2025 Iditarod Race Live Blog

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Hundreds of dogs, 33 mushers, and thousands of onlookers gathered along the trail of the 53rd Iditarod this year.

Nenana musher Jessie Holmes was first to Nome in the early morning hours of Friday, March 14, earning his first career Iditarod victory in his eighth attempt. Holmes won in 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes, 44 seconds.

The Last Great Race kicked off the morning of Saturday, March 1, with the ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage — albeit with a revised and shortened course due to low snow conditions.

The official restart sent teams out Monday, March 3, in Fairbanks, instead of the traditional Willow location, again due to lack of snow.

Follow Iditarod 53 with this live blog that brings all the latest updates and details from the trail.

March 14 - 10:45 a.m. - Holmes' victory longest in 30+ years

Even though it was a longer course than most years (1,128 miles compared to the traditional 1,049 miles), Jessie Holmes' winning time of 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes, and 44 seconds, was the longest race for a winner in over 30 years.

The last time a winning musher took longer to reach the finish was 1993, when four-time champ Jeff King won in a time of 10 days, 15 hours, 38 minutes, and 15 seconds.

When King won that year, it was then the fastest Iditarod winning time, a record that has since been demolished time and again — the current race record holder for the traditional course is six-time champion Dallas Seavey, who blitzed the 975-mile northern route in 2016 with a winning time of 8 days, 11 hours, 20 minutes, and 16 seconds.

When including all years — regardless of race mileage — the quickest race ever belongs to Seavey in the COVID-affected year of 2021, when he rolled to victory on a shortened course from Deshka Landing to the checkpoint of Iditarod and back in 7 days, 14 hours, 8 minutes, and 57 seconds. That was on an 848-mile course.

March 14 - 9:30 a.m. - Drobny nabs third place as rest of field many miles out

Third-place Drobny crossed the finish line at 8:38 a.m. The Cantwell musher was neck-and-neck with Hall in the last few days, which has become somewhat of a trend.

“Since I started racing, Matt Hall and I have always been around each other at this point in the race,” she said earlier this week, “and we always come from a different way, and end a different way. But we always are, like, right around each other for the last third, always doing different things.”

Drobny was first into Ruby and Galena this year, winning a five-course meal after beating the rest of the field into the latter checkpoint.

Her third-place finish comes just two years after finishing The Last Great Race 20th overall. Drobny’s previous best was fifth (2024).

March 14 - 6:45 a.m. - Hall runner-up for second year in a row

Matt Hall crossed the finish line at 5:59 a.m. — almost exactly three hours behind Jessie Holmes — to claim second place. The Two Rivers musher also placed second last year.

Like Holmes, Hall lives in a remote part of Alaska’s interior and is experienced in subsistence living. He won the Copper River Basin 300 in 2016 and Yukon Quest in 2017.

As of 6:30 a.m., Drobny is poised to finish third mid-morning. Barring a major setback, her 2025 result will her best across 10 Iditarod finishes, having previously finished no higher than fifth (2024).

March 14 - 4:25 a.m. - Top dogs!

We’ll be back on the air at 5 a.m. with more on Iditarod 53’s winner (stream live newscasts on our website). Until then, here are some pictures of the champ(s)!

March 14 - 3:45 a.m. - Jessie Holmes pays tribute to former champs after Iditarod 53 win

Holmes fended off Two Rivers musher Matt Hall and Cantwell musher Paige Drobny to claim the win, crossing under the Burled Arch in Nome just before 3 a.m. Friday, with a finishing time of 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes, 44 seconds.

“It’s been an amazing 10 days and I soaked up every part of it,” Holmes said in an interview with Iditarod Insider minutes after finishing.

Holmes mused on all the Iditarod icons that came to his mind while on the trail.

“Being up in Blueberry Hills [outside Unalakleet] and the most amazing sunset you could ever imagine, the moon shimmering off the glazed snow and the Northern Lights,” Holmes said, ”and thinking about Jerry [Riley], Rick [Mackey] and Lance [Mackey] all the great legends before me looking down on me and telling me I could do it. I just wanted to join that club with them."

March 14 - 2:50 a.m. - Holmes moments away from winning Iditarod 53

Watch our live coverage above of Iditarod 53’s presumptive winner, Jessie Holmes, as he and his team enters Nome.

The Nenana musher — who made his way to Alaska after growing up in Alabama — dominated the race, leading for much of the way and claiming five of the six major checkpoint awards.

March 14 - 1:30 a.m. - As crowd awaits in Nome, back of pack nears Unalakleet

As veteran musher Jessie Holmes closes in on the Burled Arch and a crowd that awaits in Nome, the back of the pack is heading for Unalakleet and the first checkpoint on the coast.

Rookie Jenny Roddewig was resting about 40 miles from the checkpoint as of last check, in 23rd place. Her team rounds out a group of rookies making up the team order from 16th place on down in this year’s race.

Roddewig checked out of Kaltag 2 a little before 6 p.m. on Thursday night. Also on their ways to Unalakleet are Ebbe Pedersen and Dane Baker.

In the current top 5 is three-time champion Mitch Seavey, who checked into White Mountain at around 1:15 a.m. He and Michelle Phillips, who arrived there earlier in the evening, are now in the midst of their mandatory 8-hour rests at the checkpoint.

As of now, the top 12 have made it to Koyuk, with veterans Nic Petit and Matt Failor having arriver in the last 45 minutes or so.

March 13 - 11:55 p.m. - Holmes in homestretch

Race leader Jessie Holmes is only 22 miles from claiming his first Iditarod victory.

Holmes reached the final checkpoint of Safety at 11:45 p.m. Thursday with 10 dogs in harness after a nearly seven-hour run from White Mountain.

Behind him is Matt Hall, who left White Mountain three hours after Holmes, a sizeable gap to try to make up.

Hall and third-place runner Paige Drobny are the only other mushers who have left White Mountain; Drobny is running another three hours behind Hall.

Race teams are also mushing to Nome under a rare lunar eclipse, in which the earth’s shadow is cast upon the moon, creating an eery red glow (due to the earth’s atmosphere scattering blue light, similar to a sunset).

The lunar eclipse on Thursday night into Friday is also known as the “blood moon,” due to the reddish color.

March 13 – 6:40 p.m. - Teams now more than 10 days into race

This year’s mushers are more than 10 days into racing, with teams still running from as far back as Kaltag all the way past White Mountain.

Rookie Jenny Roddewig, who is currently in 23rd and last place, checked out of Kaltag 2 a little before 6 p.m. Thursday.

She has 10 dogs in harness and is following the seven other rookies remaining in the race, a group now led by first-timer Samantha LaLonde, who is running some of six-time Iditarod Champion Dallas Seavey’s young dogs.

March 13 – 5:20 p.m. - Holmes leaves White Mountain; Hall, Drobny remain at checkpoint

The first three to White Mountain have started — or, now, completed — their mandatory eight-hour rests at the checkpoint, leaving just one checkpoint between their teams and the Burled Arch.

Jessie Holmes officially checked out of White Mountain at around 4:55 p.m. Matt Hall is expected to leave around 8 p.m., while Paige Drobny rolled into the checkpoint a bit before 3 p.m.

Hall spoke a bit about his run-rest schedule and some of the decisions he made with that with Iditarod Insider upon arrival to White Mountain.

