How do the mushers know where the trail is and how do we know where the mushers are? The answer to part 1 of this question is lath stakes. The answer to part 2 is Tracker. Lath trail markers have been used for a very long time. The tracker is really new to the race …
Rookie Iditarod musher Christopher Parker (bib #19) of Fairbanks, Alaska, scratched at 1:45 p.m. today at the McGrath checkpoint. Parker made the decision to scratch in the best interest of his race team. Parker had eight dogs in harness at the time he made the decision to scratch.
Back when Joe Redington was dreaming of a race to assure the future of sled dogs in Alaska and to bring recognition to the Iditarod Historic Trail, Iditarod was his goal. Start in Anchorage then run to Iditarod and back. Can you imagine the conversation about what to call the race? If we’re going to …
Veteran Iditarod musher Gunnar Johnson (bib #11), of Duluth, Minnesota, has been withdrawn from the 2021 Iditarod race at approximately 3:15 p.m. today due to a positive COVID-19 test at the McGrath checkpoint. Iditarod Race Marshal Mark Nordman, in consultation with epidemiologist Dr. Jodie Guest, made the decision to withdraw Johnson, who is asymptomatic, based …
Veteran musher Brent Sass (bib # 21), of Eureka, Alaska, is the first musher to reach the Iditarod checkpoint, the halfway point of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Sass arrived at 6:08 p.m. with 14 dogs. GCI technician Bob James presented Sass with the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award. By arriving first to Iditarod, …
The 20-mile loop from Iditarod out to Flat and back is scratched! Race marshal, Mark Nordman announced the distance of the Gold Trail Loop would be shortened by twenty miles. There will be no loop out to Flat. There is an abundance of snow in the Iditarod Flat area making it difficult for trailbreakers to …
Due to challenging trail conditions in to and at Flat, I have made the decision to have the Iditarod mushers bypass the out-and-back route to Flat and instead turn around at the Iditarod checkpoint. The Iditarod trailbreaker crew has had a challenging time breaking the trail open due to the sheer volume of accumulated …
Rookie Iditarod musher Brenda Mackey (bib #15) of Two Rivers, Alaska, scratched at 7:45 a.m. today at the Nikolai checkpoint. Mackey made the decision to scratch in the best interest of her race team. Mackey had nine dogs in harness at the time she made the decision to scratch.
Insider guy Dave Poyzer has captured these unique blue hour photos. Brent Sass, Joar Leifseth Ulsom, Peter Kaiser and Travis Beals came into Nikolai right around 0700 on Tuesday morning – before the sun climbed over the horizon at 07:52. What is the blue hour? When the sun is well below the horizon either …
It’s Wednesday morning, day three of the 2021 Iditarod. Teams are spreading out and strategies are becoming apparent. By the way, you know you’re a serious race fan if you have 5 or more books authored by mushers in your personal library. Again Dave Poyzer has captured some fantastic images of teams at Nikolai. Weather …
