The winner of the Don Bowers Memorial 300 Sled Dog Race is Mike Santos of Cantwell. He came across the line with the fastest time in three years.
The winner of the 200-mile race was Quinn Iten of Kotzebue. Second was Sarah Spinola of Willow and Heather Siirtola of Talkeetna was third.
Only 18 racers started this year and 5 scratched. The entire race was up in the air until Wednesday of last week. Weather conditions had destroyed parts of the trail.
Ed Yadon, one of the trail groomers, reported just over a week ago there was open water and overflow on parts of the trail.
Colder weather and several inches of snowfall at the end of last week changed trail conditions quickly. Shawna Olson, who supervised the last checkpoint on the trail, said all seasoned mushers reported the trail was great and had everything a musher would want…drifts, fast sections and punchy trail.