“It was just a good time to get to them,” he said of his stop in Elim, one checkpoint prior. “I was done chasing, couldn’t catch [Holmes], there was a little bit of a buffer between me and Paige.

“Win by a minute, win by a mile, whatever that saying is, like, it don’t matter if he’s six hours ahead of me or six minutes ahead of me – so, why not just put it back into them," he said of giving his dogs more rest, with an hour added here and there. “So, we stopped again, hung out for a while until Paige showed up, and I didn’t let myself lay down until I made sure that she wasn’t going through.”

Michelle Phillips and 3-time Iditarod champion Mitch Seavey have checked in and out of Elim, now on their ways to White Mountain.

In Nome, as onlookers await the arrivals of the top few teams, residents and visitors alike are participating in other activities in the town, such as the annual arts and crafts fair held at the Old St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, also known as Old St. Joe’s Hall. The fair there will be open again Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

March 13 – 9 a.m. - Holmes reaches White Mountain

Leader Jesse Holmes reached the second-to-last checkpoint, White Mountain, with 11 dogs in harness Thursday morning, where all mushers take a mandatory eight-hour rest.

By arriving in White Mountain first, Holmes was awarded the Northrim Bank Achieve More Award and a check for $2,500, along with a special trophy that will be presented to Holmes at the finishers banquet on Sunday.

It was the fifth different award that Holmes has accumulated over the course of the 2025 Iditarod, adding to the following:

• Ryan Air Gold Coast Award in Unalakleet
• Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award in Kaltag 1
• GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award in Grayling 1
• Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award in Grayling 2

The only checkpoint award Holmes hasn’t collected was the “Feast on the Yukon Award,” which went out to Paige Drobny on March 6 after the Cantwell veteran reached Galena ahead of the pack.

When Holmes departs from White Mountain later Thursday, he will be just 71 miles out from the burled arch on Front Street.

Holmes made a splash in the 2018 Iditarod, taking home Rookie of the Year honors. The Alabama native placed seventh overall that year, walking away with a cool $25,000.

Since then — ordered chronologically — he has placed 27th, 9th, 15th, 3rd, 5th and 3rd again.

March 12 - 10:25 p.m. - Race leader passes 1,000-mile mark

Jessie Holmes, who is leading Iditarod 53 at this hour, has passed the 1,000-mile mark and is closing in on the Elim checkpoint, which his nearest competitor approximately 30 miles back.

Holmes and 11 of his dogs left the Koyuk checkpoint a little after 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. At that time, he trailed Matt Hall, who departed about 20 minutes prior with 10 dogs in harness. Paige Drobny checked out of Koyuk at around 9:50 p.m.

As of publishing time, the next five teams had left Shaktoolik but had not yet made it to Koyuk.

March 12 - 9:05 p.m. - Trio of rookies depart race

Three more rookies are no longer pursuing finishing their first Iditarods as part of this year’s race, with one scratching earlier today and the other two being withdrawn, according to prepared statements from the Iditarod Trail Committee.

Justin Olnes made it to Eagle Island 2 before exiting the race. He had arrived there early Wednesday afternoon with 10 dogs in harness after taking a little more than 8 hours to get there from Grayling 2.

However, though he did check out of Eagle Island, the ITC said he soon returned to the checkpoint, where he decided to scratch.

Rookies Sydnie Bahl and Quince Mountain did not scratch but were instead withdrawn from the race based on Rule 36, which states that a team may be withdrawn if “not in a position to make a valid effort to compete.”

The ITC added that both Bahl and Mountain expressed that they wanted to continue. Withdrawal, it said, is a process that requires a vote by a three-judge panel. It also said a withdrawal based on Rule 36 doesn’t imply misconduct or violation, but that the teams withdrawn must leave the trail and are to be assisted by the ITC in doing so.

Separately, a new burled arch is slated to be revealed on Front Street ahead of the finish of Iditarod 53. Check out the preview story from Eric Sowl, along with the latest standings, in the video below.

March 12 - 4:50 p.m. - Top three into Koyuk

The current top three teams in Iditarod 53 have made it to the Koyuk checkpoint, located at mile 958 of this year’s race route.

Iditarod Insider GPS tracker data showed the group through Koyuk a bit before 4:30 p.m., while the official standings were updated around 4:45 p.m. to show veterans Matt Hall and Jessie Holmes headed toward Elim. Paige Drobny checked in before either of them left.

None of the three have ever placed as high in the Iditarod as the race rankings currently reflect, with Hall having finished in second last year, Holmes third, and Drobny fifth, all of which were personal bests.

One checkpoint back, veteran Mille Porsild is the only musher remaining in Shaktoolik. Five other teams are on their way there from Unalakleet.

Below, AKNS Chief Meterologist Melissa Frey details the forecast for the course still remaining for the lead pack.

March 12 - 2:15 p.m. - New burled arch ready to be unveiled

The new burled arch that was constructed for this year’s Iditarod sits ready to be unveiled at the finish line in Nome, where preparations are underway for a winner later this week.

The arch — which replaces the old one that fell victim to wood rot last year — will be the third version to welcome finishing teams on Front Street in Nome.

Race officials plan to have an unveiling ceremony Thursday.

The story of the burled arch goes back to 1974, a year after the inaugural running of the Iditarod, when musher Red “Fox” Olson decided the event needed a more impressive finish line marker.

Olson got to work constructing an arch from a burled tree that he felled in the Rosie Creek area near Fairbanks. According to the Iditarod, it took 500 hours of labor to construct the 5,000-pound arch.

That arch was damaged while being transported after the 1999 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, making room for a new one to be constructed in time for the 2000 edition of the race.

March 12 - 7:25 a.m. – Holmes and Hall arrive in Shaktoolik minutes apart

The Shaktoolik checkpoint has been busy so far this Wednesday morning. In the last two hours, the leading three teams have all pulled into the checkpoint on Bering Sea Coast.

At 5:26 a.m. Wednesday, Jessie Holmes led the parade into the windy outpost with 11 dogs in harness. Minutes after Holmes departured, Matt Hall arrived at the checkpoint with 10 dogs in harness. The latter was back on the trail at 5:45 a.m.

Even if he did not catch Holmes, Hall’s run between Unalakleet (mile 866) and Shaktoolik (mile 908) was about an hour quicker than his challenger’s. It’s anyone’s guess who will arrive first in Koyuk (mile 958).

Paige Drobny was the third and final early morning arrival to Shaktoolik. Drobny pulled into the checkpoint at 6:44 a.m. and has not yet left.

Another busy checkpoint Wednesday will be Unalakleet, where Michelle Phillips just arrived (and quickly departed) in the last 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Mille Porsild, Mitch Seavey, Bailey Vitello, Nic Petit, Travis Beals and Ryan Redington are all still on the trail between Kaltag and Unalakleet.

Below are the current standings (top-10).

March 11 - 11:05 p.m. - Trail becomes tradition, not only for mushers

As race leader Jessie Holmes takes a break on the way to Shaktoolik, the majority of the top 15 teams at this hour appear to be resting, with the Iditarod Insider GPS tracker showing only four in that group – Mille Porsild, 2023 winner Ryan Redington, and veterans Travis Beals and Lauro Eklund – currently running.

Holmes is positioned near mile 890 on the way to the tiny town, which sits at mile marker 908 of this year’s race route.

Seventeen of the remaining teams have checked in at Eagle Island 2. Rookies are in the last nine positions of the race currently comprising 26 mushers and their dogs.

