View YouTube video of Paul leaving the starting line of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Paul Gebhardt has raced a variety of mid distance sled dog races throughout the State of Alaska. He has won the Tustumena 200 several times, as well as the Copper Basin 300. The Tustumena 200 is held locally on the Kenai Peninsula.  This race is run in the lower Kenai region known as the Caribou Hills, which extends into the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.  This challenging race course takes mushers from the starting line at an altitude just over sea level, to hills ranging from 300 - 2000 feet.  Paul Gebhardt has served as the Race Marshall in the Tustumena 200 Sled Dog Race for several years.

 Tustumena 200 

 Copper Basin 300

During the Copper Basin 300 race one year, Race Officials cancelled the event when temperatures plummetted to below -68ºF.  Frigid temperatures of this magnatude are not at all uncommon in the Glennallen area of Alaska's Copper River Delta, which is where this race is held. This is a beautiful region that boasts the pathway of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) can be seen frequently in this area.  Bright arcs of blue-green, purple, and hues of red streak across the winter sky, often times filling the horizon for hours with a wild dancing show of color. The running of the Copper Basin 300 is an annual event that brings the community together.  The trail challenges mushers with steep climbs, open and heavily forested areas as well.  Paul has seen caribou in this area while mushing through the winter wonderland.

 
Paul feels the Kuskowkim 300 offers exceptional pre-Iditarod training for his sled dog team. 
This event is held in the Western Alaska Kuskowkim River Basin starting from Bethel, Alaska.  The dog teams outside of those belonging to local Alaska mushers, are flown in by Alaska Airlines.  The Anchorage International Airport becomes a hub of activity with many teams shipping dog sleds, gear and their dog teams to the event. The race travels through many remote villages along the Kuskokwim River.  One year, strong winds pushed a storm surge over the area, disrupting the scheduled start of the race.  After dumping rain and snow on the flat, swampy tundra around Bethel, the weather abated enough to allow the race to start. When the teams took off, the followed a revised course that volunteers using snowmachine were trying to quickly put in for the dog teams to follow.  Much of the original trail was under water, and could not be followed.  Paul recalled seeing the tips of the reflective tape from the trail markers.  Later in the race, as his team was skimming over a thin vaneer of ice that had formed on the river's surface, he noted some odd looking reflectors just at the ice' surface.  As he approached them, he shined his headlamp onto the reflectors.  What he was looking at made him shiver.. it was a snowmachine, submerged under the sheet of ice.  The odd reflectors he was seeing were actually a rim of reflectors the owner had put around the top edge of the windshield to keep people from driving onto the same area and encountering the same fate.  Several machines were submerged in the process of trying to travel prematurely on the new river ice.  Since there are no roads in this region of Alaska, other than a few miles within the village of Bethel, snowmachines are the means of transportation throughout the winter months for many residents.

Paul has also used races such as the Knik 200  and the Sheep Mountain 150 for training.
Another event that Paul was raced is the Nushagek Classic and a race that Paul holds the course record on, the Clam Gulch Classic adds to his list of victories.  Paul feels the racing environment is important to his team leading up to the Iditarod.  It allows them to become familiar with the process of lining up with fans and media surrounding them, as well as traveling through the villages while passing and resting with other teams.  During training, Paul can replicate much of the camping the team will do during a race, but it is only the real thing that gives them the experience of hearing the announcer count down 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, ..... and having them take off from the starting chute.

Information on mushing can be found at: Sled Dog Central  
Other great resources for stories on Paul Gebhardt, the sport of dog mushing and the Iditarod include: The Peninsula Clarion newspaper , Anchorage Daily News , Mushing Magazine and PRIDE

Contact Paul Gebhardt teamfan@aspenhollowlodging.com