Iditarod

Iditarod contenders are recalibrating their race strategies as the trail pushes through its most remote stretches.

Iditarod dog teams have travelled more than 300 miles down the trail in the last three days. Defending champion Dallas Seavey. Says they’ve reached a turning point in the race.

Dallas Seavey is hanging onto a narrow Iditarod lead. He pulled into the Elim checkpoint at a little before 4pm this afternoon. Aliy Zirkle joined him there soon after. Just a mile or two separated them on the run from Koyuk. Aaron Burmeister, Ramey Smyth and Pete Kaiser are chasing the leaders.

The Yukon Quest has once again proven itself as one of the toughest races in the Far North. Of the 18 mushers who signed up for this year’s race, only eleven may finish. The race has claimed rookies, and seasoned veterans alike, but there are still a handful of teams plugging along toward the finish line outside of Whitehorse. KUAC’s Emily Schwing caught up with the “Kiwi Musher” and has this profile. Listen Now

More mushers, including rookie Nicolas Petit, have reached Nome in the 2011 Iditarod. He finished in 28th place, arriving in Nome early Thursday morning...

Aliy Zirkle was the first musher to reach the Yukon River checkpoint of Galena Friday morning. She arrived at 10:46 with 14 dogs. Brent Sass was next into the checkpoint but swiftly moved through without stopping with his 15 dogs. Mitch Seavey pulled into Galena by 2:45.

The 42-year-old musher took command of this year’s race around the halfway point and never gave it up.

Iditarod mushers are preparing for a particularly bumpy, brutal ride on the trail’s first leg on icy terrain with little snow. Many have modified their run strategies, and adjusted one of the main tools for keeping a competitive edge: their sleds. Many mushers say durability is trumping speed this year as they expect to take a beating along the early trail.

Things get pretty technical for Iditarod mushers heading out of the Rainy Pass checkpoint and into the Dalzell Gorge before Rohn and Nikolai. Plus, we hear from animal-rights activist and documentary filmmaker Fern Levitt, and we get four-time Iditarod Jeff King's take on criticism of dog mushing.

If you heard a roar early Wednesday morning, it likely came from Pete Kaiser fans cheering across Alaska.

What can we expect from this year's field of racers? How have trail conditions and sled designs changed over the decades? And who's trail stories are the most…hellacious? It's all about the Iditarod when race icons Jeff King and DeeDee Jonrowe join us.

The Iditarod had banned its 2022 champion from this year's race following accusations that he sexually assaulted multiple women.

Mackey won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1983 and his late brother, Lance, won an unprecedented four straight championships.

There are 16 rookies competing in this year's Iditarod, about 40% of the entire race field.

The arch, which marks the end of the Iditarod Trail, collapsed Saturday. It was last renovated in 2013.

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

Photos and Story by Tim Bodony, APRN - Kaltag The race continues to roll along at a record pace.  John Baker was the first to...