Pete Kaiser wins 2019 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

Pete Kaiser and his team have won the 47^th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Kaiser, who lives in Bethel, placed fifth in the Iditarod three times and won the Kuskokwim 300 four times in a row, but had not claimed Alaska’s greatest mushing prize.

That all changed shortly after 3:30 am this morning. Kaiser took the lead from Nicholas Petit earlier this week on Norton Sound and never relinquished it.   Last year’s winner, Joar Leifseth Ulsom pushed hard to defend his title, but could not catch Kaiser. Ulsom crossed under the burled arch in Nome in second place, about twelve minutes after Kaiser and his team. Both mushers finished with eight dogs in-harness.

Pete Kaiser is the first Yup’ik winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.