Between the Musher Banquet in Anchorage where start order is determined and the Finisher’s Banquet in Nome where stories are shared and mushers are honored, many miles have passed under the sled runners. While the line on the map is the same for every musher, the journey is entirely unique. Iditarod welcomes Jessie Holmes to the elite group of just 26 champions and celebrates with seven rookies who’ve become members of the elite Official Iditarod Finisher’s Club.
The field of 33 mushers was tied for the smallest number in race history with 2023. The inaugural run in 1973 had 34 contestants. Twenty-two hardy mushers finished the 2025 Ultra-Iditarod. This number ties with the 1973 inaugural Iditarod run for the smallest number of finishers.
The Ceremonial Start seems like a very long time ago. But to refresh your memory, there wasn’t enough snow to cover the streets of Anchorage nor was there any snow on the Anchorage trail system so the Ceremonial Start began at 4th and “D” Street like always but then ended just a mile and a half later at Sullivan Arena. It was the shortest Ceremonial route in race history, second only to the 3 mile run in 2016.
For the 4th time since 2003 the race start was moved to Fairbanks. The distance, 1128 miles, was the longest of any race route in Iditarod history. The route starting in Fairbanks on the Chena River, met up with the Tanana River which then brought the mushers to the mighty Yukon. Staying on the Yukon River teams went all the way down to Anvik, the first Yukon River checkpoint of the southern route. Mushers took a short land loop to Shageluk and back to Grayling before returning to Kaltag and heading to the Bering Sea Coast. Of the 1128 miles two-thirds were flat river miles but don’t confuse flat with easy because those flat river miles were anything but easy.
Trail conditions throughout the race were challenging and more challenging. There was new snow, soft snow, sugar snow, drifting snow and abrasive snow. Hard and fast was rarely, if ever used to describe the trail.
There was an unexpected sand storm outside of Tanana. The trail went into a brown cloud that swirled over the trail. Visibility was limited and it was disorienting. Teams had to pick their way through all sorts of debris on the trial while sand was being driven into every opening in sled bags and clothing. Mushers came out looking like soot covered chimney sweeps.
En-route to Eagle Island teams encountered ice jumbled trail created by snowmachines churning up overflow on the trail which then froze. Paige Drobny said it was in the top ten worst trails she’s ever been on. Norton Sound threw 30 mph head winds at the mushers, another definite test. All of this and teams had yet to face the blow hole outside of White Mountain which turned out to be nothing to write home about.
Along with the challenges, mushers experienced immense beauty too. On the run from Kaltag to Unalakleet and also through the Blueberry Hills, mushers enjoyed stunning northern lights, a full moon reflecting off the glazed snow and breathtaking sunsets. Some said the beauty was beyond words.
Jr. Iditarod Champion, Emily Robinson has established a record that can never be broken. Robinson claimed gold in her four Jr. Iditarod runs besting Tim Osmar who had three wins back in 1982, ’83 and ’84. It all came down to six seconds back on the modified race run out of Cantwell in 2022. With overflow making the trail out of Knik impassible the Jr. Iditarod was moved to Cantwell and run as a stage race. In her first Jr. Iditarod, Emily bested Hannah Wappett of Fairbanks by only 6 seconds on two runs of sixty miles. That slim margin of victory made it possible for Robinson to achieve the incredible milestone and permanently etch her name in Jr. Iditarod history.
The amazing version three of the burled arch arrived in Nome just in time to be erected on Front Street. A version of the iconic burled arch has marked the finish line since 1975. Ramey Smyth and family created burled arch III from a Sitka spruce found near mile one of the Historic Iditarod Trail. This arch will welcome finishers for many years to come. Seems fitting that this magnificent new arch was unveiled for the longest ever Iditarod.
The longest flattest route turned out to be the hardest that anyone can remember and that includes Mitch Seavey, age 65, who was running his 29th Iditarod! It was a tough trail. Congratulations to all who finished and to all who dreamed and tried.
