IT'S IDITAROD TIME....trouble already

Here are the top 10 as of 7:44am AKDT

Heading towards Koyuk (MILE 958)
1 Jessie Holmes MILE 925
2 Matt Hall MILE 921

Resting in Shaktoolik (MILE 908)
3 Paige Drobny

Mushing towards Skaktoolik
4 Michelle Phillips MILE 871

Resting in Unalakleet (MILE 866)
5 Mille Porsild

Mushing towards Unalakleet
6 Ryan Redington MILE 858
7 Mitch Seavey MILE 855
8 Travis Beals MILE 852
9 Bailey Vitello MILE 845
10 Nicolas Petit MILE 829

Jessie Holmes was the first musher to reach the Unalakleet checkpoint at 7:03 p.m. yesterday, making him the recipient of the Ryan Air Gold Coast Award.

Unless the weather goes crazy, I suspect we will have our champion sometime Thursday evening. It will take a few more days after that for the last musher to cross under the burled arch in Nome.


Speaking of the burled arch in Nome, the race is getting a new one. Read about it below. I believe this is the third arch the race has had over the years. The original Iditarod finish line was simply a line in the snow made with red kool-aid. :animated laughing: Truth!

alaskapublic.org/news/iditarod/ ... ont-street

Here are the rest of the mushers as of 6:02 AKDT
(r) stands for rookie

Mushing towards Koyuk (Mile 958)
11 Riley Dyche

In Unalakleet (Mile 866)
12 Matthew Failor

Mushing towards Unalakleet
13 Anna Berington MILE 846
14 Lauro Eklund MILE 835
15 Jason Mackey MILE 835
16 Emily Ford(r) MILE 829
17 Samantha LaLonde(r) MILE 829
18 Keaton Loebrich(r) MILE 805

In Kaltag 2 (Mile 785)
19 Connor McMahon(r)
20 Calvin Daugherty(r)
21 Ebbe Pedersen(r)
22 Dane Baker(r)

Mushing toward Kaltag 2
23 Jenny Roddewig(r) MILE 759

That's all of them left running, just 23 teams.

Teams that are no longer in the race (due to various reasons)
Justin Olnes(r)
Sydnie Bahl(r)
Quince Mountain(r)
Bryce Mumford(r)
Gabe Dunham
Daniel Klein(r)
Jeff Deeter
Mike Parker(r)
Brenda Mackey(r)
Charmayne Morrison(r)

10 teams dropping out is a lot



SORTA A STRANGE YEAR,THE STARTING LOCATION SEEMED TO MESS UP THINGS.

Jessie Holmes just arrived at White Mt!!! :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:
Matt Hall is 20+ miles behind him.

All mushers have a mandatory 8hr rest at White Mt. Then it typically takes 6 to 8 hours to run to Nome if the weather is okay.

Each Musher will have to take quick stop at the Safety checkpoint to pick up their bibs. Generally mushers do not rest there unless the weather is so bad that they dare not risk it.


he race route was changed due to the lack of snow. About 1/3 of the race was routed on the Yukon River which is not a smooth frozen river. That entire portion of the race (~330 mile) was brutal, chunky ice, over-flow, wind, etc.

In a race with 70+ musher to begin with, then 10 scratches would be "normal". But the race started with only 33 mushers and roughly half of them are rookies. Most of those that have scratched/withdrawn have been rookies.

Off of the river, most of the trail has been hard packed snow. There was a section that had powdery snow which was difficult for some of the teams. But now everyone is glad to be off the river!

The remainder of the race is the traditional race route. That's not to say it will be easy, but at least the veteran mushers have an idea of what to expect.

The area around Shaktoolik is known for very high winds and white-out conditions. The run across Norton sound can be quite windy too, but it is also very challenging mentally for the musher as it never seems to end.

Then there are several sections between White Mt and Nome that can be quite tricky (e.g. the blow holes). Many mushers that have seemed to be the clear leaders at White Mt have lost the race in those last 71 miles to Nome, because of weather.