March 11 - 9:15 p.m. - Top two reach coast

Jessie Holmes and Matt Hall have both checked into and out of Unalakleet, with both mushers now on their way to Shaktoolik, at mile marker 908 of this year’s Iditarod.

Holmes – last year’s third-place finisher – spent about 12 minutes in Unalakleet, with Hall – last year’s runner-up, coming in behind six-time Iditarod Champion Dallas Seavey – taking just 7 minutes to stop at the checkpoint.

Both have at least 10 dogs in harness, with Holmes still holding on to 11 and Hall running 10 as of right now, following 13.5- and 15-hour runs from Kaltag 2, respectively.

Paige Drobny appears to be camped about 10 miles outside of the checkpoint, with Mille Porsild, Michelle Phillips, three-time Iditarod Champion Mitch Seavey, Bailey Vitello and Nic Petit now out of Kaltag 2.

Quince Mountain is in Red Lantern position and has officially checked out of Grayling 1. The next musher closest to him is rookie Sydnie Bahl, who is resting in Shageluk.

March 11 - 5:45 p.m. - Hall, Drobny round out current trio of front-runners

Mushers in Iditarod 53 are spread out from past Kaltag to back in Grayling 1, while current leader Jessie Holmes looks to widen the gap between his team and those of Matt Hall and Paige Drobny, who have been trading places every so often over the course of the last several hundred miles of this year’s trail.

Hall, a Yukon Quest champion and last year’s Iditarod runner-up; and Drobny, who was 5th last year, and took 7th in 2019 and 2020, have tens of thousands of miles between them. They’ve alternated being in 2nd and 3rd throughout much of this year’s race.

Hall told Alaska’s News Source ahead of this year’s ceremonial start that he thinks he has a team worthy of a title, but it’s only going to happen if the timing is right.

“It is an all-time dream to win it, yes, when it’s my time to win it,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it’s this year. If I don’t win this year, that doesn’t change anything. We’re coming back with the same focus, the same drive.

“That is kind of up to the dogs,” he added. “If they’re looking good out there and we pull off the win, that’s the win I want. I am not going to ask them to win the race if they don’t feel like winning the race this year.”

Drobny recently told Iditarod Insider that she finds it interesting how the races she and Hall have both run have worked out.

“Since I started racing, Matt Hall and I have always been around each other at this point in the race,” she said, “and we always come from a different way, and end a different way. But we always are, like, right around each other for the last third, always doing different things.”

Drobny was first into Ruby and Galena this year, winning a five-course meal after beating the rest of the field into the latter checkpoint.

The top five teams in the race, as of now, are out of Kaltag 2 and on their way to Unalakleet, with an 81-mile run separating the two checkpoints.

March 11 - 4:50 p.m. - Leaders close in on Unalakleet, where tradition is thriving

The front pack is on its way to Unalakleet, with the top few racers in this year’s Iditarod slated to arrive on the coast later in the evening.

Veteran Matt Hall leads based on official standings, as first out of Kaltag 2, but Jessie Holmes is back in front, according to the Iditarod Insider GPS tracker. Paige Drobny is on his heels, while Mille Porsild is also on her way to Unalakleet.

A checkpoint back, other teams are closing in on Kaltag, after veteran musher Travis Beals arrived there earlier in the day on Tuesday.

Beals, whose training takes place – in part – on a Seward-area glacier – has finished in the top 10 four times since he first ran the Iditarod in 2013. He is part of a small pack in Kaltag 2 that is currently following the four mushers who have already gone through the checkpoint.

The top 12 have all completed their 8- and 24-hour rests as well. Mitch Seavey is sitting in 9th based on current standings; he completed his 8-hour layover in Eagle Island, though the standings did not reflect that until mid-afternoon Tuesday.

All other mushers left in the race have yet to get through Kaltag 2.

At the same time, Sports Reporter Tyler Lane is getting a taste of another Unalakleet tradition that also serves as a special message to mushers on the trail.

Check out the video below for the story and the latest standings.

March 11 - 11:20 a.m. - Jr. Iditarod champ running own Serum Run on 100th anniversary

Last month, Emily Robinson cemented her legacy in the youth dog mushing world as the only person to win the Jr. Iditarod four straight years.

Now, just a few weeks after making history, she is on another unprecedented journey for a junior musher by taking on much of the famed Iditarod Trail.

However, this approximately 750-mile run isn’t just about training for next year’s Iditarod when she is age-eligible.

Find out what the talented junior musher is doing now to prepare for future glory in this story from sports director Jordan Rodenberger.

March 11 - 9:30 a.m. - Rookie musher scratches

Bryce Mumford, a rookie in this year’s race, scratched with eight dogs in harness Tuesday morning at 3:50 a.m. in the Grayling 1 checkpoint. According to Iditarod, Mumford scratched in the best interest of his team.

Mumford’s scratch leaves 26 teams remaining out of 33 that started.

The rookie out of Preston, Idaho, is a full-time U.S. Postal Service worker who also managed to fit in a couple of ultramarathons last year, completing 50-mile and 100-mile trail races in 2024.

After first dipping his toes into the mushing world in 2011, Mumford says he started racing in 2014 with help from his father, Rex.

In 2024, Mumford raced his first Iditarod, but scratched in Unalakleet while running last after race crews traveled out for a welfare check due to him not making “sufficient progress” on the trail.

March 11 - 7:55 a.m. - Hall leads the way

The top three mushers — Matt Hall, Jessie Holmes and Paige Drobny — have all reached Kaltag 2 Tuesday morning, while the 12 teams trailing them have all at least passed through Grayling 2.

Updated Iditarod leaderboard

March 10 - 11:05 p.m. - Holmes brings in another award as trail crew tests out Unalakleet tradition

Jessie Holmes and his team took home another award Monday night, with the veteran musher officially winning the Fish First Award upon arrival to Kaltag for the second and final time in this year’s race.

The musher arrived to Kaltag 2 with 13 dogs at around 9:30 p.m., with his run from Eagle Island 2 taking approximately 12.5 hours.

Holmes had already won the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award, with $3,000 in gold nuggets being one of the options for a take-home prize. The Fish First Award sends Holmes back home – once he’s done racing, of course – with 25 pounds of Bristol Bay salmon, $2,500, and an original piece of art by Apay’uq Moore.

Trailing Holmes on the way from their second run through Eagle Island are 2024 runner-up Matt Hall, and veterans Paige Drobny and Michelle Phillips, who have a combined 21 Iditarod finishes between them.

Three-time Iditarod Champion Mitch Seavey remains in Eagle Island on the way back to Kaltag – as does veteran Mille Porsild – on his way to completing his mandatory 8-hour rest. With the exception of Holmes, every other musher in the top 10 has checked off both their 8- and 24-hour rests.

Eighteen mushers have moved through Grayling for the first time, while the rest of the teams are spread between there and Eagle Island 1.

Meanwhile, in Unalakleet, the Alaska’s News Source Trail Crew got a first-hand look at a town tradition via a taste test at the pie social.

Check out the video below for the latest on Iditarod 53.

March 10 - 8:50 p.m. - Dunham, Mackey reflect on departing Iditarod 53

Veteran Gabe Dunham and rookie Brenda Mackey spoke Monday about leaving this year’s Iditarod and the mixed feelings prompted by their departures.

“Well, there’s all kinds of emotions,“ Dunham told Iditarod Insider on Monday. ”There’s a lot of internal disappointment, because, we do – we train year-round for this, and I kinda put all my eggs in one basket.

