoring myself this year. I'd like to thank a couple of people that have put in their share into my team John Philip from Actiac and Gregory Lake also. You finished 14th last year

looking for any improvement? Yeah. I think we're going to be in the top this year. Top, how many? Top 10. Top 10, you heard it here first. Okay, Harvey, pick a number. See how you do. 23 for Harvey D'Manel of Actiac. Next up is Myron. He's won this race a couple times. He's won a lot of races. And I'm most interested in Myron. I've been told that they use most of Pickier a number first. Oh, do that first. Number 11 for Myron. Hold on to that one. You predict yourself to win of course. Well, I plan to, but humbly. Okay. Well, I'm not going to pick anybody else, but correct. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody else did, but I'm not going to pick them. All right. The track is very fast. How about another record? Well, I don't think the track right now is set up for

another record because the ice actually slows down most dogs mine. Anyway, they go a little slower than they do when the track is good snow. The weather doesn't sound like it's going to call for a new record. And besides, we'd rather finish in daylight so that everybody can come out and see it. Sure. The record was 44.24, I think. And I got to pick it at your at your flight at your pick the winner ticket. And it said 630, which would knock an hour off. Well, that's the goal, of course. I'd like to do that, but the way it's shaping up, I would say it's more like 9.30, 10, Saturday morning. Look for you then. You sponsor. I'm sponsored by, uh, Inksman Law office, an old friendly dog farm. One stop shopping on 7th Avenue. You bet. That's it. Thanks, my very much. Good luck to you. Next up, uh, rookie buddy of mine from Cal Skag put me up. Took a care of me. He had Loreed Ralph Steve's Ralph said, teacher up there. Pick a number first rough and we'll go from there.

Number 28 way at the back of the pack. That's just fine, Richie. I got another one. I'm going to put it behind you. I don't know what it is. Wow, that was number nine. I, uh, you cheated. I caught a glimpse. Uh, you wanted two cuspuck school teachers. How does a, how does a teacher, family, man, lesson plans, etc., find a time to train dogs? Um, late at night, you get back at 11.30, 12 o'clock. Um, it takes three years to build up enough personal time to be here. That's, it takes a while. Tough game. But it's a lot of fun. It's better than sitting around my house at night. All right, and your sponsors. Yeah, my, um, mother-in-law and father-in-law, Alex and Katrina allericious, uh, paid my entry fee from Cal Skag. Um, Ryan Air, uh, they're flying me home when, uh, everything's over. Um, um, um, being put up here by, uh, Dan LaRue, which, uh, is really giving me, uh, his whole house and his car, his life. And I, I do want to mention before I

go that, uh, at Cal Skag this year, um, for the second time, it was about four years ago, they ran a cuscular through had a cafe. And, um, they're running again this year and all the proceeds that they learn, uh, cuscular schoolers, because a lot of them used to facilities. And, uh, all the money they earn is going towards four H and for the Elders lunch program, which where we feed people all with 60 years old every day at school. So shop at the, at the, so for all you raised officials and veteran, uh, veterinarians and, uh, people are just watching race, we should have stopped at the cuscular cafe at the elementary school at Cal Skag. Ralph, thanks Emile. Thanks Emile. Good luck. What else? That's it. Goodbye, buddy. Next, JR Stone is another rookie, 41 years old from Chivac. Come on up, JR. Pick a number. Number 27, that's most of the last numbers in the, the pack. You're from Chivac, I'm wondering, what's the mushy like in Chivac? Uh, doesn't get boring, no trees and all that flat. Well, for one, you can go in the, in the direction you want. Right. You can go and choose your own

trail. I can go north, south, west, east. No problem. No problem. Follow the river. Go up, go with the mountain. What are you doing, Chivac? I, uh, wanna store out there and been managing it for, uh, 12 years and, uh, that's the store that, uh, paid mine to fee and, uh, also, uh, without, uh, friendship air. I wouldn't have been here. They gave me an air support, which I really needed. What's really desperate for. I really appreciate them. And also, uh, there are a couple of, uh, natives, uh, or local out there that, uh, went out fishing for quite, for me, which I didn't know of. One of them is Sparkpakowski. He should be, uh, he's just about everybody's, uh, every master's buddy. Also, uh, Nick time senior from Nukta. He went out, uh, fishing for me as well too. And, um, uh, I shouldn't have any problem having, uh, good snacks for my dogs. Thanks, you are very much.

