Gebhardt wins Kusko 300 by just a minute over Williams

Kasilof musher Paul Gebhardt thrust himself back into the pool of top Iditarod contenders on Sunday by eking out victory over a young local favorite to win the world's richest middle-distance sled dog race by a minute.

Gebhardt, 54, a two-time Iditarod runner-up, barely held off a charge by Mike Williams Jr., 25, of Akiak to claim the $20,000 top prize when he hit the Kuskokwim 300 finish line in Bethel just after sunup Sunday morning.

His time of 39 hours, 17 minutes, 20 seconds put him among the few racers in Kusko history to break the 40-hour barrier.

Another young up-and-coming musher, Bethel's own Pete Kaiser, 23, comfortably nailed down third place when he finished at 11:14 a.m., making this Kusko perhaps the most successful ever for Yukon-Kuskokwim mushers.

A pack of Iditarod veterans chased the local hotshots into town.

Four-time Iditarod champion Martin Buser of Big Lake was fourth, some 20 minutes behind Kaiser. Iditarod veteran Ramey Smyth of Willow, third in the 2008 Iditarod, was fifth.

Mitch Seavey of Sterling, the 2004 Iditarod champion, took sixth, with John Baker of Kotzebue, the defending Kuko 300 champion right behind him. Hugh Neff of Tok was eighth.

The victory was Gebhardt's first in the $100,000 dash from Bethel to Aniak and back and it may signal a revival in his mushing fortunes. After finishing second in the 2007 Iditarod, Gebhardt's position in the 1,000-mile race to Nome slipped in three consecutive race. He was 19th last year.

Gebhardt and Williams waged a fierce battle for nearly the entire 300 miles, with Williams holding a slight lead early. Gebhardt trailed by a minute heading into Aniak, but Gebhardt left 14 minutes before his rival. By the final checkpoint of Kwethluk, Williams had trimmed Gebhardt's lead back to five minutes, but the veteran musher hung on.

Williams claimed $15,000 for his second-place finish, considerably more than the $4,000 he earned for finishing 26th in last year's Iditarod when he was the second-fastest rookie to Nome.

Kuskokwim 300 Finishers

Elapsed Time

1) Paul Gebhardt, 39:17:20; 2) Mike Williams Jr., 39:18:20; 3) Pete Kaiser, 40:44:54; 4) Martin Buser, 41:04:52; 5) Ramey Smyth, 41:06:50; 6) Mitch Seavey, 41:18:16; 7) John Baker, 41:27; 8) Hugh Neff, 41:42:16.


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