Fr. Alexander Larson Penalized for Skipping Kalskag Checkpoint

As we announced earlier, Father Alexander Larson left the marked trail at Kalskag and bypassed the checkpoint there. All mushers are required to check-in at every checkpoint, even if they do not plan to rest. Our three Race Marshals met on the trail, and together, made the difficult decision to issue a time penalty of 20 minutes, which will be added to Fr. Larson's rest time at Tuluksak.

The checkpoint crew was expecting Larson on the heels of Pete Kaiser and Richie Diehl at about 6:40 last night, and became concerned when he didn't arrive. Access to the GPS tracker is somewhat limited at the site but after some time our crew checked it and saw that Larson had advanced well downriver. Volunteers went out on snowmachine to notify him of his error. He was given the choice to turnaround and go back to the checkpoint to check-in or advance down the trail and likely receive a penalty. He continued on.

Larson reported that he didn't think he was required to go to the checkpoint because he had already fulfilled his rest requirement, but acknowledged his mistake and accepted the penalty. The 20 minute penalty will be added to his 4 hour mandatory rest in Tuluksak. He arrived at the checkpoint at 1:10 AM and will leave at 5:30 AM.