Good luck to you. Okay. Thank you. Next up, Jeff King from Denali National Park, 31 years old. He's running all four Yukon quest, finishing second, third, fourth, and fifth. I got somebody who's obviously got a lot of experience and is a possible contender. Well, let's see. I'm rookie. Number four number four is a good number. Uh, running any races, uh, this fast. No, I'm sure I haven't. That sounds like the fastest race. I know of certainly for the distance. How do you dogs that are used to a slower quest pace? How will they match up here? They all stay at home. Great. Who are your sponsors? Um, well, the biggest help of all right off the bat besides all of our sponsors that, uh, one of the two companies that helped out their support, Alaska Airlines. I can't believe the service we got, uh, an anchorage. And once we got here,

it's been fantastic. And the very big and continued help to the 300. Yeah, I can, I could highly believe it. Uh, and second, isn't a usual sponsor, but, uh, I'm in this up to here with Ed Salter, half the dogs I'll be running are Ed Salters from Manley. And the other half are mine. And, uh, we figured we had to put them together to keep up with these guys. My biggest sponsor in Fairbanks, H&W Feed Company, this year, I have a new sponsor, a fabulous product. I really strongly endorse this ultra energy. It's a food supplement product. I'm sure you're going to all be here in more about it. And IMS, uh, you can know about plus one and experimental dog feed, uh, with IMS. And it's working out great. You get in on that too. Yeah, it's great. I also wanted to thank Rick Hanson here in Bethel among all the people. Everybody in Bethel's been great, but we've just had fantastic hospitality. Good luck to you. Thank you. Good race. Next up is, uh, Karen Schmidt,

a rookie from Fairbanks. She's a vet. I don't know anything about except she's got fabulous leggings on it. Where'd you get those? Yeah. Number number five for Karen Schmidt. Uh, no information Karen. Tell me about yourself. Well, I'm a vet. Nearing in Fairbanks. I've run the Yukon quest and coldfoot twice. This is by far the fastest race I've ever run in. How'd you do in those? Finished. Did all right. We got there. So I was happy with that. Stand over here. Stand over here. All right. And your sponsors are. Um, well, Val Stuvi's helped me out a lot in Fairbanks by letting me go and take the time off of work to train and be here. And, uh, I really want to thank Nancy and Fran for putting us up and putting up with us. Okay. That's it. That's it. That's it. Uh, uh, I think you're one of nine rookies. Any chance you're going to stick in for a rookie of the year? I don't think I'm eligible if I've won't run a quest, am I? I think you're right. She is eligible. I am. I don't think she is either. I don't think I am.

Good luck to you. Thanks. Bye bye. Over this way. Next up is a buck Williams, another rookie from King Salmon. On his mushroom profile, Buck says he has the least amount of experience at a year. And he's got 1,600 miles of training on his dog. How do you account for that? Uh, war and trap line from way to where? Uh, well, I had to cut it down because we lost lack of snow. I run from King Salmon up in a sugar loaf mountains and back again. And what kind of a round trip is it? Uh, that depends. If I stay up or not, depends how much snow is on the ground, but it's anywhere from 25 miles to first cabin to 50 if I round trip. Okay. You sponsor our Bristol Bay contractor from King Salmon, Henry's quick stop, and Eddie's fireplace and, uh, the snuck gift shop. Okay. And pick a number. That's what we're up here for. Number 10, Buck Williams from King Salmon. Okay. Before the next mushroom comes up,

I want it. Sorry. For the next mushroom comes up, I want to mention, uh, the mushroom's banquet, which is Sunday night, 630 at the Killbook Armory. The mushrooms get their prizes. We hear, uh, tales of the trail, uh, the calendars get auctioned off and, uh, it's a fine time. The, it's being underwritten this year by, uh, many, many people, uh, last guidelines and AC supplying the food. It's going to be terrific. Please come help support the K-300. Next up, Sam Smith, come on up here, Sam from Bethel. Sam Smith is finished. Pick a number first. Go ahead. All right. I'm about three. Oh, no. 25. 25 for Sam Smith. Uh, hold, hold on to that. You've finished first year's scratch and you finished 27th and then 17th and this year.

We're not saying till it's all done. What would you suspect? Oh, we're going to come in there a little higher than last year. High in 17th. These guys over here is not going to be as high as some people. Pretty tough crayon. Very tough. Very tough. Just in the world. Uh, let's see. Got a thousand miles on your team and your self-sponsored? Yeah, I'm sponsoring myself unemployed at this time, but sponsoring myself. Kind of wanted to do what you say. How'd you do with, uh, no word? Oh, well, it's hard to work in them bags too. It's kind of an impossibility. No kidding. Uh, no, no one else's sponsored to, uh, I mentioned. Oh, yeah, I remember not spending great help. She's bad, bad food and help me train bags. Oh, you're wrong. And of course, actually, I guess my wife, I could say is my sponsor, you know, I better mention her as I'd be in big trouble. Sam, thanks an awful lot. All right. All right. But like Richard Burmeister is the 15th mushroom to sign up from Flag Dog candles. He's 42. Also someone who's run a lot of races. Richard pick, pick a number.