“I had this beautiful dog team, and they were definitely showing off, you know, rolling into checkpoints,” she said, “and I could barely hook down. And leaving checkpoints, I felt like I was managing their rest schedule really well. But then, we just kinda pulled a bad card, I guess.”

Dunham scratched from the Eagle Island checkpoint at around 8 o’clock in the morning on Sunday, with the Iditarod Trail Committee stating very generally that the decision was “in the best interest of her team.”

During the interview with Insider, Dunham explained that some issues she hadn’t necessarily anticipated were popping up.

“A lotta little shoulder injuries kinda started creeping up, and sore muscles,” she said. “And then, that trail just exacerbated everything to the extreme. So there is no forgiveness.”

In an interview with Alaska’s News Source Monday night, Mackey also expressed disappointment and frustration over how her departure from the race unfolded late last week.

“I had this awful thing happen with my dog,” she said. “But then, the aftermath, the strange things afterward? They do bother a person a bit.”

Mackey was the first musher to exit this year’s Iditarod, scratching from Tanana at 5:35 p.m. on March 5, according to a release from the ITC. That same release said Mackey had 14 dogs in harness, “all in good health,” which the musher later publicly disputed in a social media post – saying that one of her dogs, Jett, experienced an emergency on the trail and collapsed, and needed immediate veterinary care.

“I didn’t even consider myself scratched,” she told Alaska’s News Source. “I thought I was disqualifed for pushing my (SOS) button on my tracker when I was trying to get help for my dog out on the trail. So I just assumed, when I came back to the checkpoint, that I had been disqualified.”

Mackey explained that a race judge with whom she spoke at the checkpoint had said they didn’t have a record of her calling for help through her tracker. To her, it sounded as though they also thought she was DQ’d, she said.

“I just said, ‘Yeah, I know, I know I’m disqualified for pushing my button, and that was my choice,” she said, adding that she’d had, “like, one hour of sleep in three days.” She was presented with paperwork to sign later in the evening.

“I wasn’t computing at the time that that was a scratch form,” she said. “The next morning, I was talking to my husband, and he goes, ‘You know they have you scratched, with 14 healthy dogs in harness?’ ... I said, I had no idea, and I don’t know why I’d be listed as scratched, because in my mind, I’m disqualified. Because once you push your button, it’s an automatic disqualification, is my understanding.”

She said, in part, that there were different opinions on what could’ve happened, with people suggesting she may not have pushed the button down long enough, or she may have pushed the wrong button, or the signal may not have gone through, for example.

“I didn’t have an inReach or any cell phone service when I was out there with my dog,” she said. “I literally thought she was dying in front of me, and I needed some help.”

Rookie Emily Ford appeared about a half-hour after Jeff collapsed and stopped to help, said Mackey, who decided to go back to the nearest checkpoint.

Jett was able to stand and looked suprisingly good when Mackey got back to the checkpoint, she said. Eventually, the dog was flown to Anchorage for testing and potential treatment anyway; testing did end up showing abnormalities, Mackey said, who added that more testing will be done tomorrow to figure out exacelty what’s wrong.

Since Mackey’s scratch, the ITC acknowledged that it eventually came to understand that Mackey had 13 dogs in harness, with Jett in her sled upon arrival back to Tanana. In a prepared statement, the committee apologized “for the miscommunication and any angst we may have caused Brenda, her team and her followers.”

March 10 - 6:40 p.m. - Jr. Iditarod champ takes crack at portion of trail, in honor of Serum Run

Musher Emily Robinson, the teen phenom who recently won her fourth-straight Jr. Iditarod title – becoming the first to win four at all – is taking on part of the historic Iditarod Trail in honor of the historic Serum Run to Nome.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 1925 effort, also known as the “Great Race of Mercy,” or “The Serum Run.”

Check out the video from Jordan Rodenberger, who chats with Robinson about her decision to follow a portion of the trail this year, below.

March 10 - 10:45 a.m. - Catching up with the new co-chief race veterinarian

Dr. Greg Closter has been involved in dog care along the Iditarod Trail for 10 years, but this is his first year as co-chief veterinarian, helping to fill the role of the late Dr. Stuart Nelson, who passed away unexpectedly last fall following decades of service on the Iditarod trail.

On Sunday, Dr. Closter was in Unalakleet, checking in on the windy Western Alaska checkpoint and dog return yard, and took a minute to speak about the late Dr. Nelson.

March 10 - 7:30 a.m. - 4 more set off from Grayling 2 to Eagle Island

Grayling 2 has seen six arrivals — and four ensuing departures — since last night. The six mushers who reached the checkpoint in the last eight hours include Paige Drobny, Matt Hall, Mitch Seavey, Mille Porsild, Nic Petit and Michelle Phillips; all but Petit and Phillips have since left.

Grayling 2 is at mile 659 of the roughly 1,100-mile trail to Nome.

Frontrunner Jesse Holmes was the first to the said checkpoint by a longshot, having arrived over nine hours ahead of the competition, winning the Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award for his efforts.

Holmes is still leading the way, but Matt Hall is now the closest to catching him. The latter musher moved ahead of Drobny in the last two hours on the way north toward Eagle Island. Iditarod’s GPS tracker shows Drobny resting at mile 678, about a third of the way from Grayling to Eagle Island. Fourth place Mitch Seavey is about 10 miles behind Drobny.

Below are the most current available standings.

March 9 - 10:45 p.m. - Six of top 10 complete 8-hour rests

Six of the top-10 racers in this year’s Iditarod have now completed both their 8- and 24-hour rests, mandatory breaks stipulated by official race rules.

Veteran Jessie Holmes remains out front as the only team to have checked in at Grayling 2 thus far. Holmes has yet to record the 8-hour break, while Paige Drobny and Matt Hall – who both finished in the top five last year – have completed theirs and are chasing him on the way back to Kaltag for the second time.

After Kaltag 2, teams will head toward Unalakleet and the coast.

March 9 - 6:10 p.m. - Pack chasing leader pauses in Shageluk

A group of highly-experienced racers soon moving back toward Grayling – trailing leader Jessie Holmes by several hours – is resting at the Shageluk checkpoint.

That pack comprises Paige Drobny, who was fifth last year; Matt Hall, the 2024 runner-up; Michelle Phillips, who has a dozen Iditarods under her belt and returns after a two-year hiatus; Nic Petit, who has finished as high as runner-up in the past; and three-time champion Mitch Seavey, with 2023 winner Ryan Redington and 2020 Rookie of the Year Mille Porsild currently running toward them.

With the exception of rookie Quince Mountain – who is currently on a long break in Kaltag 1 – all racers have completed their mandatory 24-hour rests.

Redington and Porsild have checked off their 8-hour rests as well, as have veterans Travis Beals, Riley Dyche and Jason Mackey.

Dyche spoke with Iditarod Insider Sunday, sharing a bit about his run and how his team has been doing on the way to Grayling 1.

“They’re doing really well,” Dyche said of his dogs. “They’re coming together really well. I was sick from the first few days, and they were kinda getting beat up by the soft stuff.

“Didn’t feel like we had much of a team,” he said, “and I was worried we’d have to really, really tone back to make it to Nome, but then, once the trail got good on the Yukon, they really came together, and we’ve trained on the hard stuff. Everybody I know is a little frazzled by that run into Eagle Island – except, my dogs love that stuff."

