Racing through bitting winds, Lance Mackey led the Kuskokwim 300 at the race’s halfway point Saturday.
Mackey made the turnaround at Napaimute at 5:19 p.m. Martin Buser reached the midway point at 5:42 p.m. and John Baker made the turnaround at 6:07 p.m.
A relentless wind out of the northeast brought wind chills as low as 64 below and the bitter conditions caused Mitch Seavey, the 2004 Iditarod champion, to scratch in Kalskag. He was suffering from frozen eyeballs, but said his 14 dogs were fine, according to Race Director Cassie Stockdale. The race got off to a rough start for Seavey, who took more than three hours to reach the first checkpoint (Mackey made it in 1:17) after making a wrong turn near the start.
Dallas Seavey and Ramey Smyth each left Aniak, the final checkpoint on the outbound route, at 3:55 p.m. with Paul Gebhardt close behind leaving at 4:12 p.m.
Source: The Anchorage Daily News
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