Pete Kaiser of Bethel wins Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race for 8th time

Bethel musher Pete Kaiser won the Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race on Sunday for his eighth victory in the race.

Kaiser, the 2019 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion, crossed the finish line in the Southwest Alaska hub of Bethel at 9:25 a.m. Sunday with a full team of 12 dogs.

The victory is the third straight for Kaiser at the Kusko 300, a race he’s dominated for the last decade. In the last 10 races, Kaiser has eight victories and a pair of runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2021.

Temperatures were below minus 20 as the top mushers crossed the finish line Sunday morning. The race started in Bethel on Friday evening. The trail takes mushers up the Kuskokwim River to Aniak. The return route runs south before turning west and returning to Upper Kalskag and heading back down the river to Bethel. Kaiser finished in 37 hours, 25 minutes, according to the K300 leaderboard.

Kaiser bested a talented field. Ryan Redington, who won the 2023 Iditarod, finished seventh. Matthew Failor, the 2019 K300 champ, finished in second place. It was the third straight runner-up for Failor, who finished 33 minutes behind Kaiser.

Jeff King still holds the record for the most K300 victories, with nine from 1991 to 2013.

Kaiser banked $28,500 for the victory, and the overall purse was increased from $160,000 to $185,000 this year.