Dyche’s team loves icy conditions, he said, since it’s what they’d all been training in this past year.

“As soon as we hit that, it was really two feet on the drag,” he said, “and they were more like a unit again.”

March 9 - 2:45 p.m. - Out front, Holmes checks in at Grayling 2

Jessie Holmes, who is currently leading Iditarod 53, has made it to Grayling for the second time after completing the loop taking racers through Anvik and Shageluk.

The veteran musher took almost 4 hours moving from Shageluk to Gralying 2, an approximately 28-mile route bringing him and 14 dogs in harness to mile marker 659.

Veterans Paige Drobny and Matt Hall had both checked in to Shagelul as of around 12:15 p.m. Saturday. Both remain resting there as of publishing time.

Two rookies – Quince Mountain, who is attempting the Iditarod for the second time; and Sydnie Bahl, who is running her first Iditarod ever – are left in Kaltag, bringing up the rear.

The top 15 of 27 mushers still in the race have checked in at Eagle Island 1.

March 9 - 8:03 a.m. - Veteran Gabe Dunham scratches

Veteran musher Gabe Dunham scratched at the Eagle Island checkpoint Sunday morning “in the best interest of her team,” according to the Iditarod Trail Committee. The Willow musher had 14 dogs when she arrived in Eagle Island.

“Gabe has been a great competitor in this race, and we hope to see her on the Iditarod Trail again in 2026,” the ITC said.

March 8 - 10:25 p.m. - Volunteers help make the world go ‘round!

Volunteers along the Iditarod Trail do a little bit of everything. They break trail, handle dogs, park teams, share their medical expertise, fly judges from checkpoint to checkpoint, feed mushers, and more!

Check out the video below for a closer look at the Kaltag checkpoint and the volunteers who are making it a welcome stopping point for this year’s racers.

March 8 - 10:00 p.m. - Holmes, leading Iditarod 53, arrives in Grayling

Veteran musher Jessie Holmes arrived in Grayling – winning the halfway point award – a bit before 10 p.m. on Saturday evening, based on the location of his GPS tracker.

Official standings show Holmes departed Eagle Island 1, beginning the 56-mile run to Grayling at around 11:15 Saturday morning. At that point, he had 14 dogs still in harness.

Only Paige Drobny is within about 10 miles of Holmes as of publishing time, with Matt Hall another 12 miles back from her. Michelle Phillips and 2023 Iditarod Champion Ryan Redington round out the top five.

Phillips and Travis Beals are the only other mushers in the top 10 who still have as many as 14 dogs. Nic Petit, currently sitting in 11th, had 15 dogs in harness upon departing Kaltag.

March 8 - 7:00 p.m. - Mushers describe rough conditions running into Eagle Island

The lead pack in Iditarod 53 has made it to the first Eagle Island checkpoint, but it wasn’t without some extra challenges on the way from Kaltag, a 70-mile trip leading teams toward a small loop along this year’s altered race route.

“I think it’s one of the top-10 worst trails I’ve ever been on, which is saying something; I’ve got a few thousands of miles under my belt,” said veteran Paige Drobny, speaking with Iditarod Insider Saturday evening. “It’s 70 miles of crap.”

Drobny, who’s completed the Iditarod nine times and recorded multiple top-ten finishes and a 5th-place finish in 2024, described hard ice along the race route, noting that it appeared the trail was first broken when there was some water – which then froze – in the area.

“It’s just snowmachine track that’s just frozen and hard,” she said. “So, not really trail, and the dogs are always looking for something better, and so, moving back and forth. And then finally, we just got on snow, and got off the trail, and made our own trail for a while.”

Veteran Matt Hall was runner-up in the 2024 edition of the Iditarod and told Iditarod Insider that he’s now dropped five dogs – all of whom are about 3 years old – as he lightens his load in Eagle Island.

“If I don’t need it, it’s going,” he said, adding that all of his remaining 11 dogs are vets. When asked about the quality of the trail from Kaltag into Eagle Island, his response was akin to Drobny’s.

“What trail?” he said. “A frozen trench. That was pretty challenging.

“We’re just in this trench,” he explained, “frozen at the bottom. The snowmachine track had, you know, pushed up slush, which is now all frozen. So you’re not even just running on glare ice. You’re running on, just, mountain peaks of frozen ice.”

At one point, Hall was pinned under his sled, but his dogs stopped on their own so that he could maneuver his way out.

“Kept wiggling, got loose eventually,” he laughed. “That was actually only like 5 miles out. I was like, ‘Ah, almost there – BOOM!‘ Ah. That hasn’t happened in a few years. Ow."

From the first Kaltag stop, racers move to Eagle Island and Grayling, ahead of a small loop that takes them into Anvik and Shageluk. They are then slated to go through Grayling, Eagle Island and Kaltag again, before heading toward Unalakleet and the coast, where sudden weather changes and high winds are standard.

March 8 - 5:20 p.m. - Most racers into, through Kaltag 1

As of late Saturday afternoon, the majority of racers have made it to the first stop in Kaltag, with veteran Jason Mackey pulling in as the current 16th-place team at around 4:05 p.m.

Veteran Lauro Eklund is sitting in 15th place as of publishing time, having arrived to Kaltag at around 3:15 p.m.

Cruising in much earlier in the day was veteran Anna Berington, who said she was feeling good after rolling into the checkpoint at around 3 a.m. and getting a bit of rest after that.

“Trying to drink a lot of water,” she told Iditarod Insider Saturday morning, laughing as she recalled her mom reminding her to stay hydrated. “I can’t expect [the dogs] to drink water if I’m not, so it’s like, I gotta be a good dog!”

Berington said she’s taking things one checkpoint at a time.

“Trying not to think too far ahead,” she said. “It’ll be different leaving, going that way instead of that way and then coming back here. But, yeah, one step at a time.”

Rookie Emily Ford is also in Kaltag after declaring her 24-hour rest at around 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“It changed around halfway to Nulato, or maybe towards the end of Nulato,” she said of recent trail conditions during an interview after her arrival to Kaltag. “And it finally got, like, crispy and fast. It was awesome. Like, my dogs could tell, you know? And I just hung on my drag all the way here.

“It was crazy,” she continued, “which is nuts, because my sled was super heavy coming here; I brought a bunch of food with me to come here, and they were just cruising on really nice snow, after being in sugar for – I don’t even know what day it is, to be honest!"

As of publishing time, Mackey, Eklund, Berington and Ford remained in Kaltag, which – for the first round – is at mile 456 of this year’s race route. The second time teams see Kaltag along the trail, as ‘Kaltag 2,’ will be at mile 785.

March 8 - 2:15 p.m. - Unexpected pregnancy discovered after dog death

A gross necropsy performed on the female dog that died Friday determined that she was pregnant, but nothing else.

The four-year-old female dog named Ventana — who was part of Wisconsin rookie Daniel Klein’s team before she collapsed about eight miles from Galena — was examined by two board-certified veterinary pathologists in Anchorage, race officials said Saturday.

The death forced Klein to scratch Friday in Galena, as per race rules.

Iditarod officials reported Saturday just before noon that while the pregnancy was unexpected, nothing else was found to explain how she died, but the full necropsy would be completed at a later time with further testing.

