Kotz memorial snowmachine race breaks records

TAMAR BEN-YOSEF

April 18, 2008 at 10:02AM AKST

Beautiful sun and cold temperatures welcomed both racers and spectators to the 2008 Archie Ferguson/Willie Goodwin Sr. Memorial Snowmachine Race held Saturday, April 5, in Kotzebue.

The race that started more than 40 years ago as a Lion’s Club event has become one of the most popular in the region. It is scheduled for the first weekend in April of every year.

Sixty-three racers from Kotzebue, Nome and surrounding villages participated in the race that runs from Kotzebue to Selawik, passing through Noorvik and Kiana, before returning to Kotzebue.

Due to new regulations, the Snowmachine Race Association had to break apart from the Lion’s Club this year. Volunteers such as Jason Avery, Marlene Smith, Walter and Belinda Greg, Nate Kotch and Sara and Jeff Hayes spent time fundraising for the event, which ended with a $42,600 purse.

"The community is really helpful, because they all see this race as a community-wide event," said Belinda Greg, one of the event organizers.

All the purse money from fundraising and entry fees went back to the racers as awards.

Two records were broken this year. The first was by Steven Williamson, who finished first in the B class category. He finished the race in 2 hours, 27 minutes and 18 seconds.

Randy Toshavik took first in the C class and finished in 2:57.

Winner of first place in the A class was Enoch Stalker who finished in 2:33:04.

Results

A Class

1 $5,375 Enoch Stalker 2:33:04

2 $2,762.50 Albert Sours 2:37:59

2 $$2,762.50 Roger Stalker 2:37:59

B Class

1 $9,425 Steven Williamson 2:27:18

2 $5,705 Thor Lie 2:33:54

3 $3,870 Stephen Schaeffer 2:35:19

C Class

1 $5,150 Randy Toshavik 2:57:00

2 $3,140 Jason West 3:01:48

3 $2,160 Wally Carter 3:03:07

Overall, $2,000 Steven Williamson Red Lantern, $250 Doug Wicken

Tamar Ben-Yosef can be reached at (907) 348-2419 or toll-free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 419.