Two. Number two goes right in back of how he's Sutherland. Oh, here, right now, everybody. You've run, uh, I did it. I'd run the Alaska skip stage. No sweepstakes, mail trail. And now this one. Yep. What would you, uh, uh, what was your, uh, hardest race? I'm looking forward to this one here. It's, uh, it seems to be challenging. This one down here. I wanted to ask, uh, someone who's, uh, raced a lot around the state. What other mushers think of the K 300? I wouldn't be if I wasn't extremely impressed by it. And I think everybody I've talked to her is, but great. It's so nice of you to say so. And your sponsors, nice sponsors are Alaska commercial known Jim's janitorial win for mining Johnson brisk Alaska girl Michelle Brennan, Dr. Really my wife for making my pocket Alaska Airlines for getting me down here and back again. And then these shows for my putting me up here.

Okay. Ryan Parker for helping me with the dogs and keeping them over at his house. And Gary McQueen, McQueen, McQueen, McQueen. Gary McQueen, McQueen. Yeah. Okay. He's sorry about that Gary. Uh, for, uh, driving me all over the place and helping me around town. Good, good luck to you. Thank you. Next up is Carl Simon of, uh, what, one more known musher. Call you here. He's 26. He's a rookie. 14 dogs, 13 of them are veterans, veterans of rare. Uh, cusco 300 and, uh, their home cots of your race. And who's team? Uh, me and Ron Parker's. These are Ron's. Okay. This is this is important for the, uh, Calcutta to know whether where these dogs come from. Uh, most of them came from down here. Let's go. Okay. And, uh, they're all, they're all veterans. Good. Want to pick a number? Yeah. Good luck. Number seven. Number seven and your sponsor's car.

Uh, let's do it. Just myself. I'm fine. All right. Good luck to you. They deal of any act, 37. Another cuspuck school district teacher. How do you guys manage? Pick a number. They make your workups there? Yeah, we work a lot. 30, 30 for the day do it. Talk a little bit about getting in and of any act at night, which which you noted was a hard thing to do during training. Well, there's vehicles and stuff for those trucks and things like that that, uh, drive around quite frequently it from six p.m. until eight p.m. when I usually, if I'm running a night, which is when I depart and you have to have a bright lamp and you just, it's kind of scares you. Should any of the mushrooms be, uh, considered about that going to any at the night? Oh, no, not, not when the 300 comes through.

I'm sure that, uh, people support the race throughout out. They'll be out real early in the morning. Um, probably three, four. I'm sad, uh, Thursday night at Friday morning to, uh, you know, bring the first teams in. Okay, sponsors. Um, there were juice, I don't know. I think the were jerks keys and Bethel for, uh, put me up. Ryan Airlines out of Aniac, uh, Gene, Esther, Dan Branch, and then various families up there that you lose the Robinettes and the waltzons. Did it? Good luck to you. Thanks. Next up is Roger Nordlum, a minor. What do you mind, Roger? Oh, I tried gold. You try? Yeah. With any success? Oh, little, a little here's a layer. 15. Number 15. All right. Talk a little bit about you, you've been in lots of races. What does it mean to be, uh, to pick a number in the middle of the pack rather than one or two or 31, better than 32, Dee Dee. Uh, that's fine. No, uh, uh, troubles passing with your squad. Nah. Nah. No, this is just fine. I was worried about 32. All right.

Your sponsors are Roger. I'm self-sponsored. But I like to thank Gary Volkman and his family for putting this up. I really appreciate that. Good luck to you. Thank you. Doug Dolan, come on up here. Doug's a lawyer in town. Four time he's, uh, mushed about to say rushed. Stan over here a little more, Doug. Uh, start with 13 to 15 dogs. Talk about your team. Uh, several of them are young and I don't expect to be going too fast. Uh, we've heard that before. Uh, I just hope to get around and be back maybe eight o'clock Saturday night. That would be not an improvement on, on, on your last outing. Uh, it, not depends on depends on how you count it. But, uh, it's about when I finish then. Okay, then you finished, uh, what was it, 16th this year? Uh, 22nd. 22nd. You need to pick a number? Uh, you can pick, okay. First one. Put them both back. Try again.

