Looks Like an Up and Comer

22 January 2012
11:57 AM

Sunrise at	10:08 AM	in direction	140°	Southeast
Sunset at	3:57 PM	in direction	221°	Southwest

Duration of day: 5 hours, 49 minutes (6 minutes, 18 seconds longer than yesterday)

Very interesting - young Rohn Buser, 22, won the Kuskokwim 300 clocking in at 11:42:02.  His father, Martin, is a four time winner of the Iditarod.  Rohn ran the Iditarod as a rookie in 2008.  This makes Martin and Rohn the first father/son (parent/child) winning team for the K300.  Wind chill at times reached -50F and Rohn said he relied on 5 or 6 veteran dogs during the tough spots on the trail.  He edged out last year's K300 (and Iditarod) winner, John Baker, whose GPS tracker shows he probably is finishing just about now.

From KYUK.org

Rohn's very brief biography on the Iditarod web site can be viewed here - Rohn Buser.

When you pay as much attention to races and the regular mushers as I do (as would any avid sports fan of any sport, right?), you get a sense of the personality of some mushers more than others.  From what I can see, Martin, a native of Switzerland, is one of the nicest and funniest people on the trail.  His two sons, Nickolai and Rohn, were named after Iditarod checkpoints!  When Rohn ran the Iditarod, Martin's first question of his wife was about Rohn who was behind him on the trail.  One senses a strong, loving family.  This race outcomes tickles me to no end.

Photo from www.iditarod.com musher biography

Martin's biography,  Martin Buser, reveals more about Rohn than Rohn's own biography.  This is a very exciting turn of events as another historic finish in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta made news this week.  In addition to the K300, the longest of the races, several shorter races are run.  One, the Bogus Creek 150, had a woman as the winner for the first time in that race's history.  Jen Peeks handles for Kaiser Kennels, but managed to pull off a win, which she attributes to powdery snow conditions that favored her dogs.  Her team is being trained for the Iditarod and are long haul runners rather than sprinters.

Photo from K300 web site

I have not found Jen's name on any races outside the Y-K Delta region (Yukon-Kuskokwim), but both Martin and Rohn will be running the Iditarod in March.

Among Alaskan mushing families, you will read of multiple generations racing with surnames of Seavey, Buser, Smyth, Mackey, Williams, Cadsow, and Reddington (father to son).  Dallas Seavey won last year's Yukon Quest.  Bridget Watkins, daughter of musher Allen Moore is also extending the mushing tradition of her family by running development teams in races like the CB300.   The new generation of local mushers are keeping the state sport alive and interesting!