Lynden employee Kaiser wins Iditarod
-PNZXP^ʭ]^_D`[ɪTVX`^SP] _ZbTY_SP7L^_2]PL_=LNP SPECIAL TO THE ALASKA MINER Bethel’s Pete Kaiser and his amazing team of canine athletes made history winning the 2019 4OT_L]ZO;P_PT^_SPʭ]^_D`[ɪTVX`^SP]_ZbTY the Last Great Race, and he did it with the quiet determination and hard work that’s made him a world-class competitor. Pete has many connections to AMA. He is an employee of Knik Construction, part of the Lynden family of companies, and counts Lynden among his team sponsors. He is also sponsored by Donlin Gold and proudly carried the Donlin MLYYP]Q]ZX^_L]__ZʭYT^S In a close race heading out of the White Mountain checkpoint, Pete skillfully guided ST^_PLX_SPʭYLW""XTWP^_Z_SPʭYT^SWTYP TY9ZXP3PʭYT^SPObT_SL_TXPZQ$OLd^ hours and 39 minutes. This is the 10th time Pete has competed in the Iditarod. “We are all very excited for Pete and enjoyed tracking his race this past week. Pete’s grit and determination show the world what it means to be a proud Alaskan,” said Jim Jansen, Lynden Chairman. “Pete is not only a great employee for our company, but his passion and dedication to his work shows in his mushing as well. We are ex- cited for his accomplishments and look forward to more races in the future,” said Dan Hall, President of Knik Construction. In addition to the Iditarod, Pete regularly competes in the Kuskokwim 300 dogsled race. He holds the record for most consecutive victo- ries in the Kuskokwim 300, winning four times between 2015 and 2018. He placed second in the 2019 race earlier this year. Kaiser, 30, was born, raised and graduated high school in Bethel, Alaska. His childhood was ^[PY_ʭ^STYRMZL_TYRS`Y_TYRLYO]`YYTYR a small team of family dogs on camping trips
Photos by John Wallace and courtesy Kaiser Racing
and in local races. In his senior year at Bethel High School, he won the Akiak Dash, a 65-mile race put on by the Kuskokwim 300 Race Com- mittee. While attending college, Pete decided what he really wanted to know was everything about dogs. That passion turned into dog mushing full-time. A love of the outdoors drew Pete to a life of running dogs in the winter and working on a tugboat in the summer. His Bethel roots extend back three generations to include a great-grandfather who came into the country as a gold miner and hired out with his dog team for extended trips from the Interior to Bristol Bay and a Yup’ik great-grandmother orphaned by an
The Alaska Miner
April 2019
22
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online