Jessie Holmes just arrived at White Mt!!! :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:
Matt Hall is 20+ miles behind him.

All mushers have a mandatory 8hr rest at White Mt. Then it typically takes 6 to 8 hours to run to Nome if the weather is okay.

Each Musher will have to take quick stop at the Safety checkpoint to pick up their bibs. Generally mushers do not rest there unless the weather is so bad that they dare not risk it.

Matt Hall arrived at White Mt 3hrs and 14 minutes behind Jessie Holmes.

In good weather, that's a deficient that would be hard (improbably) to overcome.

So it looks like the top three will be
Jessie Holmes
Matt Hall
Paige Drobny
in that order

None of those 3 have ever won the Iditarod, but they all placed well last year. I think the only musher this year with a previous Iditarod championship is Mitch Seavey.

Jessie's best was 3rd place in 2024 (as well as 2022)
Matt's best was 2nd in 2024 and 4th in 2023
Paige's best was 5th in 2024.

HOWEVER! The weather report is calling for 10-20 mph winds over the general area between White Mt and Nome. Is that enough to cause havoc? Well it depends. The "blow holes" are sections where the wind gets channeled and dramatically increases the localized wind speed. So we'll see what Mother Nature brings to the last 71 miles of this race.

Congratulations to Jesse Holms. His first Iditarod win.

alaskapublic.org/news/iditarod/2025-03-1...n-nomes-front-street

A NEW WINNER AND A NEW ARCH TO THE FINISH LINE


The new arch that signifies the end of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race arrived in Nome last week. The 27-feet-wide log, tightly wrapped in mover’s blankets and shrink-wrap, was carefully lowered from a cargo plane as workers celebrated its safe arrival.

The old arch crumbled last April after 24 years of exposure to Western Alaska’s elements. Its remains are being kept safe in a container until the summer, when the city hopes to hire an artisan to piece some of it back together.

Meanwhile, the Iditarod Trail Committee commissioned veteran musher Ramey Smyth to build a new arch, but in keeping with tradition it couldn’t just be made from any old log – it needed burls.
Workers celebrate as the Iditarod's new burled arch is lowered from a cargo plane in Nome on Monday, March 10, 2025.
Ben Townsend
/
KNOM
Workers celebrate as the Iditarod's new burled arch is lowered from a cargo plane in Nome.

“We wanted a tree that had lots of them," Smyth said. "It's basically the perfect tree for the purpose.”

Congrats Jessie :multi: :applause: :multi: :applause: :multi: HERE'S THE LAST GREAT RACE LINEUP



What fantastic race this was! The Route change made it very interesting on many levels. It sure was fun seeing so many villagers come out to see the teams racing by!


Finishers so far, these three were a blast to watch!!

1 Jessie Holmes
2 Matt Hall
3 Paige Drobny

The remainder of the teams (as of 12:01pm AKDT)

Heading to Safety (mile 1106)
4 Michelle Phillips MILE 1089
5 Bailey Vitello MILE 1069

In White Mountain (Mile 1057)
6 Mitch Seavey
7 Travis Beals
8 Ryan Redington

Heading to White Mt
9 Mille Porsild MILE 1021

In Elim (Mile 1008)
10 Riley Dyche
11 Nicolas Petit

Heading towards Elim
12 Matthew Failor MILE 992

In Koyuk (Mile 958)
13 Anna Berington
14 Lauro Eklund
15 Jason Mackey

Heading towards Koyuk
16 Emily Ford MILE 952
17 Samantha LaLonde MILE 952
18 Keaton Loebrich MILE 913

In Shaktoolik (Mile 908)
19 Connor McMahon
20 Calvin Daugherty

Heading to Shaktoolik
21 Ebbe Pedersen MILE 895
22 Dane Baker MILE 888

In Unalakleet (Mile 866)
23 Jenny Roddewig

Longest Iditarod Ever
Must have been challenging preparing the last minute new course changes.

www.adn.com/outdoors-adventure/iditarod/...-first-iditarod-win/

AND HERE IS HOW HE DID IT.....GREAT PHTOS