Rounding out the top five for 2026 is Wade Marrs. Wade completed the race with 6 dogs in harness with a time of 9 days, 21 hours and 2 minutes. In bib 26, Wade made a steady climb to the top five and has been bouncing between 5th and 3rd position since he left Unalakleet at mile 711. He departed White Mountain at 20:07 on March 17th. Wade’s closest competitor, Matt Hall, departed White Mountain 4.5 hours behind him. Hall did the 55 mile run to Safety in 7 hours and 54 minutes while Marrs covered the distance in 8 hours and 40 minutes. Hall gained some time but not enough to challenge for 5th place. Wade’s Iditarod career began in 2009. He’s 11/13 in finishes and starts. He has accumulated 5 top ten finishes including 4tthplace in 2016 and 2021. His most recent northern run was in 2016 when he finished in 8 days, 18 hours and 43 minutes. Marrs has won the Nome Kennel Club’s Fastest Time Safety to Nome in 2015 (2:30) and 2019 (2:38). He covered the distance this year in 3 hours and 44 minutes. The headwinds on the 22 miles stretch were exceptionally strong.
Matt Hall has finished in 6th with 9 dogs in harness. Hall’s run time was 9 days, 23 hours and 27 minutes. Hall departed White Mountain at 01:54 on March 18th. His closest competitor, Riley Dyche, departed 2.5 hours behind him. Hall was the twelfth musher to leave Ophir after completing his 24 hour rest, then the fifth to depart Cripple. He was in ninth position when leaving Kaltag. Matt climbed the ladder to be sixth out of Elim and that’s where he stayed. He began his Iditarod career in 2018. He’s 8/8 in starts and finishes, placing in the top ten four times. He was runner up to Jessie Holmes in 2025 on the Idita-River run. He was runner up to Dallas Seavey on the northern route in 2024. He completed the 2024 northern route in 9 days, 6 hours and 57 minutes.
Riley Dyche has claimed 7th place with 12 dogs in harness. Riley’s run time was 10 days, 1 hour and 27 minutes. Dyche departed White mountain in 7th position with his closest challenger, Michelle Phillips, an hour and thirty minutes back. Dyche maintained his position to the finish. Riley has completed 5 of 6 Iditarod attempts starting back in 2020. Previously his best finish was 10th in 2025 on the Idita-River Iditarod. Today’s finish was his second in the top ten. In 2020, his rookie year, Dyche completed the northern route in 13 days, 17 hours and 58 minutes for 25th place. In 2022 Riley finished the northern route in 12 days, 19 hours and 30 minutes for 33rd place. At the arch, Riley praised his leaders Ace and Garnet. The going was tough in the blow hole but they brought the team through. He also mentioned that 12 was the biggest team he’s ever had at the finish.
Lauro Eklund has claimed 8th place with 12 dogs in harness. Lauro’s run time was 10 days, 3 hours and 19 minutes. Lauro is a relative newcomer to Iditarod having begun his career in 2024 on the northern route. In his rookie run, Lauro placed 26th with a time of 11 days, 2 hours and 22 minutes. In 2025 on the Idita-river Iditarod he improved to 14th place. Lauro was inspired by his father, Neil, who ran Iditarod in 1981 and 1983. When Lauro was 17 he bought his first sled dog for $600 and two cords of firewood. Since then he’s enjoyed a multitude of adventures with dogs and has caught the racing bug. Eklund ran in the middle of the pack for much of the 2026 race but made his way into 9th position on the coast. He left White Mountain 50 minutes behind Michelle Phillips but passed her before Safety. This is Eklund’s first top ten finish.
Pete Kaiser of Bethel was the 9th musher to make the burled arch. He had 8 dogs in harness. Kaiser’s elapsed run time was 10 days, 3 hours and 35 minutes. Kaiser left White Mountain in 10th position but moved ahead of Michelle Phillips as did Lauro Eklund. Pete took his 24 hour in Takotna. He ran a pretty conservative race until the coast where he moved up into the 10th position. Kaiser began his Iditarod career in 2010. In 16 runs, he’s scratched only once. He’s had ten finishes in the top ten, including six in the top five. Kaiser is the 2019 race champion. In his most recent run on the northern route in 2024 Pete again claimed 9th place but with a faster time of 9 days, 18 hours and 30 minutes. Kaiser’s best time on the northern route came back in 2016 – 8 days, 20 hours and 24 minutes.
Michelle Phillips rounds out the top ten for 2026. With 10 dogs in harness Michelle completed the race in 10 days, 3 hours and 40 minutes. Phillips began her Iditarod career in 2010. She is a perfect 14 for 14 in starts and finishes. She earned 4th place in the 2025 Idita-River Iditarod which is her only finish in the top 5. Today she adds a top 10 finish to her resume. Phillips has also participated in the Yukon Quest 1,000 mile race. In 2022 Phillips finished the northern route in 17th place with a time of 9 days, 21 hours and 52 minutes. During an interview with Insider earlier in the race, Phillips mentioned that she loves being on the Iditarod trail with her dog team but it’s very hard getting here with all of the challenges that Mother Nature throws at the mushers during training with bitter cold and heavy snow. At the arch Michelle said she was retiring from 1,000 mile races.