Number 32 lasted the pack for Doug Dolan. Hang on to it. Good luck, Doug. Joe Garnie, come on up here. Joe Garnie, it's set on his mushroom profile. He had 1,700 miles on his dogs. Is that true? True enough. True enough. Uh, number 14. Let me ask you the same question. I asked, uh, Roger, being in the middle of the pack on that such a short race. That's the best number of good, grew in all of you in all my racing. Really? No. No. Really? All right. Uh, it says on your mushroom profile, you're going to start with 18 dogs, 13 of them. You classify as rookies. Yeah, they've never ever been in a race. What do you expect from them? Good. How good? Well, good enough to make a minute. Make him earn it. All right. Who, who your sponsor is Joe? Well,

I got anchor tavern of Norman. Susan, when you get paid off from my dealer, uh, anchor tavern is a good place to spend it. Uh, and I got the straight force command from here in Bethel, who I haven't met yet, or personally thanked. So, and keeps mice in Norman. It wasn't for Andy. Anxeman here. I'd be sleeping in the barn, so I got to thank him and good gear. Good. Thank you, Joe. Next up is John McDonald, my boss. Come on up here, boss. Pick a number first. No, no, no, no. You got two there. We have to do something with these, uh, chips better preparation. There we go. Eight. Number eight for John McDonald. Uh, we were hoping with all your, uh, TV experience to put a mini cam on your head. What do you think? No. Not this year. No. Uh, give me an expectation. Uh, hope for finishing. Well, I'd like to break into the money this time. That, that's my hope. Otherwise, what happens?

Well, uh, we won't go. We won't go into that. All right. And your sponsor is John. Um, Kent and Doreen and Cody and Mackenzie Sumpler and Mike Hoffman for financial support. And Beverly Hoffman, my wife and Colin, uh, for everything putting up with me and doing all kinds of stuff at home and all of Bev's brothers and family are going to help, you know, handle and all that the line. And that's about it. Thanks a lot. Good luck. Thank you. Not come dead. All right. One more thing that I like to mention. The race doesn't go on without two groups of people that are extremely important. The sponsors who put up, uh, money and in kind support and our volunteers who work to start line the finish line, the banquet. They're all over the place all up and down the river. We owe them the race really without them. Essentially, we could, uh, fold up our tents and the disappear into the night. All right. The next mushroom. Tom lap of Chivac, come on up here, Tom. Second go around for you,

I think. Pick a number first. We were 18th last year. Number three, uh, an improvement upon last year. Is it in the offing? Well, last year. Last year, I had young dog. This year, I got older dogs, but, uh, my training wasn't what I would have liked to have. But, uh, we'll see what happens. Hard to train in that Chivac, huh? Well, sometimes the weather is really hard to put up with this year. We had really good trail though. So we did pretty good. You're one of many mushrooms around the area that has some of Myron's breed. How's it working out for you? Pretty good. I've, uh, had very good luck with Myron's dogs. They always outperform mine. Give you a pick. You did number three and now you need to name your sponsors. Okay. I want to thank EIA helicopters for bringing me in again. They've, uh, this is the second year in a row, and I really appreciate the air support. If it wasn't for that, I'd probably have to

mush in and who knows I might not be here yet. You don't want to do that. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Good luck to you. Steve Chamberman of Antioch is the next mushroom up here. Another teacher that's come from Down River to try his luck at the K-300. Pick a number, Steve. Don't look. Don't look. Come on. Okay. Number nine. Is that it? Number nine. Okay. Name your sponsors and I'll, uh, ask you a question or two. Okay. Sponsors, uh, friendship, air, helping an act, gave me lots of help getting my food down and flying my dogs down, which was a big chore. And Hermann's also helped with, uh, getting my food drop stuff. Is that it? Okay. You had somebody help you out a lot. It's Billy Eisenbart. Uh, how was this, uh, training regimen? Uh, seemed like it was pretty good. You've had a steady improvement. You finished eighth last year, right? Yeah. And, uh, improving every year. So this year, still trying,

still trying. You said that you, uh, you got into mushy one dog at a time. What does that mean? Small liters? Yeah. It took me a long time to get started. All right. Well, good luck to you. Okay. That's Steve Chamberlain of Antioch. Next up, another rookie local, mushroom Dan Johnson of Bethel. You hear Dan? Here. Come on up here. Pick a number. One number only number 13 is a good number. Tell us your sponsors. I'm sponsored by my business top dog feed. You're in Bethel. Okay. Full line of dog products and mushing supplies. Okay. Did it? That's it? Sponsors. All right. Uh, let's see. You're going to start with 12. I'm intrigued by the fact that none of them have any experience you wrote. We're a team of rookies. Well, not quite. You have, uh, yourself, uh, have, have run a couple, a couple races. Ah, shorter mid-distance races, more like sprint races. So this is really putting us to the test,

