Iditarod

The only things that disrupted the peace: mushers snoring.

In this episode, we hear from Iditarod mushers in the midst of their required 24-hour layovers and from our current Red Lantern musher. We also have a chat with a former top 10 musher who’s returning to the race and running a team of mostly rookie dogs, plus a look at the Iditarod's new pilot program for tracking dropped dogs. And as always we have our Dog of the Day -- not a new dog but a dog who got a new name -- and a listener question with answers from several mushers this time. (Hint: This one might make you hungry).

From sweet and sour chicken to dried mangoes, there’s a variety of food in mushers’ vacuum-sealed bags.

Space could be short for visitors to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race's finish in Nome.

After an incident last year in which a dog escaped, officials are trying to attach tracking collars to all dogs left behind at checkpoints.

Hunter Keefe’s dog Senior brings years of Iditarod experience to his musher’s rookie run.

As the race transitions from big mountains and technical terrain into the heart of Alaska’s Interior, mushers are watching their teams come into race form.

Gregg Vitello was the last musher into Nikolai. He's had his fair share of troubles on the trail.

Iditarod mushers are making decisions about where to stop for their mandatory 24-hour rests, some opting to take that break earlier than planned, as the teams continue to contend with warm weather. The village of Nikolai is also fully open to visitors for the first time in three years of COVID-19 restrictions, and that's where some mushers were dealing with busted sleds and their own bruised bodies. In this episode, we also get into how the race shapes up after those 24-hour layovers and how the weather is expected to change for the cooler. Plus, we have a speedy Dog of the Day -- Matt Failor's Mach 10 -- who's learning to slow down, plus a listener question, a musher answer and a follow-up to yesterday's question about adopting retired sled dogs.

Mushers slept. Dogs slept. And sled repairs got underway.

Iditarod musher Matthew Failor is excited that his leader Mach 10 has picked up a new skill: the art of the trot.

The Iditarod this year looks almost exactly as it did pre-pandemic.

Iditarod officials had warned mushers that the trail into Nikolai would have the worst moguls in race history.

Iditarod teams are contending with warm weather in the thousand-mile race, many choosing to run in the cool of night as much as possible. We'll talk about that in this episode, plus a little about what other sports some mushers have participated in outside of mushing. We have another Dog of the Day -- this time, a trusty leader named JoAnna and, as always, a listener question.

This year’s mushers include a former all-conference football player, an Ironman triathlete and a member of a national championship ski team.

Once JoAnna gets going, she doesn’t stop. 

Mushers shrugged off jackets and dogs sunbathed in the snow as temperatures hovered around 40 degrees — hot by Alaska winter standards.

The Rainy Pass checkpoint is about 150 miles into the race and, tucked into the Alaska Range, it’s a scenic place to rest.

Iditarod mushers took their sled dog teams on an untimed, celebratory fun run from downtown Anchorage on the city’s trails, with hundreds of fans cheering along the way. We hear from mushers and fans – maybe the pitter patter of little dog feet – as well as a joyful bride, a grumpy bear, a curious moose (or three), a former Miss Alaska and her mom, who had a fox on her head, and more!

Reigning Iditarod champ Brent Sass talks about his hectic life in the tiny town of Eureka, his newfound confidence and his mushing philosophy.