March 7 - 10:35 p.m. - Trail Crew catches up with Jessie Holmes

Veteran Jessie Holmes, who’s currently with a group of frontrunners in Kaltag, speaks with the AKNS Trail Crew about his race thus far. Check out the video below to hear his comments.

March 7 - 8:35 p.m. - Veteran Deeter, rookie Parker scratch

Veteran musher Jeff Deeter and rookie Mike Parker scratched from Iditarod 53 on Friday evening.

According to the Iditarod Trail Committee, Deeter scratched at around 5 p.m. at the Galena checkpoint Friday evening “for the physical health of his team.”

Deeter, who was fourth in the 2024 Iditarod and has finished the race half a dozen times, had 11 dogs in harness upon arriving to the checkpoint. His only other scratch was in the 2022 edition of the race.

Parker, who was attempting the Iditarod for the first time and running dogs from out of Jim Lanier’s Northern Whites Kennel, scratched within minutes of Deeter, but at the Ruby checkpoint.

Parker also had 11 dogs in harness at the time of scratching and withdrew “in the best interest of his team,” the ITC said.

March 7 - 6:55 p.m. - Dog dies along Iditarod trail, officials say

A dog from the team of a Wisconsin rookie musher died Friday on the Iditarod trail, race officials said.

In a release, Iditarod officials said a four-year-old female named Ventana on musher Daniel Klein’s team collapsed on the trail about eight miles from Galena, which sits 369 miles into the 1,128-mile race, around noon Friday.

Iditarod said attempts to revive the dog were unsuccessful.

The death forced Klein to scratch from the race, leaving 30 teams remaining out of 33 that started.

Klein, a musher out of Eagle, Wisconsin, was making his first start in the Last Great Race, and was running 27th when he scratched.

March 7 - 2:30 p.m. - Watch Holmes' and Petit’s respective arrivals in Kaltag, Nulato

And meet this year’s Teacher on the Trail, Maggie Hamilton. She will be traveling through the different checkpoints, via plane, during the duration of the race.

“I am blogging every day,” Hamilton said. “I am reporting back to the world of education, what is going on, and then ways they can use the race in the classroom. So, different subject areas. Math, Social studies, how they can use GPS trackers even to get through a math lesson a little differently and use the race in real-time.”

March 7 - 7 a.m. - Holmes first to Kaltag 1

At about 1 a.m. Friday, leader Jessie Holmes and his dogs reached Kaltag, where they remained through the early morning. At the previous checkpoint, Nulato, Holmes was just a few minutes ahead of Michelle Phillips, who opted to stay there overnight.

March 6 - 8:40 p.m. - Nulato welcomes first two racers within minutes of one another

Veteran mushers Jessie Holmes and Michelle Phillips arrived in Nulato Thursday evening, with Holmes rolling in first at around 8:15 p.m. and Phillips checking in just a few minutes later.

Holmes, who finished third in 2024, departed the checkpoint almost immediately and has been making his way toward Kaltag, which sits – as a first stop – at more than 450 miles into this year’s race route. The second run through Kaltag, referred to as Kaltag 2, marks approximately 785 miles along the race route.

March 6 - 6:20 p.m. - Rookie Mike Parker reflects on purpose, race thus far

Rookie Mike Parker, who hails from Eagle River but has been working with Jim Lanier’s Northern Whites Kennel, is running a special team of dogs that may have looked quite different if not for a horrible incident on a training run in 2023.

Read more from Parker in the extended web story from Jordan Rodenberger by clicking here.

March 6 - 5:15 p.m. - BTS with the AKNS chase plane crew

Have you ever wondered how the Alaska’s News Source crew gets around along the trail? The trio of pilot, sports director and news director on the chase plane this year hop from checkpoint to checkpoint on a chartered flight!

Jordan Rodenberger and Tracy Sabo show us how they do it in the video below.

March 6 - 4:35 p.m. - Teams rolling into Ruby

While the front of the pack is into Galena, with a couple of mushers already checked out from there, about a dozen of all the teams left in this year’s race are now into or through Ruby.

March 6 - 1:45 p.m. - Montana rookie musher scratches

Charmayne Morrison of Bozeman, Montana, scratched from the Iditarod Thursday morning in Tanana.

She is the second musher to retire from the race after Fairbanks rookie Brenda Mackey called it a race Wednesday afternoon.

Iditarod officials reported Morrison had 14 dogs in harness, all in good health, when she officially scratched at 10 a.m. Thursday. Iditarod said she did so “in the best interest of her team.”

“Charmayne has been a great competitor in this race and we hope to see her on the Iditarod Trail again in the future,” an Iditarod spokesperson stated in a press release.

After leaving Fairbanks on Monday for the restart, Morrison spent over five hours in each of the early checkpoints in Nenana and Manley before arriving in Tanana at 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday.

She told Iditarod Insider in Manley that she was doing her best to keep her team hydrated, but expressed concern about warmer temperatures.

“I’m mostly trying to get as much water back into them as I can,” she explained. “I have some dogs that really only pick out the kibble in their food, so I try to add some other things to their water and their broth to make that a little more enticing, rather than just kind of picking out the kibble.

“At this point, I just want to get a lot of water into them,” she said. “I’m not too worried about calories right now. I’m sure as the race goes on and their metabolisms kick in a little more, it might get a little colder down the trail – I’m hoping – they’ll need those calories, so we’ll kind of change our feeding program from there."

In its release, the Iditarod said all 14 dogs in harness when Morrison scratched were in good health.

The scratch leaves 31 of 33 starting teams still on the trail.

Morrison, a longtime fan of the race, said she began mushing at a young age after learning about the Iditarod as a kid, starting her own kennel as a teen.

March 6 - 12:45 p.m. - Jessie Holmes talks challenging sandstorm, bonding with dog team

Nenana musher Jessie Holmes made the 117-mile run from Tanana to Ruby in 23 hours, 27 minutes — a marathon stretch of trail that included a rough “silt” storm that blew a silty, sandy material at mushers and dogs.

Holmes spent just over five hours in Ruby before continuing on to Galena, where he arrived at 9:38 a.m. Thursday for a short stop.

Holmes spoke about the rough trail along the Tanana River, how stubborn his lead dog can be, and the bond that is created with his dogs when he’s on the trail.

Holmes is looking to win this year’s race after racking up five top-10 finishes in the seven years he’s run the Iditarod, including third-place finishes in 2022 and 2024.

Behind Holmes, the next four teams have made it to Galena, led by Paige Drobny, who won the “Feast on the Yukon” award and will enjoy a gourmet dinner of salmon crudo, beef stew, asparagus, mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and a chocolate bourbon pot de créme dessert.

As of midday Thursday, Matt Hall, Michelle Phillips, and former race winner Ryan Redington had joined Drobny in Galena.

March 6 - 10:35 a.m. - Iditarod ‘sandstorm’ challenges mushers, dogs alike

Blustery winds sent silt and sand whipping around dog teams Wednesday as they navigated the Tanana River.

“The wind was blowing so hard you could hardly see,” Iditarod rookie Jenny Roddewig said. ”I was able to stop and I got out in front of my dogs and walked them back to the trail, luckily I had my GPS.”

Despite the tough conditions, many of the dogs were handling it well. Wasilla rookie Sydnie Bahl said her young leader, a two-year-old dog named Hendrix who she says has not led much, rose to the challenge.

”He killed it out there," Bahl said. “He was ‘geeing’ and ‘hawing’ and I didn’t have to get off and pull him, he took every command. That little guy is a stud muffin.”