for sure, uh, and the strategy. I'm going to try to get behind a fast team and draft. Smart. Dan Johnson. Thanks a lot. Ron Brennan. Come on up here. Another Bethel musher. Pediatrician. Pick a number. Good luck. Number 12. Not bad. Not bad. Not bad. Not bad number. Sponsors? Betsy blasting him and Noah Colveyak for some wonderful dogs. And let's see. Joe and Charlotte to native store, Bill at native store, and JR for his late season health year. You had your best year last year, 11. Uh, would you like to assess a guess on where you're going to wind up this year? What? Rather not to worse rather do better. Yeah. It's such a hard field and there are so many good teams out there. A lot of it's how healthy your dogs are and whether you waste time. I'm making mistakes, but I'd really like to improve.

Last year's field, I don't feel was quite as competitive as this. No, this is just stacked the first 15. It's going to be scrambled for the first 15. Uh-huh. You're going to be in there. Yeah. Good luck. Thanks, Ron. Very much. All right. Next we have Rick Mackie. Wins this. Wins that. Comes out here. Wins. Wins that I did a ride. It's boring. Pick a number. Number 20. You got two there again. Two. That was number six on the other side. Oh, no. I did it to the other guys too. Oh, 24. Is he dis-improved? Dis-improved. All right. Uh, I'm interested in the fact that you have two dog food sponsors. Pedrie dog food in Calcan. Let me explain that. It's pedigree is the particular brand that it says on the cans. It's made by the Calcan company. Yeah. I thought it was two different dog foods and

when one calls and asks you what the feed and you say this and the other calls. But in fact, you feed Iams and so it doesn't really matter. Well, I feed this pedigree. Um, it's a new meat in the can. It's um, it works. We'll see how good it works. You're feeding this only, of course. Well, of course, I, you know, I'll never in a white fish and all that meat supplements. But as far as commercial dog foods, I, you know, I feed this can food and then I feed some of the dry mealtime too. It's um, you know, it's all made by the same outfit, the Calcan company. The past two times you've run, come over here. Past two times you've run, uh, neither Susan nor Myron were in the field when you, when you won. This year, they're both here and where does Rick Mackey fit into the picture? Well, I'll try to keep up with them. Um, we'll see what happens. Um, I don't know. Somebody said today, this here's a lot of competition. I said, yeah, but you only get around there so quick. There's just, um, more of us that will get around there that quick. So it might be, you know, a photo finish. I could surely see that maybe four or five people, um, within 30 minutes.

I would think that that's uh, probably right. Rick Mackey, thanks a lot. Good luck. Did you name your sponsors? Just, um, Calcan company. Great. Thanks a lot. All right. Two plugs for the Calcan. Uh, buddy pelter from Kaliganick, a rookie. Come on up, baby, Bobby. Pick a number. See how you do. Number six is a good number for, for Bobby pelter. Um, it says on your mushroom profile, you got some dogs from Gus Chuck. Now, he's got a good squad. Yeah. The orange viewers are going to get rid of it. Two crumbs. Is that a good idea? I don't know. I hope I make it to them. Yeah. We usually get Gus and Blanca from, uh, from your, uh, part of the state. What's the story? And then why aren't they here? Any ideas? I don't want to do some sprint racing over in, uh, don't have a area. Okay. And, uh, you've got 11 dogs any chance. Do you think for rookie of the year? The much coveted price. I either know

I'm just going to try to finish the race. Look in the finish. Bobby pelter, thanks a lot. Yeah. Sponsors. I'd like to think Gus Chuckner for, uh, let me use his lay and run cautionally for letting me use his, uh, cooler and Herman Nelson for, uh, given we, uh, had lights and gloves and stuff. Great. Thanks a lot. Good luck. Hold on to that. Give it to those folks. Okay. So firm is the next mushroom. 28th mushroom to sign up. Has a couple of thirds in this race. Soop pick a number. See how you do it. Still some good ones left over. 22. Not so hard. Being, uh, towards the rear, is that going to affect your, uh, your teams outlook? No, I don't think so. Okay. How do you improve on a third place? How do you break into the first or, uh, or, uh,

second slot? Come in, second or first, I guess. Sounds right. Uh, who are sponsors? Um, I've got several this year. I'm not self sponsored. I've got Barring Si animal clinic, Bobsept club, Paris of Anchorage, fly by nightclub of Anchorage, and Cook inlet tub and tug and barge of Anchorage. Okay, racing in any other races this year. Um, I don't know yet. I'm just kind of playing it by year. Maybe I did run. No, no, I did run. Okay. Thanks a lot. Sue Furman. Next up is, uh, a lawyer, one of, I think three lawyers in this year's race. We always kind of, it's a very kind of intelligent race. We, uh, attract a good clientele. Dave Monson, come on up here. First time he's been out here, so we're going to meet, Dave Monson, pick a number. Okay. That's 21, middling number. Tell us who your sponsors are. Well, I'm sponsored by, uh, the Westmark

