This year's Kobuk 440 followed the Kobuk River, carving a path through six Northwest Arctic villages before returning to Kotzebue. Twelve mushers finished the race, with none scratching.
“I think that's the first time that we've ever had that happen, which is really awesome,” said Race Organizer Paul Hansen. “It's a testament to the guys running the race.”
This year's winner, Cantwell-based musher Jessie Holmes, arrived in Kotzebue a little after 8 a.m. Sunday, three hours ahead of second-place finisher Richie Diehl of Aniak.
With his face covered in ice crystals, Holmes gave his dogs a snack and briefly posed for photos as spectators braved the minus 40 degree cold to greet him. The 41-year-old musher won the 2017 Kobuk 440 as a rookie. After five Kobuk runs, two of which he scratched, Holmes said he’s chased the feeling of that first win ever since.
“It's a high that we're on, and we're gonna keep that high going until next year’s Iditarod,” Holmes said.
His team was in good shape after their fifth place finish in this year's Iditarod, but Holmes said the Kobuk course — which was well-worn from sno-go travel between the villages — was a challenge.
“Every time that a snow machine travels over a trail like that, it chews up the surface to where the dogs are now sinking in, four, six inches in places where it gets all crystal and sugared,” Holmes said. “You're just constantly having to work hard and pull hard on a trail like that.”
Holmes, who led the race early on, said his favorite things about the race are the generosity of people at the checkpoints and the remote beauty along the trail.
“It is thrilling being out there in the wilderness,” he said. “As I was coming to Onion Portage, that big, red blood orange moon came out. And it was pretty striking.”
Other mushers encountered difficulties along the way. Rookie Jeff Deeter, of Fairbanks, got a stomach bug and feared dehydration on the course. Deeter received this year's Humanitarian Award, an honor given by the race veterinarian for exceptional care and treatment of a musher’s dogs.
Red Lantern finisher Lauro Eklund was given a common remedy by locals along the route to combat muscle cramps, earning him the nickname “Mustard Shots.” As the last finisher, he arrived in Kotzebue a little after 4:00 on Monday afternoon.
Last year’s Kobuk 440 winner, Hugh Neff, lost his team early in this year’s race, between Kiana and Ambler. Mushers Michelle Phillips, Richie Diehl and Kevin Hansen helped him retrieve his team. Phillips was the first to help.
“He lost his team right behind me, and I automatically said ‘hop on the sled,’ because there's nothing else you do for anyone,” she said.
Phillips, who went on to finish third, said she also carries an assortment of homeopathic herbs, which she distributed to some mushers who had minor ailments. She received the sportsmanship award in this year's race.
New Hampshire-based musher Bailey Vitello received a piece of whale baleen, hand carved by a local Kotzebue artist, as this year’s Rookie of the Year award. Vitello finished fifth. The 25-year-old musher also ran the Iditarod this year for the first time.
