
Biography
Matthew Failor, 37, was born and raised in Ohio. He says, “My family taught me a love of the outdoors; camping, fishing, canoeing, backpacking, hunting, were all things we did on family vacations. My mom and dad and brothers and sister all enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle. My three brothers and I are Eagle Scouts.” He moved to Alaska in 2006 for a summer college job as a dog handler at Gold Rush Sled Dog Tours. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Photography from Ohio State University in 2007. He moved to Alaska permanently in 2008 to work with Matt Hayashida and train with him and his dogs. He has worked for various mushers and in 2010, he started handling for Martin Buser and ran his first Iditarod as Martin’s handler. He recently moved to Willow to run dogs under his own name. 17th Dog, Team Matthew Failor. “The dogs and I spend all summer, fall and winter together living as a family and learn to work towards a common goal, improving in everything we do and never stop learning. Twenty eight canines have become my immediate family now, however, Ohio will forever be called home.” Matthew is currently a dog trainer and has been manager of Alaska Icefield Expeditions for 12 years. He says he enjoys sports, staying active and is an avid outdoorsman.
Sponsors
Gold Rush Sled Dog Tours
| Highs Adventure
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2019 Standings
Checkpoint | Time In | Dogs In | Time Out | Dogs Out | Rest Time | Previous | Layover | Status | Distance | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enroute Time | Speed (mph) | 8hr | 24hr | ||||||||
Willow | 3/03 14:30:00 | 14 | |||||||||
Yentna | 3/03 18:21:00 | 14 | 3/03 20:32:00 | 14 | 2h 11m | 3h 51m | 10.91 | 42 | |||
Skwentna | 3/03 23:42:00 | 14 | 3/04 02:33:00 | 14 | 2h 51m | 3h 10m | 9.47 | 30 | |||
Finger Lake | 3/04 07:09:00 | 14 | 3/04 10:48:00 | 14 | 3h 39m | 4h 36m | 8.70 | 40 | |||
Rainy Pass | 3/04 14:04:00 | 14 | 3/04 17:25:00 | 14 | 3h 21m | 3h 16m | 9.18 | 30 | |||
Rohn | 3/04 21:21:00 | 14 | 3/04 21:33:00 | 14 | 0h 12m | 3h 56m | 8.90 | 35 | |||
Nikolai | 3/05 10:44:00 | 14 | 3/05 15:32:00 | 13 | 4h 48m | 13h 11m | 5.69 | 75 | |||
McGrath | 3/05 21:49:00 | 13 | 3/05 21:51:00 | 13 | 0h 2m | 6h 17m | 7.64 | 48 | |||
Takotna | 3/06 00:12:00 | 13 | 3/07 01:24:00 | 13 | 25h 12m | 2h 21m | 7.66 | ![]() |
18 | ||
Ophir | 3/07 04:07:00 | 13 | 3/07 04:12:00 | 13 | 0h 5m | 2h 43m | 8.47 | ![]() |
23 | ||
Iditarod | 3/07 19:12:00 | 13 | 3/08 00:18:00 | 12 | 5h 6m | 15h 0m | 5.33 | ![]() |
80 | ||
Shageluk | 3/08 07:56:00 | 12 | 3/08 15:56:00 | 12 | 8h 0m | 7h 38m | 7.21 | ![]() |
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55 | |
Anvik | 3/08 19:12:00 | 12 | 3/08 19:14:00 | 12 | 0h 2m | 3h 16m | 7.65 | ![]() |
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25 | |
Grayling | 3/08 21:22:00 | 12 | 3/09 02:13:00 | 12 | 4h 51m | 2h 8m | 8.44 | ![]() |
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18 | |
Eagle Island | 3/09 08:41:00 | 12 | 3/09 08:46:00 | 11 | 0h 5m | 6h 28m | 9.59 | ![]() |
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62 | |
Kaltag | 3/09 23:35:00 | 11 | 3/10 08:01:00 | 11 | 7h 26m | 14h 49m | 4.05 | ![]() |
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60 | |
Unalakleet | 3/10 23:30:00 | 11 | 3/11 03:40:00 | 11 | 4h 10m | 15h 29m | 5.49 | ![]() |
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85 | |
Shaktoolik | 3/11 09:09:00 | 11 | 3/11 13:37:00 | 11 | 4h 28m | 5h 29m | 7.29 | ![]() |
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40 | |
Koyuk | 3/12 17:37:00 | 11 | 3/13 04:49:00 | 10 | 11h 12m | 28h 0m | 1.79 | ![]() |
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50 | |
Elim | 3/13 11:36:00 | 10 | 3/13 15:27:00 | 10 | 3h 51m | 6h 47m | 7.08 | ![]() |
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48 | |
White Mountain | 3/13 22:51:00 | 10 | 3/14 06:51:00 | 10 | 8h 0m | 7h 24m | 6.22 | ![]() |
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46 | |
Safety | 3/14 13:17:00 | 10 | 3/14 13:18:00 | 10 | 0h 1m | 6h 26m | 8.55 | ![]() |
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55 | |
Nome | 3/14 16:03:21 | 10 | 2h 45m | 8.00 | ![]() |
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22 |