Hotels, Linden Transport, uh, Purina Pearl Plan, which is a dog food. Uh, I'd like to thank, uh, the handlers that are home taking care of the dogs. I'd like to thank Fran and Nancy Rich, who are here in Bethel taking care of us. I'd like to thank all the people of Bethel have been really kind to us helping us with getting our dogs here and there from the airport and driving us around. And the Cusco 300 committee for, for putting on this event. Where, where a heck of a group, you're a heck of a group, and if it wasn't for you guys, we wouldn't have anything to do. Really? Uh, you've raised both the quest and the idea to rod. This is, of course, a much faster, it's kind of a split race. Uh, tell us about your, uh, your thinking. Well, I, I guess if you want to do well on this, you can't unpack your sleeping bag. So, uh, I'll just be trying to scoot around the track and keep up with the other people that are, that are setting the pace, uh, get, uh, you know, in these type of races, I try not to sit on real expectations. So, uh, you know, I'm just hoping, uh, you know, in my group

to be the top, uh, lawyer finisher. Top lawyer fishy. That means, uh, my own, and then bug, are gonna eat your, your snow. You could say that. Okay. Uh, um, what has your partner warned you about this race? Uh, keep your eyes open, watch the jails. Good advice. Anything else? Uh, no, I, uh, just, uh, Sam, real excited about it's my first time out here and, uh, I'm really looking forward to it. Susan says you have a big, fast team. Big fat team, you say? No, no, no. She said it was fast. No, I think they're pretty good. Pretty good. All right. We're gonna look for, uh, Dave Monson to do well. Thank you. Good luck. Susan, come on up here. She's the next mushroom. Two time I did our, uh, back-to-back winner. Pick a number. This, some might be some good ones left. Oh, here's three. Okay. Don't worry about it. 19. 19. That was about being 19. There's a good bed having to pass, uh, so many teams. No, it's real good. I'm, I'm with a 32

mushroom. You can't go too wrong. So, and especially with double starts, there's not enough time difference between us to make a big difference. And I've never had any trouble out here passing the teams. It's, you know, you're on the river and you got plenty of room and everybody's real courteous. Oh, no, it doesn't bother me. Okay. Uh, hard question. You've had, uh, several, several chances out here and, uh, coming second three times, uh, this time, however, however, we'll see in a couple days. We'll know the answer to that. Uh, who's got granite? Uh, he's back at home. I didn't bring granite. Oh, no. Uh, we left most of, uh, the dogs that really didn't need to be tested for either I did or I didn't quest at home and brought a team of a lot of young dogs. We've got, I think three dogs that have been to Bethel before between the two of us and that's it. So it's here. There's a lot of young new dogs, but some of them have run either I did or got a quest. They're not all rookies to racing, but they're rookies to Bethel. Okay. For, for those of us who, who don't know

about granted, tell what the kind of a dog this is. Well, he's a, he's a pretty good leader. I mean, he's led me into gnome along with, uh, two other dogs. First year with spoons and second year with her brother, Maddie, Maddie is down here. Okay. What does it take to make a very special lead dog? What kind of qualities do I, are you looking for? Well, each of my great lead dogs have been very different. Granite's abilities are, um, speed and he loves racing. Um, is he hardheaded like, like his name? Yes. He's very stubborn. Yeah, but he's a great dog and we love each other. Great. How soon, uh, after a puppy started to train, can't, can you spot the, the new leader? I tried to sell Granite for as little as $250 for the first three years of his life. And, um, nobody would buy him because I told him all his faults and they'd say, I don't want to dog without

