Dallas mushes to the finish line of his sixth Iditarod win. Photo: K. Newmyer

Dallas Seavey claimed his SIXTH Iditarod Championship Tuesday afternoon.  Led by Sebastian and Aero, Seavey and company made the burled arch at 17:16 for an elapsed time of 9 days, 2 hours and 16 minutes.  His best Northern route time, 8 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes was recorded in 2016.

With this win, Seavey climbs one rung higher on the Iditarod ladder of success than Rick Swenson.  After winning his fifth race in 2021, he stood with Swenson as having the most Iditarod victories.  Today he surpassed Swenson in what many believed to be an impossible record to beat.

Six Time Champion Dallas Seavey with Aero (Photo: Insider Video)

Seavey has a long list of Iditarod firsts.  Back in 2005 at the age of 17,  Dallas ran the 150 mile Jr. Iditarod on the last Saturday of February.  Mid-week he turned 18 and started the Iditarod on the first Saturday of March.  That likely makes him the youngest person to run Iditarod.  He finished his rookie race in 51st place out of 63 finishers.  In 2012 at the age of 25,  he became Iditarod’s youngest champion.  Then in 2021 he became the first musher to tie Rick Swenson’s record of five championships.  Swenson accomplished the five win milestone in a span of 14 years.  Seavey accomplished his five victories between 2012 and 2021, just nine years.  Now in 2024 at the age of 37 he owns the record of most Iditarod crowns earned in a span of twelve years.  Congrats on this monumental accomplishment! 

Dallas also claimed the GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award at Cripple.  He chose as his prize the $3,000 in Gold nuggets.  He was honored with the Northrim Bank Achieve More Award for being the first musher to reach White Mountain.  He received $2,500 and a one of a kind print.

When interviewed at the arch Dallas said, “We managed to overcome a year’s worth of adversity, one step at a time – what can we do right now.  Winning a sixth race had to be hard for it to be really special.  This one was supposed to be hard.  It was hard.”  Seavey recognized his team saying,  “They had a lot of heart and worked together the whole way down the trail.  Aero and Sebastian are the two best athletes on the team with the biggest hearts but they are on the podium representing the whole team.”

Matt Hall Runner-Up (Photo: Insider Video)

Second to the burled arch was Two Rivers musher, Matt Hall.  Hall finished his 6th race in 9 days 6 hours and 57 minutes an improvement of 12 hours over his previous best time on the northern route.  Hall improved from 4th in 2023 to runner-up this year.  He now owns three top ten finishes, two of which are top four finishes.  Matt started mushing at the age of two.  He grew up in Eagle on the Yukon River and ran a trap line with his sled dogs.  He also guided week long expeditions  for Bush Alaska Expeditions, a company owned by his parents.  His dream of racing began at a young age.  The first generation of pups that is the foundation of his current race team was born when Hall was 16.  He moved to Two Rivers to begin his competitive mushing career.  He ran his first Yukon Quest 1,000 at the age of 22.  When 26, he won the 2017 Yukon Quest  1,000 Championship.  He and his wife operate Smokin’ Ace Kennel.  Matt’s goal for 2024 was to beat his 2023 time, but didn’t quite manage.  He said the trail was slower but over all good – no overflow, no drifts, even the 30 miles of gravel wasn’t that bad.  For next year Hall plans to travel with his team more to experience softer trail conditions.  When asked if her wanted to recognize a dog, he said he couldn’t pick a single dog as they all fire as a team.

Jessie Holmes 3rd Place (Photo: Insider Video)

Earning third was Jessie Holmes who was born and raised in Alabama.  He left for Alaska when he turned 18 but was waylaid in Montana for three years working as a carpenter.  He made it to the Last Frontier in 2004 and started mushing dogs on a Yukon River trap line.  In 2018 he placed 7th to earn Rookie of the Year honors.  He now has 5 top 10 finishes in seven consecutive races.  Three of the five are top five finishes, two being top three runs.  His best northern route time came in 2022 with 9 days 4 hours and 39 minutes.  He completed the 2024 run in 9 days 8 hours and 18 minutes.  Holmes was the first musher to the coast where he received the Ryan Air Gold Coast Award which consisted of  $1,500 in gold nuggets and a hand carved loon.  Holmes is a subsistence resident of Brushkana.  He works as a carpenter and TV personality appearing on the reality show Life Below Zero.  At the arch, Jessie praised all eight of his dogs as he worked the line giving them snacks.  Before last year’s race, Holmes was helping in Golovin after the storm.  He was injured but still ran in 2023.  This year he’s back on his feet and really appreciated the people of Golovin and their warm welcome as he came to the community.

Jeff Deeter Claims 4th (Photo: Insider Video)

Claiming fourth place was Jeff Deeter who calls Fairbanks home.  He made the burled arch in 9 days 11 hours and 52 minutes.  This is his personal best time and the first time he’s been in the top 10.  Jeff ran his first Iditarod when he was 19  placing 59th then took ten years off to build a home and business.  Deeter and his wife KattiJo, who did color for Iditarod Insider, operate Black Spruce Dog Sledding.  Both he and KattiJo ran in 2022 and had to scratch thanks to the blow hole storm.  KattiJo returned in 2023 for unfinished business and claimed  16th place out of 29 finishers.  Jeff took the year off to support KattiJo’s run.  In their tour business, the Deeters focus on educating about the sport and lifestyle of long distance dog mushing.   Once he set his snow hook at the burled arch, Jeff immediately went to his praise his single leader  then he worked back to the sled while snacking and praising each athlete.  His goal was to improve from his previous best finish of 12th.  Mission accomplished!

5th Place Paige Drobny in Nome (Photo: Insider Video)

Arriving at the burled arch in fifth place was Paige Drobny.  Paige made the run in 9 day 13 hours and 12 minutes which is her fastest time for the northern route.  In nine races, she’s finished each race and finished in 7th place in 2019 and 2020.  This is her first top five finish.  She was a little more than an hour behind 4th place Jeff Deeter and a little more than an hour ahead of Travis Beals, the next musher to finish.  Paige and her husband, musher Cody Strathe, operate Squid Acres  Kennel and Dog Paddle Designs, a company that builds dog sleds.  Curious about the name Squid Acres?  Paige did her master’s degree in fisheries oceanography – she studied squid.  So being her passion at the time they named the kennel…  Back in 2006 when they started mushing, it was a way to see Alaska.  Racing wasn’t on their radar until doing the GinGin 200 a few years later.  It was fun and they made the leap to racing and then long distance racing.  In 2016 and 2021 the couple ran to the burled arch finishing 42nd and 43rd then 19th and 20th respectively.  At the finish line, Paige praised her leaders from the Hip Hop litter.  When asked if she was striving to be competitive she said, “It’s not about time.  I’m very cautious and conservative.” 

Cody Strathe and Paige Drobny Unalakleet 2016 (Photo: Terrie Hanke)