Runaway win in 35th annual 300 mile Race to the Sky

SEELEY LAKE – The Montana's Race to the Sky came through Seeley Lake this weekend after the 35th anniversary start in Lincoln at 1 p.m. Saturday. Seeley Lake's Jessie Royer and her J Team won the 300 mile and Josi Thyr, also from Seeley Lake, was the 100 mile champion.

300 Mile Race

Royer took the lead in the 300 mile race in the first 50 miles. She passed all nine 300-mile teams on the way to White Tail Ranch and was the first musher to arrive at 7:45 p.m. Saturday night with 12 dogs. Just 16 minutes behind was Clayton Perry of Power, Mont.

Instead of stopping in Seeley Lake for her four-hour layover, Royer headed straight for Owl Creek Sunday morning. The rest of the 300-mile teams stayed at the Seeley Lake Community Hall checkpoint before starting the 50-mile trek to Owl Creek Primitive Checkpoint. Three teams scratched Sunday afternoon, leaving six in the race.

Royer arrived back in Seeley Lake at 11:18 p.m. Sunday night. When she arrived she told the race volunteers the snow was "lovely."

The J Team rested until 3:20 a.m. when they headed back to White Tail Ranch with 11 dogs. Gabe Dunham of Darby, Mont. was the closest to catching Royer. She arrived in Seeley Lake at 4:12 a.m., nearly an hour after Royer had left for White Tail. Three other teams arrived within an hour and a half of Dunham including Cindy Gallea, past resident of Seeley Lake.

Royer and the J Team were the first team into the final checkpoint at 9:19 a.m. The race for second started just after 10 a.m. Monday morning as all the remaining teams except Kevin Mathis left Seeley Lake within 10 minutes of each other. Mathis arrived in Seeley Lake at 8:19 a.m.

Royer crossed the finished line at Hi-Country Snack Foods at 9:22 p.m. Monday night with 11 energetic dogs. The rest of the teams were still at White Tail Ranch for their six hour lay over. When she came across the finish line Royer said, "The trail was good and the race was good." Then she left to take care of her dogs.

This is Royer's fifth Race to the Sky win. She won the 500 mile Race to the Sky as a teenager in 1994, and the 300 mile in 2015, 2016 and 2018. She didn't run Race to the Sky in 2017 and 2019 because she was running the Yukon Quest. Royer also finished the 2019 Alaskan Iditarod Sled Dog Race in third place and has multiple Top 10 finishes in Iditarod. She also gives back to the sport by mentoring young and new mushers alike.

Dunham took second crossing the finish line at 5:51 a.m. with 10 dogs followed by Perry at 6:31 a.m. with nine dogs for third in the 300 mile. Gallea finished fourth Tuesday morning. The 300 mile awards ceremony was held at 3 p.m. in Lincoln.

100 Mile Race

First into the White Tail Ranch for the 100 mile teams was Thyr at 8:01 p.m. Saturday night followed by Scott White from Snohomish, Wash. at 8:58 p.m. Thyr has been working at Royer's kennel in Seeley Lake this past winter. She and Royer both raced in the 300 mile Idaho Sled Dog Challenge last weekend in McCall, Idaho. Royer finished first in the race and Thyr behind her in second.

Thyr won the 100-mile race crossing the finish line in Seeley Lake Sunday morning at 6:48 a.m. with eight dogs. This is her first win at Race to the Sky.

The race veterinarians also awarded Thyr the Jack Beckstrom Best Cared for Team Award. The award is in honor of Jack Beckstrom who was an original organizer for Race to the Sky and served on the board of directors for 33 years. The award was sponsored by Adanac Sleds and Equipment, Jack and Pam Beckstrom's sled building and dog sled equipment business which has been a sponsor of Race to the Sky for 35 years.

White maintained second place arriving at 7:11 a.m. Sunday morning with eight dogs. Charmayne Morrison of Bozeman, Mont. took third arriving in Seeley Lake at 7:51 a.m. She received the Rocky Mountain Triple Crown trophy and finisher patch for being the highest place finisher in the Eagle Cap Extreme 100 mile race, the Idaho Sled Dog Challenge 100 mile race and Race to the Sky 100 mile race. Steve Madsen also received a finisher patch for completing all three 100 mile races.

Roy Etnire, of Seeley Lake, took seventh this year in the 100 mile arriving in Seeley Lake just before 10 a.m. He received the Jack Beckstrom Sportsmanship Award for his hard work on the trail and sacrificing running time to help the Race to the Sky.

The 100-mile race finished around 2 p.m. with Jane Devlin of Bend, Ore. winning the Red Lantern for finishing last of the 10 teams.

For more information and full race result visit Montana's Race to the Sky's website http://www.racetothesky.org.