many faults. And so nobody was taking him. I got mad. I said, I'm going to make this into a good leader and show everybody. And I guess I did that. Is there anybody in, uh, this room now who's, who's, uh, who, who was one of those people? No, um, probably the most well known of him was Ed for Ann and the back of his leg was pretty sore after he kicked himself a lot. Okay, responses. Uh, my sponsors are, uh, Purina Proplan, allied fibers, Linden transport and Fran and Nancy Ritz are putting me up again here, along with David and Karen and they're doing just a bang up job of taking care of all of us and all the dogs and all the troubles that we can cause. Been out on the trail today. Sure did. Went out and, uh, looked like that. Just like Bethel Susan but you're good luck. Thanks a lot. Willy Fitka, you hear Willy, come on up here. From the racing fitgers of the Yukon, Charlie Steve Willy, the whole gang, pick a number Willy. Two in there. Only two left. 20 number 24 Willy Fitka. Um,

he had a great race last year. You were seventh looking to improve that mark. Yeah, but some little faster dogs from who John Riley. John Riley has a very good reputation in this area for fast dogs. I think Myron has a couple of John Riley dogs. How about any of Charlie's dogs? No, he didn't get enough training into, uh, let me take any dogs over. We were wondering why, uh, why he didn't show up just not enough training. Yeah. York, you're more of a, uh, spin racer from up on the, uh, on the, you can, you run the 90 mile up there and you do well at it. Well, that's what I did first, but I found out, uh, some of the dogs get older. They could go farther. So you've entered this one now for a couple of years in a row, huh? Yeah. Okay. Uh, let's see what else. He went the low. Well, you, you also kind of a middle distance one, the lower Yukon 150 and 86 and second in 85 and 87, got your dogs

from your brother Leo. You mean Leo's got the, but the best dogs in the family? Yeah, Leo and Charlie both worked with dogs and got Leo's out of him. Okay. And your sponsors, I got, uh, Nakamura and the show shoots. They're a fish buyer out there, mess cool, kink, the village corporation, city of Marshall and all season variety and Richard Westall here putting me up. Richard Westall's putting you up. Yeah. Okay. Uh, will he fit a good luck? You pick number 20. Thanks a lot. Last mushroom is Willie Fields from Fort Yukon. You get to pick the last one. Number 29 is toward the end of the pack. Uh, you're a rookie. Standover here, Willie. Been the best for before? Uh, this is fall. It has to check out the, uh,

the dog racing scene. Uh, I took some dogs to a nation up in the cricket. You're Nathan Underwood's uncle and he's helped you train this year. Uh, he's been doing on the polar training and I've been a home reason. Trying to build a new house and stuff. Okay. Uh, where's Nathan been the training? Uh, cricket cricket. And when did you actually take possession of the team? Uh, just last week. So you've had not a lot of experience with them. Well, all in dogs, no me. Oh, oh, I see. They're, they're your own dogs, but Nathan has been the training of him. Okay. Uh, who are your sponsors? Uh, Red Devil Outpost, friendship air, Fort Yukon elderly, Fort Yukon dog mushers, Tommy Tom, cricket cricket, Nathan and Jareen Underwood, Melvin and Perth Underwood, and the city of Fort Yukon. Okay. Willie, good luck to you. All right. That's the last musher. Uh, we still have a little time left. I'd like to remind you of the several, uh,

Cusquikwim 300 related events. First of all, uh, first one would be probably, we're over here. First one's going to be the, uh, the start. And that's Thursday, 12 o'clock at the bowling alley. If you haven't seen a mass, a, uh, uh, the start of a major dog race, you're, you're really missing something. Uh, you can hardly hear yourself think, but that's part of the fun. After that, uh, Saturday night, there's the mushers ball, the tucks and tails ball that's being sponsored, not only by the K-300, but also by the Bethel Council on the Arts. All proceeds go to the 300 and, uh, Council on the Arts who provides us with a, a whole host of, uh, of entertainment throughout the winter season. Uh, my understanding was that the, the theme of the ball was come dressed as your favorite musher, but I'm not sure that's the same theme as, as, as now. Uh, it's

also, uh, been booted about as being a formal affair. So if you got, if you got a, uh, tuxedo, be sure to wear it. The, uh, Edison barker fever will provide the live music. And, uh, as I said, there'll be, uh, lots of, uh, thirst quenching liquid that comes in kicks. Uh, about 930, everyone will take a break from the, uh, from the ball, go out on the riverfront and watch the fireworks that the K-300 organizes every year and they're very spectacular. So if you have nothing better planned or even if you do, come on down to the ball on, uh, on Saturday night and hang on for a second. And I'm now just getting dry. All right. The final event in the cusco, come on up your Steve. I need you. The final event in the, uh, in the whole cusco week is the, uh, uh, the awards assembly. Yep. Okay. Hang on a second. Hang on a second. All right. The awards