March 6 - 8:30 a.m. - Cantwell musher claims gourmet feast award

Iditarod veteran Paige Drobny reached the checkpoint of Galena early Thursday morning to claim the “Feast on the Yukon” award.

Drobny arrived in Galena at 6:37 a.m. Thursday with 15 dogs in harness after a 6-hour, 21-minute run from Ruby.

Race officials stated in a press release that Drobny will be served a gourmet dinner prepared in Galena by Top Chefs from Locally Grown Restaurants, which owns prominent restaurants in Anchorage like Spenard Roadhouse, Snow City Cafe, Crush Wine Bistro, and South Restaurant and Coffeehouse.

The meal includes “Alaska King Salmon Crudo with a lemon-thyme oil, roasted butternut squash bisque, charred cabbage salad with candied walnuts, watermelon radish, carrot, onion, Apple and a pear vinaigrette, followed by an entrée of braised beef cheek bourguignon, asparagus, rosemary mashed potatoes, sauteed mushroom and shallot leaves. To finish this incredible meal, Paige and her guest(s) will also be treated to a chocolate bourbon pot de créme dessert.”

Drobny is no stranger to Iditarod contention. In the nine races she’s completed since her rookie campaign in 2013, Drobny has earned three top-10 finishes, including her career-high of fifth last year.

As of 10 a.m., three more teams had made it to Galena; Two Rivers veteran Matt Hall in second, Nenana vet Jessie Holmes in third, and Canadian musher Michelle Phillips in fourth.

March 5 - 9:00 p.m. - Drobny leads way into Ruby

Race veteran Paige Drobny arrived in Ruby a bit before 9 p.m. Wednesday night as the first musher into the checkpoint, trailed by a group of high-powered teams just behind her.

Placing in the top five in 2024 – with a couple of other top-10 finishes since 2019 – the crew out of Cantwell rolled into the checkpoint and was welcomed by fans of all ages, including a group of kids who were cheering and holding signs.

Drobny is expected to take a layover of a few hours or so at the checkpoint after speaking with Iditarod Insider on the way in, sharing some of the challenges she’s seen since leaving Tanana, such as unstable and fast-changing trail conditions.

“Some spots are really hard and fast,” she explained, “and then the next, it’s like you’re wallowing through quicksand. And these guys love to go fast. So, when they hit that hardpack, they’re instantly going 10, 11, 12 miles per hour, so then I have to slow them down, try to hit that snow that just wants to eat them so they don’t trip over themselves.

March 5 - 6:55 p.m. - Trail Tracker Update

March 5 - 6:05 p.m. - Reaction to silt-ridden windstorm along trail

Mushers traversed through a wind storm near the Tanana checkpoint that left teams covered in dirt and silt. Jordan Rodenberger reports.

March 5 - 5:35 p.m. - First scratch of 2025 race

Rookie musher Brenda Mackey scratched in Tanana Wednesday afternoon, the race’s first DNF (did not finish).

Iditarod officials announced in a release that Mackey officially retired at 4:35 p.m. “in the best interest of her team.”

Mackey had 14 dogs in harness, race officials said, “all in good health.”

However, race officials later came out with an update saying one dog had “health concerns” that required additional examination in Anchorage.

Mackey arrived in Tanana just before 6:30 a.m. Wednesday following a roughly 7 1/2-hour run from Manley.

The third-generation musher comes from a family with a rich history in the Last Great Race; her grandfather Dick Mackey won the Iditarod in 1978, her father Rick won the race in 1983, and her uncle Lance won it four straight years from 2007 to 2010.

While she was a rookie this year, Mackey’s first Iditarod start came in 2021, when she scratched in Nikolai.

March 5 - 1:15 p.m. - Deeter, Hall share challenges while stopped in Tanana

It has not been smooth sailing for all mushers in this year’s race, including last year’s fourth-place finisher.

In an interview with Iditarod Insider, Jeff Deeter said his dogs were not crazy about the trail out of Tanana.

“In short, the trail is just not lining up for my team and my training,” Deeter said on Wednesday in Tanana after a brief attempt to press on toward Ruby.

Deeter said this might be the end of the road for this year’s team.

“For me, with this race, it’s important that I’m doing what’s right for my team and my team overall,” Deeter said. “So not just me and a couple dogs making it down the trail, but me with this team. So I mean it’s possible this might be our finish line.”

March 5 - 10:50 a.m. - Canadian veteran out front on longest stretch of 2025 race

Michelle Phillips is out front of the 53rd Iditarod after rolling through the race’s third checkpoint in Tanana, just over 200 miles into the 1,128-mile marathon.

Leading teams are now on the longest stretch of this year’s race, a 117-mile run from Tanana to the next checkpoint in Ruby as they navigate the frozen Yukon River.

The Canadian veteran took a three-hour stop at the first checkpoint in Nenana, but breezed through the checkpoints of Manley and Tanana with minimal time spent at each.

In Tanana, where the Yukon and Tanana rivers converge, Phillips was the sixth musher to arrive, but took off with the lead after the five teams in front of her took extended breaks.

Phillips, who is from Ten Mile, Yukon Territory, hasn’t raced the Iditarod since 2022, but has 12 race finishes under her belt, starting in her rookie year in 2010. Phillips is looking for her first career top-10 finish, trying to better her top finish of 11th from four years ago.

Behind Phillips is a hoard of contenders, including Danish musher Mille Porsild in second, Jessie Holmes in third, Matt Hall in fourth, and Paige Drobny in fifth.

As of Wednesday morning, 27 mushers had made it to Tanana, with 16 on the trail to Ruby.

March 4 - 10:20 p.m. - First teams make it to Tanana

The first of the teams has rolled into Tanana, Jason Mackey was the first to arrive once again at 8:40 p.m., followed closely behind by Paige Drobney, who arrived four minutes later.

In total, eight teams have reached the third checkpoint and so far only Michelle Phillips has decided to not stay and rest, only taking a six-minute break.

March 4 - 6:30 p.m. - Trail Tracker Update

March 4 - 4:10 p.m. - Warm weather inundates Interior Alaska

Warm weather has dogged race teams as they work through the first 200 miles of the Iditarod.

A high of 40 degrees kept things warm during Monday’s restart in Fairbanks.

As dog teams approach Tanana, the third checkpoint of the race about 202 miles in, the chance of wind, rain, and snow will increase with the arrival at the confluence of the Tanana and Yukon rivers. Temperatures, however, will remain unseasonably warm.

March 4 - 12:45 p.m. - Burled arch ready to fly to Nome

The newest edition of the famed burled arch that welcomes Iditarod teams each year on Nome’s Front Street is on its journey to the finish.

The original arch that had stood since 2000 fell victim to wood rot last spring, necessitating the creation of a new one. Iditarod veteran Ramey Smyth was tasked with building the new arch for the race.

On Monday night, the arch was being packed and prepared to be flown from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to Nome, and Smyth couldn’t be happier.

“Thank goodness. That’s all I can say,” Smyth said when asked Monday night about finally shipping the arch to Nome. “The details were killing me. Wrap it up, crate it up, protect it, move it, keep the rain off it. It was getting to be a lot.

“I’m glad it’s moving on towards Nome.”

The arch is expected to be put on a plane to Nome on Wednesday morning.

March 4 - 10:20 a.m. - Top 8 mushers through Manley

Knik racer and former Iditarod champion Ryan Redington was in front Tuesday morning as eight mushers had made it to the race’s second checkpoint in Manley.

