Bib #2, Sean Williams Takes the Countdown for Iditarod 50 (Photo Insider Video)

Sean Williams, wearing bib #2, led the field of 49 mushers out on the trail for the fiftieth running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.  I almost said the fiftieth trip to Nome but there was last year when the race made a round trip journey out to Iditarod. 

Iditarod was the destination Joe Redington, Sr. originally had in mind and thus the namesake.  Nobody seemed to know where Iditarod was and nobody was interested in running a race out to Iditarod and back.  But once the gold coast town of Nome was mentioned as a destination, interest grew.  Now fifty years later, every musher and every race fan knows where Iditarod is along with the history of the abandoned gold mining town.

Lisbet Norris and Siberians at the Willow Lake Restart (Photo Credit Dave Poyzer)

With 49 mushers, the field for the 2022 Iditarod is three larger than for the Gold Trail Loop of last year.  Then to find a smaller field you’d have to go all the way back to 1978 when 39 mushers started.  That was the year Dick Mackey claimed a one second victory over Rick Swenson.

There are a few news items of interest to all race fans.  Dallas Seavey has announced that after the 2022 Iditarod he plans to take a break from racing to enjoy time with his daughter.  Aaron Burmeister has made a similar announcement saying he’s not retiring or quitting but he’s going to spend time with his family rather than race and training in the near future.  Nicolas Petit tested positive with COVID and has entrusted his team to Jeff King.  

Just a few hours and 42 miles into the race, teams will arrive at Yentna Station, the first of 20 northern route checkpoints.  The late Dan Gabryszak and his wife Jean established the Roadhouse in 1981 and a few years later, the Iditarod route shifted to run the Yentna River and Yentna became an official checkpoint of the race.  The Gabryszak family graciously hosts the checkpoint, opening the lodge to house the communications equipment and serving meals to the small army of volunteers who descend upon Yentna for the first day and night of the race.

KattiJo Deeter, Bib #19 Off and Running on Willow Lake (Photo Credit Dave Poyzer)

On the river, there will be five chutes set up for checkers to handle the tightly packed field of mushers as they descend upon Yentna.  Inside, the comms team will be reporting dog traffic, in times and out times back to Anchorage.  Back in Anchorage comms workers will be receiving the information and uploading it to race stats for fans, friends and family to track the race.

Another few hours and 30 miles further into the race, teams will arrive at Skwentna.  Having worked comms at Skwentna for a number of years, believe me, seeing the first headlamp approaching from up river is a huge thrill.  It’s the trigger for several hours of intense activity in the checkpoint.  So when might the Skwentna River Crew see the headlamp of the first musher to come around the bend?  Looking back at 2020, Robert Redington arrived in Skwentna at 23:40.  That was a slow run through deep newly fallen snow.  A more accurate prediction might come from the 2019 with a hard fast trail.  Jessie Holms checked in at 20:58 and Matt Hall followed a 21:30.  I think a safe bet would be a few minutes one side or the other of 21:00.

Travis Beals in Bib #42 is Sure to Start Making His Way to the Front of the Pack (Photo Insider Video)

Something to watch tonight and into tomorrow is who moves up toward the front of the Pack.  Teams depart the start in two-minute intervals.  Hugh Neff wearing bib #50 will depart 96 minutes after Sean Williams in bib #2.  This start differential is added to the 24-hour required layover.  So for tonight and up through the 24-hour rest, the leader isn’t the first team charging down the trail.  But watch to see who’s moving up toward the front from the teams that drew the higher bib numbers.

It’s likely you’ll see some of the back of the packers begin to make their move.  You’ve got Mille Porsild #33, Pete Kaiser #37, Martin Buser #38, Travis Beals #42 and Hugh Neff #50.  See how many places they gain between Willow and Skwentna.

Here are just a few facts while we await the first race stats coming out of Yentna.  Of the 49 mushers, there are 32 males and 17 females.  Thirty-six mushers are race veterans and proudly sport the coveted finisher’s belt buckle.  Thirteen are rookies and dream of receiving the finisher’s belt buckle.  Forty-one mushers in the 2022 field hail from the United States.  Eight represent foreign soil.  Matts Pettersson is from Sweden, Joar Leifseth Ulsom and Hanna Lyrek – Norway, Mille Porsild – Denmark, Sebastien Dos Santos Borges – France and from Canada – Michelle Phillips, Martin Massicotte and Aaron Peck. Martin Buser is wearing bib #38 – he has finished 38 races, been married for 38 years and won Iditarod when he was 38.

Sit back and enjoy the race.  Remember that following the race through the lens of the Insider crew and through GPS tracker is the next best thing to being there and you don’t have to dress for extreme cold!