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| 28th
year of Alaska's great race
|
| 01/22/00 30 MILES TO 300 FAIRBANKS SPRINT MUSHER'S STRATEGY FOR KUSKO IS TO JUST FINISH THE RACE By S.J. Komarnitsky Daily News Reporter BETHEL--In 15 years of racing sled dogs, Curtis Erhart has rarely made it his goal simply to finish. But lining up here Friday at the start of the 21st Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race, all this veteran competitor had in mind was making it back to this riverside town. ''I don't have to worry about strategy,'' the 37-year-old Fairbanks native said. ''All I'm doing is trying to finish.'' Erhart isn't limiting his aspirations but taking a reality check. While he's an accomplished sprint racer -- the top Alaskan at last year's Fur Rendezvous World Championship in Anchorage -- he's a newcomer to middistance racing. The Kuskokwim is his first shot at a longer race. ''I'm a rookie,'' he said. Even the announcer at the starting line described him that way. And while a longer race may not seem like much of a change -- he is, after all, still mushing dogs -- the switch from running a 30-mile race to a 300 miler is a big one. Think of Venus Williams trying table tennis. Not only are there the extra miles and extra hours without sleep, there's a different strategy for races measured in days. ''It'll ... be different for him,'' said Iditarod veteran Tim Osmar, one of 21 mushers running this year's Kuskokwim 300. Erhart said he was talked into running the race by Iditarod veteran Charlie Boulding and Erhart's nephew, Ramy Brooks, another Iditarod veteran. The two were not without a trace of self-interest. They sometimes buy dogs from Erhart and want him to know more about long-distance racing so he can help pick out dogs for them. But Erhart has a more lucrative motive -- money. Purses in sprint races are shrinking. Sometimes first place brings in only a few thousand dollars, barely enough to feed his dogs for a month, he said. But the Kuskokwim 300 champion gets $20,000 and two free plane tickets on Alaska Airlines. Even the seventh-place finisher brings home $5,000 -- much more than a middle-of-the-pack racer at Fur Rendezvous. ''The money,'' he said. ''That's a big driver.'' He's also been frustrated that while he has done well in sprint races -- consistently placing in the top five -- he has never won Fur Rendezvous or the Open North American in Fairbanks, Alaska's two biggest sprint races. One reason is that he's had to work full time as an equipment operator on the North Slope, which keeps him from spending more time with his dogs. ''People ask me how come you don't win,'' he said. ''I say 'what if you didn't see dogs for 11 days?' '' If he can place well in longer races, he may be able to spend more time mushing and less time on the Slope. But he has some work to do first. Just planning for a middistance race is more difficult, Erhart said. He has to plan for food drops and bring extra gear in case the weather changes -- things he never has to think about in a two-hour sprint race. The dogs will have to adjust, too. Some have run only sprint races. They've had to learn to pace themselves, to slow down from an 18 mph gallop to a 10 mph trot. On the plus side, Erhart now has the luxury of being able to stop his team to fix problems or switch dogs around. ''In sprint racing we don't stop unless we absolutely have to,'' he said. ''If you stop, you can go from first to 10th.'' As he got ready for his race Friday, Erhart wasn't making any predictions whether he would stick with long-distance racing or go back to sprint. ''I'm trying it and I'm leaving door open,' he said. ''I'm not going to make any commitments.'' KING, BUSER ON TOP: A pair of three-time Iditarod champions were first into the Tuluksak checkpoint Friday afternoon. Jeff King of Denali Park arrived at 3:50 p.m., and Martin Buser was two minutes behind him. By 4:08, the top 14 mushers were into the checkpoint. Among them was Charlie Boulding of Nenana, Tim Osmar and Ramy Brooks -- Iditarod veterans all. Erhart checked in at 4:18 p.m. Reporter S.J. Komarnitsky can be reached at skomarnitsky@adn.com |
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Anchorage Daily News