assembly starts at 630. It's at the killbook armory, uh, wonderful food, great entertainment. The, uh, mushrooms get their payoff. They tell the strangest things that happen to them on the trail. It's memorable. Then my room's going to get up and do his famous auction of the calendars. And that's, that's, that's a, uh, showstopper. It's a way for the K-300 committee to make enough seed money to work toward next year's race, which we really need. Steve Bush, tell us about the race and the mushrooms meeting that went on earlier today. We have a mushrooms meeting that all mushrooms are required to attend and they get things sorted out and he reads them the riot act. Well, we've done this enough times now that the committee over the winner seems to have everything pretty well lined out. And it's such an understanding and loving group of people that, uh, there's absolutely no problems without saying without saying. Everybody's here. It's sporting event. And I think it's going to be real exciting. It'll be a

funnel in the watch, whether it's here to exact cow's cake, wherever. I think it'll be a lot of fun. You're going to see some pretty quick teams, a lot of competition. And, uh, I think we're quite an event. What's your job exactly? What do you watch out for? I try to keep it a sporting event. I'm no referee supposedly rather than a ripe shirt. Stripe shirt. All right. Uh, you're on the trail. What types of infractions might you be looking for? Um, primarily that people abide by the rules and they generally, uh, address the questions of treatment of dogs following the trail and what supplies, techniques, and strategies people are allowed to use and what are not allowed to use. Primarily, we try and make it so that it's one man or woman and their dogs and they go out and try and beat everybody else. And we try and set up the rules to force them to do that. It's a solo event. It's not a team sport. Okay. Some of the rules are, uh, peculiar to our race. The, uh, minimum drop dog rule. Talk about that one. Well, we, uh, it's a real financial burden on the

committee and it's a, uh, risk moving other people's dogs. So we try and minimize this by limiting the number of dogs a person can drop. We realize that some dogs need to be taken out of a team for their safety, but we don't want, uh, candle upon candle of dogs that we have to truck down the river. So we live in them. You've got five mistakes you can make with dogs or they can make and hurt themselves. Whatever. You can drop five. And, uh, after that, it's going to be a real problem for it. Okay. Uh, the trail is fastest by what, uh, my roommate kind of, well, it's pretty fast trail. The problems with gill and glare ice. The dogs are going to really watch a step just like a human does, but further up river, it's not nearly as glaring as, uh, white frothy kind of ice. It's not this clear stuff that's around here. And I think they'll make pretty good time. Tell how you and your associates knows and texts and Jim are going to stagger yourself up and down the trail,

so there'll always be some kind of official around. Well, you've explained. I just did it, didn't it? All right. Uh, yeah, we split up so that we try and cover veterinary and rural enforcement and assistance throughout the race. And we get a lot of cooperation from people in Bethel, especially pilots and truck drivers who ferry us all over the place at ungodly hours of the day and night. Okay. We have this year, the biggest press, uh, attendance are just about any, any year we have papers from Anchorage as usual. And the, uh, probably six or seven radio stations and three or four TV stations. What kind of, uh, of a picture of our race would you like to show to the rest of the state? Clean humane sporting event where everybody has a good time, both participants and viewers. And I'd like to trade that striped shirt then for a camouflage shirt if I could. Well, the press, they sometimes they make fellow nervous, should I? Wish you

work? Yeah, not always. No. They say the only objective news is the wall clock on the wall or something like that. And as a, as a continuing mush yourself, uh, what should the contenders watch out for? Well, I'm not sure what you're asking me, Ritchie. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, you're, um, what should the top eight or nine teams look out for from each other? Somebody who was going to break away in the, take a dashboard or? Yeah, I don't think I think the major risk probably is a couple sort of, uh, overdue in the early stages. That's always a risk kind of fast, relatively short race. And with this crew here, there's a good chance that might happen. Okay. Let me ask you a, a, a vet question, even though Jim and tech should have this one, uh, with a, with a track this hard, what would you expect the major dog injuries to be? I'd expect shoulders. I'd expect, uh, overheating, uh, depending on what the weather does,

temperature wise, but, uh, shoulders were the main thing, loss of appetite, loss of eating from the speed. All right, guess race marshal Steve Bush, you've heard it from the dog. Now I don't really forget that. Uh, Thursday, 12 o'clock, the Cusco 300 starts. Uh, at the bowling alley, 31 or 32 teams. I've, uh, lost count 30 32 teams. My, uh, prompter tells me, we'll be starting out at two minute intervals. Uh, it starts at 12 o'clock. It'll, it'll, be all over by a 12 30 get there early. Cusco 300 starts Thursday, the day after tomorrow at noon at the bowling alley, be there. I'm your host, which you ghosting for the mush is drawing. See you at the starting line.