2025 Iditarod Champion Jessie Holmes feels like an old friend, a guy you’ve visited with often. For thousands upon thousands of race fans, that’s exactly the case. Through National Geographic’s Life Below Zero show, we’ve invited Holmes into our lives on Tuesday evenings for several years. We’ve watched him build his home in Nenana, rebuild in Brushkana, live by subsistence through hunting, trapping and fishing, build his kennel recover from serious injury and develop his dog team into the champions they are today. We likely watched his leader Polar develop from a puppy!
Early this morning, Holmes as the first musher to pass under Burled Arch III became the 26th winner of The Last Great Race. There are 17 champions who hold one win and 9 champions who hold 36 wins – Dallas Seavey 6; Rick Swenson 5; Lance Mackey, Jeff King, Martin Buser, Doug Swingley and Susan Butcher all with 4; Mitch Seavey 3 and Robert Sorlie 2.
Holmes, a relative newcomer to Iditarod, ran his first race in 2018 placing 7th and earning Rookie of the Year Honors. In his 8 starts and 8 finishes, Holmes has dipped from the top ten only twice. He’s been a solid contender over the past three years with 3rd place in 2022, 5th in 2023 and 3rd again in 2024.
At the age of 18, Holmes left Alabama to go see Alaska. On his way to the last frontier, Holmes spent 3 years in Montana honing his skills as a carpenter. He arrived at his destination in 2004 and Immediately found adventure running dogs on a trap line on the Yukon River. That connection with working dogs brought Jessie to the start line of both sprint and distance races. He won the Kobuk 440 in 2017.
While running his trapline, he often crossed paths with Matt Hall who grew up trapping on the Yukon and they’ve become friends over the years. This year while running together for a short distance on Norton Sound, that was their topic of discussion – the days eighteen years back when they both trapped and only dreamed of racing to now, leading the 2025 Iditarod trail Sled Dog Race.
Standing under the burled arch in Nome this morning, Holmes called his 10 days on the trail magical citing moments on the Blueberry Hills at sunset, running under a full moon as it reflected off glazed snow and the northern lights as they danced in the skies. Holmes ran a very disciplined race pouring rest, rest and more rest into his dogs. From that investment he reaped great returns including a $57,200 winner’s check. Jessie was awed by the performance of his dogs, praising them as champions and calling his leader Polar the “brains of the outfit.”
Along the trail, Holmes received the GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award, the Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award, the Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award, the Ryan Air Gold Coast Award and the Northrim Bank Achieve More Award. His winnings from those awards total $4,500 in cash, $4,500 in gold nuggets, 25 pounds of fresh Bristol Bay salmon and multiple trophies to commemorate each achievement.
Matt Hall claimed 2nd place three hours behind Holmes. Yesterday Matt told Insider that by the time he reached Elim he had stopped chasing Jessie as he knew he couldn’t catch him. Elim seemed like a good time to give back to the dogs with another rest break. Matt had a buffer on both sides as he couldn’t catch Jessie and he had a lead on Paige. Hall said about the last miles of Iditarod 2025, “This is a no stress run. It’s just a beautiful run with my dogs. The rest is going to power us over Little McKinley.” Little McKinley is a long challenging climb between Elim and Golovin that gains 1,000 feet in elevation.
Matt Hall has seven Iditarod starts and seven finishes. He’s been in the top ten 4 years with his best finish just last year – runner up to Dallas Seavey. He’s been on the runners since the age of two and those early experiences with dogs served as the basis for his dream of being a professional musher. His first generation of pups that is the foundation for his current racing team was born the summer Hall turned 16. Hall relocated to Two Rivers, Alaska to begin a racing career. He ran the Yukon Quest 1,000 mile race when he was 22. At the age of 26, he won the Yukon Quest 1,000. Hall shares his mushing knowledge through Alaskan Icefield Expeditions and Rod’s Alaskan Guide Service. Matt and his wife, Elke, operate Silver Ace Kennel located next to the Chena River.
Paige Drobny, who was the final contestant to enter Iditarod 2025 finished in 3rd place at 08:38, about three hours behind Hall and 6 hours behind Holmes. Paige has 10 starts and 10 finishes with her first being in 2013. She’s claimed a spot in the top 10 in four of those runs with a previous best of 5th place in 2024.
Earlier in the race, Paige was the first musher to arrive in Galena to earn the Feast on the Yukon which she shared with village elders and the checkpoint coordinator. Drobny took her 24 hour rest in Galena which allowed more time to enjoy the meal prepared by Top Chefs of Alaska Grown Restaurants.
Drobny lives on the Denali Highway. She and husband, Cody Strathe are both veterans of the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest. They are neighbors to Jessie Holmes. Paige and Cody operate Squid Acres Kennel and a Tour Company. Paige and Cody were the first husband and wife to complete the Iditarod in the same year. In 2016 Paige earned 43rd place in her fourth race while Cody earned 42nd as a rookie. The couple has a very impressive race history including the Iditarod, Yukon Quest, Kusko 300 and Copper Basin 300. It was their first fun race, The Gin Gin 200 in 2009 that launched them down the slippery yet rewarding path to long distance racing.
The run from Shaktoolik to Koyuk was a game changer for Drobny and her team. She took a short rest in Shaktoolik and headed out across Norton Sound into a ground blizzard with winds she estimated at 30 mph. Paige said it was like being sand blasted for the whole 50 mile run. Upon getting to Koyuk she decided to take an extra-long rest to restore her teams confidence in their CEO. As a seasoned musher, Paige is a great strategist and very adept at reading her dogs and responding to their needs.
Currently Drobny has the fastest time from Safety to Nome, covering the distance in 3 hours, 3 minutes. Holmes covered the 22 miles in 3 hour and 8 minutes. Hall made that final run from Safety to Front Street in 3 hours and 7 minutes. The Nome Kennel Club honors the musher in the top 20 who has the fastest run from Safety to Nome. Keep an eye on those times!
