Iditarod

Norway's Thomas Waerner was the first to Unalakleet and the coast of Alaska in the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. But there's a storm coming and several good teams behind him. Meantime, back up the trail in Galena, Alaska Public Media’s Zachariah Hughes observed the collegial bonds among two mushers running in the middle of the pack who are at very different stages in their race and in their lives. That and much more, including another dog profile, on this latest episode of the Iditapod.

Delmer is six years old and racing in his fourth Iditarod, Pete Kaiser said.

Ryan Redington arrived in Unalakleet early Sunday after a monster run from Kaltag to the coast, putting more distance between him and his rivals.

With more than a quarter of the trail behind them, some teams in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog were parked at checkpoints on Wednesday, taking their required daylong breaks.

“We’re only halfway in the race, and tons can happen,” said musher Pete Kaiser.

The move comes as Burke is facing felony and misdemeanor assault charges for a May 2022 domestic violence incident in Anchorage.  

As teams come off their mandatory 24-hour rest and head for the Yukon River, they’ll be thinking of how best to pick up the pace in what is turning out to be one of the most dramatic, but also the most competitive races in Iditarod history.

We talk about this year's Kuskokwim 300, touch on the importance of mid-distance mushing races leading up to the Iditarod and talk to KUAC-FM reporter Zoe Rom about covering the Yukon Quest, Alaska's other 1,000-mile sled dog race. Also: We talk about the Anchorage ceremonial start, who we expect to see running at the front of the pack and answer our first listener question!

At this point in the Iditarod, just about every top team has declared their mandatory 24-rest, and is either recuperating, or else charging back onto the trail. The rest gives both dogs and mushers a chance to catch their breath and rebuild some strength. And it’s one of the main indicators of a musher’s strategy, finally giving shape to the accelerating race in the days ahead.

Iditarod teams are passing through the village checkpoint of Anvik and onto the Yukon River.  We have that, as well as stories from earlier on the trail about how mushers were setting their teams up for these runs earlier in the checkpoint of Iditarod and about the tiny village of Takotna reopening as an Iditarod checkpoint this year, after closing down due to COVID. Then there’ll be an update from Jason Mackey about carrying his brother Lance Mackey’s ashes along the trail, a Mackey Dog of the Day named COVID and a listener question about what the mushers are listening to, if they’re listening to anything at all, aside from, you know, dog feet and sled runners.

Photo by Josh Edge, APRN - Anchorage John Baker and his team have made the Iditarod run in record time. Baker is the first musher from...

For the sixth year in a row, a member of the Seavey mushing family has claimed the top spot in the Last Great Race. This year it was Mitch Seavey who finished the Iditarod at 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14. Listen now

As Iditarod mushers decide when and where to take their mandatory 24-hour layovers, the leaders are in to the ghost town of Iditarod. And our trail reporters are breaking into their snack packs! Also, we hear from a Takotna elder about the moose he shot and fed at the village checkpoint.

His award included a five-course gourmet meal prepared by the executive chef at Marx Bros. Cafe, Jack Amon.

Race officials say Jimbo has eaten a meal and is in "good health."