Jessie Holmes captured his second Iditarod victory on the evening of March 17th with leaders Polar and Zeus. Travis Beals, Jeff Deeter and Paige Drobny crossed under the burled arch early on March 18th with several more to follow.
It is indeed a rare feat for a reigning champion to follow with another victory. Rick Swenson has a string of two – 1981 & 1982 (first win in 1977); Susan Butcher has a string of three – 1986, 1987 & 1988 (first win in 1986); Doug Swingley has 3 – 1999, 2000 & 2001 (first win in 1995); Lance Mackey has a string of 4 – 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010 (first win in 2007) and Dallas Seavey has a string of 3 – 2014, 2015 & 2016 (First win in 2012). Now with Holmes defending his 2025 championship there are 6 mushers who have successfully defended. It’s a small group that holds this very prestigious honor.
Holmes also joined an even smaller group with capturing his second win in the year following his first win. Holmes has joined Susan Butcher and Lance Mackey in successfully defending a first win. Susan Butcher won her first Iditarod in 1986, defended in 1987 followed by a third consecutive win in 1988. Lance Mackey won his first Iditarod in 2007, defended in 2008, followed by a third in 2009 and a fourth in 2010. Holmes joins first win defenders Susan and Lance by defending his first victory in 2025 with a win in 2026.
Holmes completed the northern route in 9 days, 7 hours and 32 minutes with 12 dogs in harness. Along the way he won every award presented. Along with the $80,000 winner’s check he also takes home some beautiful hand crafted art pieces, $5,500 in cash and $4,500 in gold nuggets. Holmes bested his 2024 northern route finish of 3rd place and time of 9 days, 8 hours and 4 minutes.
Travis Beals , with 10 dogs in harness, captured second place with a time of 9 days, 11 hours and 58 minutes. Beals took to the Iditarod trail in 2013. Since then he’s a perfect 12/12. Beals has finished in the top ten 6 times with his previous best coming in 2019 in 5th place. In both 2024 and 2025, Beals finished in 6th place. He completed his 2024 northern route run in 9 days 14 hours and 39 minutes. His best northern route time came back in 2020, 9 days, 2 hours and 11 minutes. At the finish, Beals was greeted by his family, Sarah Stokey and their two sons. Travis congratulated Jessie and talked about how every race is an opportunity to learn.
Jeff Deeter with 8 dogs in harness captured 3rd place with a time of 9 days, 16 hours and 10 minutes. Deeter had been running in the top ten since leaving Ophir. He claimed a position in the top five coming out of Koyuk and advanced to 3rd during his run from Elim To White Mountain. Jeff completed his first Iditarod at the age of 18 in 2008. He has been a regular participant since returning in 2018. He’s 6/8 in his Iditarod career. Jeff’s previous best finish came on the northern route in 2024, fourth place with a time of 9 days, 11 hours and 52 minutes.
Paige Drobny with 10 dogs in harness was the fourth musher to Nome, arriving from Willow in 9 days, 15 hours and 38 minutes. Drobny pressured Holmes from the start all the way to the coast. Paige is a perfect 11 for 11 in her Iditarod career. In her fifth race in 2017, she improved to 7th place from 43rd in 2016. Improving 36 places netted her the Most Improved Musher Award. Since then she’s always been in the top 20 including 4 top ten finishes being 5th in 2024 and 3rd in 2025. She completed the northern run in 2024 in 9 days 13 hours and 12 minutes. Along the way, Paige said the trail was slow. Comparing her run time from 2024 to 2026, confirms the trail was slower.
Those are the first four team into Nome. There is only one champion, but all are winners. Stay tuned for more of the winners to arrive in Nome. By the end of today the top ten will be complete.
Winners are all that dared to dream and try including scratched mushers Jay Foucher, Jody Potts-Joseph, Mille Porsild and Grayson Bruton. The number of scratches in 2026 stand at four. Three mushers scratched from the race on Tuesday, March 17.
Jody Potts-Joseph, a rookie from Eagle Village scratched on Tuesday. She was at the Tripod Flats cabin located between Kaltag and Unalakleet when she decided to scratch in the best interest of her team. Race personnel assisted her with the safe transport of her 10-dog team to Unalakleet via snow machine.
Earlier in the race, Jody demonstrated immense courage when encountering a bison on the trail. The bison repeatedly charged her team but stopped short of her leaders. She intended to fire warning shots with her pistol but it misfired. With few remaining options, she remembered the words her grandmother used to scare a grizzly away. In her native language, Han Gwich’en, Jody said, “Go away! Have mercy on us, leave us alone!” The bison did exactly that, it turned and walk down the trail away from the team. Han Gwich’en elders believe animals understand their native language.
Veteran Mille Porsild of Denmark has also scratched. Mille who lives in Willow scratched at Elim pursuant to rule 42 after Charley, a four year old female on her team died in route to Elim. Charley will undergo a necropsy by a board certified pathologist to make every attempt to determine the cause of death. Charley completed and passed all pre-race evaluations and testing conducted by licensed veterinarians.
Throughout the race, Porsild maintained a position in the top ten. She had taken her 24 hour rest at Takotna and the required Yukon River rest in Ruby. At the time of the incident, Charley was one of 14 dogs in harness. Mille was rookie of the year in 2020. She is 6/7 in her Iditarod career with 4 top ten finishes including a 5th place finish on the Gold Trail Loop of 2021. Condolences to Mille at this sad time of losing Charlie.
Grayson Bruton has scratched in Unalakleet also on March 17th. With ten dogs in harness the veteran of one Iditarod chose to leave the race for the best interest of his team. He’s been rebuilding his team for the past few years and was excited to share the trail with his young athletes. Grayson wore bib 37 and was the final competitor to leave the Willow re-start.
