Friday evening and three teams are heading toward Galena from Ruby. Jessie Holmes took his 8 hour Yukon rest and hit the river at 12:55 with 14 dogs. Paige Drobny took her 8 hour rest in Ruby and began her Yukon River run at 15:01 with 14 dogs. Holmes has about a two hour lead over Drobny which has increased slightly from leaving Takotna. Riley Dyche arrived in Ruby at 15:02, spent all of 12 minutes then headed to Galena with 15 dogs.
What are the strategies are these top contenders? It’s hard to say for sure as only they know but here’s my best guess. It wasn’t Jessie’s plan to stay in Ruby. Back at Cripple his plan was to divide the run from Cripple to Galena into two segments of 60 miles. However, he changed his mind, stayed in Ruby and now will likely divide the distance from Ruby to Kaltag into two segments camping between Galena and Nulato.
Page Drobny was intent on going to Galena for her Yukon 8 but instead stayed in Ruby. Her decision was based on running in the cold and resting in the sunny part of the day. Think of the difference for the dogs – soaking up some sun while on a bed of straw or enjoying the same bed of straw at night under moonlight. At least for now, the temperatures have moderated compared to the first part of the race.
What about the Riley Dyche? He’s out of Ruby heading to Galena. Riley is probably breaking the run from Cripple to Galena into two segments. See how his strategy plays out when he leaves the river at Kaltag. Will he break the run from Galena to Unalakleet into three segments, camping between Nulato and Kaltag then at Tripod Flats on the portage trail then stopping at Unalakleet on the coast? It’s the veteran mushers who are more likely to camp between checkpoints.
There’s a number of contenders in Ruby – Mille Porsild, Ryan Redington, Travis Beals, Michelle Phillips, Jeff Deeter, Pete Kaiser, Matt Hall, Wade Marrs, Jessie Royer and Lauro Eklund. Mille and Ryan are still putting booties on 16 dogs. Phillips, Kaiser and Marrs are running 12, Royer has 13 and Beals, Deeter and Eklund have 15. What will their strategies be? Looking at the speeds of mushers currently on the Yukon River, the trail looks to be firm.
Four rookies are closing in on Cripple – Sadie Lindquist, Adam Lindenmuth, Sam Paperman and Jody Potts-Joseph. Veteran Grayson Bruton is running with them. They are spread out over 13 miles and are all within 20 miles of Cripple.
In the middle of the pack approaching Ruby is Josi (Thyr) Shelly. Josi was Rookie of the Year in 2024 with 15th place. She sat out the 2025 Iditarod but this year is running two long distance races. The Yukon Quest Alaska 750 and the Iditarod. There was a time that both races covered 1,000 miles. However, the Quest has broken into two races now. The Quest Alaska runs a loop out of Fairbanks that would have been close to 850 miles had weather not shortened the race to 750. Miles this year. The Quest that runs in the Yukon Territory was cancelled. Josi claimed Gold in the Quest Alaska enduring frigid temperatures and blizzard conditions. Now she’s nearing the first checkpoint on the Yukon River at mile 495 of the Iditarod with 11 dogs in harness.
Josi got her start with dogs when she harnessed the power of her pet Siberian husky for rollerblading. Jessie Royer who is also on the Iditarod trail this race has been a mentor and friend to Josi. Josi came to Alaska as a teenager and handled for Aaron Burmeister. Josi and her husband, JJ, operate There and Back Again Sled Dogs in Two Rivers. Their kennel has Smith and Failor bloodlines.
Rookie, Jesse Terry, an Anishinabe musher from Sioux Lookout, Ontario in Canada is currently running in 23rd place while resting at mile 448 in route to Cripple. He spent much of his youth enjoying canoeing in the wilds of northwest Ontario. In a rather unusual move when Jesse was young, Jesse’s father chose to buy a few sled dogs over a snow machine. Jesse began mushing at the age of eleven. As a teenager he participated in regional sprint races. He then graduated to mid-distance races – Hudson Bay Quest 200, Canadian Challenge 300, Beargrease, Caledonia Classic 200 and the Yukon Quest 450. Jesse and his wife, Mary England, operate On the Land Racing. They train two teams with Jesse being primarily responsible for the “A” team and Mary schooling the puppy team. In January, Jesse finished 3rd in the John Beargrease 450 marathon in northern Minnesota. In the middle of the pack, Jesse has 15 dogs in harness as he approaches the Yukon River checkpoint of Ruby.
Also in the middle of the pack is veteran musher Chad Stoddard behind a team of Happy Trails Buser Dogs. Stoddard has worked with some of the best mushers around – Lance Mackey, Dallas Seavey, Martin Buser, Billy Snodgrass and Sven Haltmann. Currently he works for Martin Buser at Happy Trails and is running his third Iditarod. Stoddard was rookie of the year in 2021 placing 23rd on the Gold Trail Loop. In 2022 he finished in 7th place with a time of 9 days, 8 hours and 28 minutes on this northern route. Approaching Ruby, Chad has 15 dogs in harness.
Stoddard was born in Anchorage, spent his childhood in Washington State, returned to Alaska to work at Alaska Icefield Expeditions then found his way to Montana to work and train with Iditarod veteran Billy Snodgrass before once again returning to Alaska to pursue a career with dogs. After he completed his first Iditarod qualifier he learned that his family has ties to Nenana where his great-grandfather Williams Burk Sr. carried mail by dog team around the time of the Serum Run. With the ancestral tie to the sport, Chad feels that he’s doing what he’s meant to do.
