Tag: 2020Iditarod

Four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King tapped Underwood, a 28-year-old from Atlanta, to take over his sled dog team after he had emergency surgery.

Although they battled storms and deep snow the first dozen miles, many mushers said the trail ascending the Alaska Range to the Rainy Pass checkpoint was as good as they ever remember it.

The 32-year-old Bethel musher is on the trail with most of his sled dog team from last year, and he’s gunning for another victory.

For these fans, "trailgating" is a chance to share a moment, and maybe a hotdog, with their favorite mushers.

Dozens of mushers and hundreds of sled dogs paraded through Anchorage on Saturday.

On the eve of Iditarod 2020, we discuss four-time champion Jeff King dropping out due to a medical emergency, how his rookie handler is taking King's top-notch team, and how heavy snow along the Iditarod Trail (a trench in places) will surely affect this year's race. Host Casey Grove is joined in the studio by Alaska Public Media reporters Tegan Hanlon and Zachariah Hughes.

Iditarod race marshal Mark Nordman said the word for this year’s race may be “patience” as teams navigate deep snow along much of the trail.

This year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will be the first for its new CEO Rob Urbach, who took over in July. Urbach came to the Iditarod after six years as CEO of USA Triathlon and, previously, had worked in sports marketing and management.

The Seattle-based airline, which got its start in Alaska decades ago, said in a statement that the decision to end sponsorship after this year’s race was made as the company transitions to a new corporate giving strategy.

The thousand-mile Iditarod kicks off with the ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage on Saturday, and this year's race will be the first for its new CEO Rob Urbach, who took over in July.

Instead of hiding in our cozy little radio studio at Alaska Public Media or out on the sparsely populated Iditarod Trail, we took the Iditapod to the Beartooth Theatrepub in Anchorage on Monday, March 2 for a live, onstage event, where about 300 people joined reporters Zachariah Hughes, Tegan Hanlon and Casey Grove for a wide-ranging discussion with Iditarod mushers Jessica Klejka, Matthew Failor and Jeff King.

Three-time Yukon Quest champion dog musher Brent Sass is headed back to Alaska’s other thousand mile sled dog race, the Iditarod, after some trial and tribulation.

...and we're back! Kicking off the 2020 Iditapod, host Casey Grove and Alaska Public Media trail reporter Zachariah Hughes discuss the 2019 running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, as well as the 2020 Copper Basin 300 (briefly) and the Kuskokwim 300 (at length). And Casey talks to three-time Yukon Quest champion Brent Sass about his recent victory in that other thousand-mile sled dog race and his impending return to the Iditarod.