Six of those eight continued on after checking into Manley for just a few minutes; Fairbanks veteran Jason Mackey and Nenana veteran Jessie Holmes both are taking extended rest breaks.

March 3 - 10:30 p.m. - Teams en route to Manley

Most of the teams have taken off from the first checkpoint in Nenana — heading for Manley.

Ryan Redington is currently ahead of the pack, with Matt Hall and Jessie Holmes close behind.

Jason Mackey was the first to arrive in Nenana and currently sits at number eight on the trail.

The teams who chose a quick stop of less than 10 minutes in Nenana include Mackey, along with Bailey Vitello, Jeff Deeter, Matt Hall, and Connor McMahon.

Calvin Daughtry is the last en route to Nenana, behind Justin Olnes, who reached the second checkpoint at 5:54 p.m.

March 3 - 6 p.m. - First teams roll through Nenana

The top half of the field has come and gone through the race’s first checkpoint in Nenana, with Jason Mackey arriving first at 4:25 p.m.

Another Mackey — Brenda — was close behind, just two minutes behind Jason, and former champion Ryan Redington was third into town at 4:30 p.m.

Because of the interval start times from Fairbanks earlier in the day, the true leaders of the race won’t be known until after all mushers have taken their required rest stops later in the race.

However, the time from Fairbanks to Nenana gave an idea of who was fast.

Three-time Iditarod winner Mitch Seavey started 14th in Fairbanks but was fastest to Nenana, making the 52-mile run in 4 hours, 56 minutes.

Next fastest was Redington, who made the run in 5 hours, 2 minutes, and Gabe Dunham was third-fastest in 5 hours, 4 minutes.

March 3 - 5:05 p.m. - Mackey running with experienced dogs

One of the familiar names on the trail — Mackey — said before taking off on Monday that his team this year is boosted with experience.

According to Fairbanks musher Jason Mackey — the brother of the late four-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey — he is racing with a team of dogs that have made it to Nome at least once, with the exception of one three-year-old dog “Flash,“ who is the only new addition to the team this year.

“The biggest goal is to get to Nome, and wherever that position may be — we say it every year, and that’s the truth,“ Mackey said. ”Happy, healthy dogs, and whatever is after that, it is what it is.”

The first checkpoint of the race will be in the town of Nenana, which sits 52 miles in.

March 3 - 11 a.m. - And they’re off!

The 53rd Iditarod is officially off and running from the Golden Heart City.

Teams left Monday in two-minute intervals from the Chena River in front of Pike’s Waterfront Lodge in Fairbanks.

Fairbanks veteran Jason Mackey was first out, wearing bib #2, with Minnesota rookie Emily Ford out last with bib #34.

March 2 - 4:15 p.m. - Teams Fairbanks-bound for official restart

With the new route comes a return of a Fairbanks restart, meaning all 33 mushers, their handlers and hundreds of dogs are headed up the highway, en route to the beginning of Iditarod 53.

The racers will leave from Pike’s Landing in Fairbanks on Monday morning.

Mushers who spoke about the change to a Fairbanks restart expressed mixed emotions over the adjustment, talking mostly about how they’re excited to get started down the trail.

Veteran Lauro Eklund, who trains out of Two Rivers, said he feels like he has a little bit of a “home field advantage” being able to start in Fairbanks.

“It’s going to be nice to sleep, get two more nights in my own bed,” he said. “I also grew up going up and down those rivers, so, I know those pretty well.”

Eklund said he got his first dog from out of Tanana, a stop on this year’s Iditarod route. The pup, Annie, is the matriarch of his kennel, he said.

“Got some of her grandkids on this team,” he added. “So it’ll be kind of like going back home.”

One half of the Berington twin team of Anna and Kristy, who train out of Knik, will be running this year’s Iditarod, though the two have both been working with the team competing in 2025.

Anna Berington, who’s raced from out of Fairbanks before, will guide this year’s team.

“All of the trail is different, and it was quite a long time ago,” she said. “So it’s not like I remember a whole bunch, and all the dogs I have on my team have not done that route.

“It’s all new for everybody,” she added, “and I just look forward to just getting started.”

Justin Olnes, a rookie who also calls the Fairbanks area home, said there have been some ups and downs leading to race weekend.

“That was another roller coaster of emotions,” he said of the changes to the route. “Are we going to start the Southern Route? Are we going to go to Fairbanks?

“But, I’m very pleased with the decision,” he said. “I think it was the best move to calm anxieties about safe trail for the dogs. I don’t mind running on the river; I think it’s actually very pleasant. And I’ll be happy sleeping in my bed the night before the race.”

March 1 - 10:10 p.m. - Spectators reflect on ceremonial start day

March 1 - 5:15 p.m. - Veterans, rookies chat ahead of departure for Fairbanks restart

A total of 17 veterans – including two champions, in Ryan Redington and Mitch Seavey – and 16 rookies are tackling this year’s Iditarod.

Watch the video below to hear from Seavey, 2024 runner-up Matt Hall, and 2024 third-place finisher Jessie Holmes.

March 1 - 1:30 p.m. - All teams out for ceremonial start

All 33 race teams — as well as a few honorary and exhibition teams — took off Saturday morning for the ceremonial start.

Throngs of fans and onlookers crowded the sides of the trail along Fourth Avenue and Cordova Street, high-fiving mushers and admiring the dogs.

The first team — an honorary sled, not an official race team — was released from the starting chute at around 10:30 a.m., although the dogs had different ideas as they tried steering around the mounds of snow that separate the trail from the pavement. Oops!

From there, it was bib #1 that featured four-time Junior Iditarod champion Emily Robinson leading the way, with the first official musher — Jason Mackey with bib #2 — following behind her.

This year’s field will feature 33 teams, a record-tying low, that does not include defending race champion Dallas Seavey, who last year broke the record for most victories in Iditarod history.

Jason Mackey led the field of 33 out of the starting chute after pulling bib #2 at Thursday’s opening banquet. The first sled to go out with bib #1 is always reserved for the honorary musher; this year it went to the late Dr. Stuart Nelson, who had been the race’s chief veterinarian since 1995. Nelson died in September of last year.

With the Iditarod starting in Fairbanks this year, the revised course is longer than usual at 1,128 miles. The official restart will begin at Pike’s Waterfront Lodge on Monday and finish on the traditional Front Street location in Nome, where a newly-created burled arch will await finishers.

While Dallas Seavey is not entered, the next six mushers who finished behind him last year are, forecasting a hotly-contested battle for the 2025 crown. None of the six have won the race before, although all have prior top-10 finishes.

The 2025 edition will also feature a field low on experience, as 16 rookies — defined as any musher who does not have an Iditarod finish on their resume — will be starting, comprising 48% of the current field.

Only two mushers in the field of 33 have even won the race before; Ryan Redington (the 2023 winner), and three-time champion Mitch Seavey, who last won it in 2017 — which was also the last time a Fairbanks restart was instituted.

Of course, weather always plays a factor in how mushers and teams feel on the trail, and this year is no different. Opening day for Anchorage and Fairbanks is looking warm for both the ceremonial and official race start, with highs above freezing in Fairbanks on Monday.

The snowpack is also looking decent. The Yukon River is frozen solid, reporting an ice depth of 19 inches in Galena, along with a snow depth of close to two feet.

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