There was a good sized crowd of people to cheer in this year’s red lantern winner, Victoria Hardwick of Bethel. Three Bethel mushers finished the race this year, Peter Kaiser who won the race, Jessica Klejka who finished in 31st place, and Victoria Hardwick who finished in 39th place and won the red lantern award. …
Yesterday I got asked what my dogs did after I finished the race last year – I finished on Saturday morning, my dogs and I flew home on Wednesday after the banquet. So what did we do for three days? We gave dog sled rides! My host family, the Owens family, does dog sled rides …
The finisher’s banquet is everybody’s favorite and least favorite part of the race – the mushers get to reflect and share stories from the trail, and they thank their sponsors before collecting their trophies, finisher’s patches, and vet books before signing autographs and heading back to their table to listen to the rest of the …
No musher could get through this race without the support of their friends and family. I had a chance to talk to Blair Braverman’s mom this morning right after Blair crossed the finish line, and her mom told me she was so proud of Blair with tears in her eyes as she watched Blair go …
Last year as I crested Cape Nome I burst into tears, as all the emotions of the last two weeks hit me – I finally knew that I would really make it to the finish line, I wasn’t going to scratch, I wasn’t going to be an Iditarod rookie anymore. All the rookies that have …
A fun story from the trail from a volunteer at the Eagle Island checkpoint – Cooper, one of Sarah Stokey’s dogs, was returned in Eagle Island, and his flight getting back to her handlers was delayed. Last year after the race the volunteers in Eagle Island requested some dog blankets for return dogs, since they …
The last two mushers left Unalakleet just after 9am this morning, headed to Shaktoolik! Cindy Gallea and Jeremy Keller are upbeat and ready to cross that finish line in Nome. They headed out into a beautiful sunrise, they’ll have amazing views of the coast from the Blueberry Hills on their way to Shaktoolik this morning. …
Blair Braverman, Jeremy Keller, Victoria Hardwicke, and Cindy Gallea all came into Unalakleet with happy teams just before 2am this morning! Their dogs are looking great, and the mushers are still pretty perky themselves – the benefit of traveling with friends on this race, you don’t get as stuck in your head as you do …
The story I’ve heard from every musher over and over again this year has been “the trail has been awful”. Last year I had a horrid run from Eagle Island (which was only a hospitality stop because supplies couldn’t get flown in), lost on the Yukon River in the middle of a snow storm, feeling …
Logisitics are the heart and soul of Iditarod – Anchorage logs (as they’re abbreviated) is in charge of getting everyone onto and off of the trail on the correct dates (and a whole lot more!). McGrath logs is responsible for all Iditarod volunteers from Rohn to Iditarod, and Unalakleet logs is responsible for all volunteers …
