As the first musher to arrive in Galena, early on Thursday Morning, Paige Drobny receives the Feast on the Yukon Award. Top Chefs from Locally Grown Restaurants will prepare the gourmet meal at the checkpoint for Paige and her guests – Tim Bodony, checkpoint coordinator, along with other elders from the village.
The menu is amazing! Here’s a copy paste from the Iditarod press release:
“The meal consists of Alaska King Salmon Crudo with a lemon-thyme oil, roasted butternut squash bisque, charred cabbage salad with candied walnuts, watermelon radish, carrot, onion, apple and a pear vinaigrette, followed by an entrée of braised beef cheek bourguignon, asparagus, rosemary mashed potatoes, sauteed mushroom and shallot leaves. To finish this incredible meal, Paige and her guest(s) will also be treated to a chocolate bourbon pot de créme dessert.”
There are nine more mushers out of Ruby heading to Galena. Matt Hall, Jessie Holmes, Michelle Phillips and Ryan Redington will most likely arrive within the hour. About two-hours back are Mille Porsild, Travis Beals Bailey Vitello, Rylie Dyche and Mitch Seavey.
Three mushers – Gabe Dunham, Nicolas Petit and Emily Ford are currently resting in Ruby. A large pack of 18 mushers are on the 117 mile trek down the Yukon River from Tanana to Ruby. Charmayne Morrison remains in Tanana.
In surprise but very wise moves, veteran mushers Matthew Failor and Jeff Deeter completed their twenty-four plus differential rests in Tanana. Deeter after a routine rest in Tanana actually left the checkpoint but within a very short distance, he saw some soreness in a couple of dogs so he returned and declared his long rest.
Failor said his team was doing well but after the silt storm and being blown around on the glare ice, he noticed some soreness in his dogs so he decided to rest and work with the dogs to get them back on track. During the time Deeter and Failor were in Tanana, they fed the dogs, massaged sore muscles, walked the dogs and let them sleep in regular cycles.
Mushers are in-tune with their dogs and upon recognizing a change in gait or loose tug line, they know how to care for their athletes and work through these problems. They both will likely break the run to Ruby into two parts for more specially tailored dog care. From GPS tracker, Failor left Ruby with 15 dogs on the line and is currently traveling at 8.7 miles an hour. Deeter left Ruby with 12 dogs in harness and is cruising at 9.5 miles an hour. I’d expect them to rest at around mile 280.
Matthew Failor has a special passenger in his sled. He’s carrying the ashes of Iditarod veteran and Race Judge Jim Davis. Davis completed the Iditarod in 1992 and again in 1996. He’s shared his mushing knowledge with mushers while working with the Copper Basin 300 race and as a race judge with Iditarod. Failor himself has benefit from Davis’ sage advice on more than one occasion and now is one of those times – take the race one checkpoint, one day at a time. Failor spread some of the ashes near Tolovana Roadhouse and has other special places picked out.
Nicolas Petit who is currently resting in Ruby maintains his kennel in Big Lake. After starting with Jim Lanier’s Northern Whites then running Raymie Redington dogs, Petit was in a position to establish his own kennel. His first Iditarod start was in 2011. He’s completed 10 of 13 Iditarod attempts. He’s finished in the top ten 6 times and was second behind Dallas Seavey in 2018.
Gabe Dunham was born in Fairbanks them moved at young age with her family to Valdez. She was introduced to sled dogs when 16 then ran her first race at the age of 18. For the next nine years she worked for Linwood and Kathi Fiedler and Alaska Heli-mush. From them she learned extraordinary dog care and astounding training techniques. She took time to earn a degree in Fish and Wildlife management in Oregon. Upon moving to Montana, Gabe became the first woman to finish the Rocky Mountain Triple Crown earning second place. She has established Evermore Adventure Kennel in Willow. Her first Iditarod start came in 2020. She scratched in Unalakleet. In 2024, she earned the coveted Iditarod Finisher’s belt buckle with 18th place.
As the teams arrive and depart from the Yukon River village of Ruby, one remembers Emmitt Peters, AKA The Yukon Fox who passed in 2020. As a rookie Peters won the third Iditarod in 1975. His time astounded officials and competitors. He knocked six days off the previous winning times from ‘73 and ’74. His time was 14 days, 14 hours and 43 minutes. Peters is credited with shifting the Iditarod from a camping event to a racing event.
