Once again, Mitch Seavey of Sterling delivered a fearsome finish to begin his 2009 season exactly where his 2008 season ended -- in the winner's circle.
Seavey early this morning wrapped up his second consecutive Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race, coming from behind on the last stretch to win in 38 hours, 30 minutes, just eight minutes faster than Martin Buser of Big Lake.
Jeff King of Denali Park, who led earlier Monday, slipped to third, 90 minutes behind Seavey.
Seavey's second consecutive Kusko victory was his third overall in the world's richest middle-distance sled dog race, earning him $20,000 of the $100,000 purse. Only King, who has won eight times in Bethel, owns more Kusko titles.
And just like last year, Seavey proved to be a scary closer.
Twelve months ago, Seavy grabbed the lead between Kalskag and Tuluksak and held on to top runner-up Ramey Smyth by 56 minutes. His time, on a drenched route that had mushers wading as much as riding, was 49 hours, 38 minutes.
Then, last March, Seavey passed King in the final stretch of the 408-mile All-Alaska Sweepstakes, a round trip from Nome to Candle, to win by nine minutes and pocket the $100,000 winner-take-all jackpot.
In today's Kusko finale, Seavey left Tuluksak, the second-to-last checkpoint, nine minutes behind Buser. He cut eight minutes off Buser's margin by the time the mushers reached Kwethluk, the final checkpoint.
Despite having just seven dogs in harness at the finish, four fewer than Buser, Seavey passed the four-time Iditarod champion and aptly illustrated the old mushing principle: No team is faster than its slowest dog.
Ken Anderson of Fairbanks, who put together a second-and-fourth-place Yukon Quest-Iditarod double last season, took fourth. John Baker of Kotzebue was fifth.
But perhaps the most impressive Kusko performance -- and certainly the most cheered -- was young Bethel musher Pete Kaiser's surprising sixth-place showing, giving the hometown fans who were up before 5 a.m. reason to cheer.
Kaiser, 21, won the companion Bogus Creek 150 last year. This time he beat such seasoned Iditarod veterans as Ed Iten of Kotzebue, DeeDee Jonrowe of Willow and Aaron Burmeister of Nenana.
Kaiser was just 24 minutes behind Baker, and he immediately established himself as a fresh young talent in a sport full of aging veterans.
"Pete grew up on runners, and he's very good with dog care, very particular on details and training," said Bob Sept before the race.
Sept, a former Iditarod Trail Committee president and chief veterinarian, is in the Anchorage Daily News Iditarod Hall of Fame.
Kukokwim 300 finishers
1) Mitch Seavey, 38:30; 2) Martin Buser, 38:38; 3) Jeff King, 40:00; 4) Ken Anderson, 40:16; 5) John Baker, 40:30; 6) Pete Kaiser, 40:54; 7) Ed Iten, 41:22; 8) Mike Williams Jr., 42:07; 9) Jackie Larson, 42:32.
By MIKE CAMPBELL
mcampbell@adn.com