Total Eclipse of the Trail
It was another event filled day on the trail with bikers Troy Szczurkowski, Perry Jewett and Matt Garretson all arriving in Nome, and Thomas Miller finishing soon. They all left Topcock this morning in temperatures slightly above zero with a heck of a wind chill. A nearby weather station reported sustained winds of 28mph, gusting to 33mph.
Perry and Troy finished together at approximately 2:00pm; and Matt followed closely behind at around 2:40pm. They were able to finish under the newly revealed burled arch at the Nome finish line, which is now prepped and ready for the first musher to come in, expected early tomorrow morning. Thomas finished at approximately 7:10pm.
A few fun facts about today’s finishers; Troy volunteers to help teach the ITI winter training camp every year right before the race, considering it time to acclimate to cooler temperatures than his native Australia, and enjoys sharing his copious experience on the trail. Perry has directed 54 races during his volunteer race director career, and has dreamt of getting to Nome for 15 years. Congratulations, Perry, on making that dream come true! Matt brought his family to Alaska this year so they could all see the start for his third trip on the ITI and first time to Nome. Thomas’s nickname is Thomas the Tank, he’s not fast, but nothing can stop him.
Biker Ryan Wanless is approaching Mt McKinley cabin and reported good trail overnight from Koyuk to Elim. He stopped at Walla Walla cabin during the day to rest, and plans to push on to Golovin today where he’ll enjoy a delicious meal provided by locals and sleep in the school.
Bikers Janice Tower and Matt Tanaka spent last night at the Kwik River cabin about 21 miles from Koyuk. Fun fact? Apparently this cabin always has a slippery entrance, confirmed by Faye Norby!
Bikers Julie Garcia and Karl Booth rested in Koyuk for around 30 hours, hopefully enjoying the hospitality and pizza rolls after a brutal headwind-filled crossing of the sea ice. They left Koyuk early this morning and are now resting in Elim.
Back with the runners and skiers, runner Jon Richner spent last night at Old Woman cabin on the Kaltag Portage. Jon is mixed in among the back half of the dog sled race, and if he’s lucky he’ll have been gifted a tasty snack or two from a musher. Skier Erick Basset left Kaltag this morning and is also on the portage, currently at Tripod Flats cabin but hasn’t been there long, it’s unclear whether he’ll continue on tonight or take a break.
Runners Kari Gibbons and Petr Inman are in Kaltag, perhaps feeling a sense of relief to be done with their long journey on the Yukon River. Kari arrived about two hours ahead of Petr, and had been traveling just a few hours ahead of him for most of the race. Kari has reported several nights in a row of northern lights and a giant, wispy moon, no headlamp required!
Fun astronomy fact, the full moon is overnight tonight and there will be a total lunar eclipse. Totality phase timing is 10:26 p.m. to 11:31 p.m. AKDT on Thursday, March 13, 2025. One can’t help but wonder how many athletes will be out to see it when rest is so badly needed at this point in their journey.
Unfortunately Magdalena Paschke scratched yesterday after a family emergency called her back to Germany. She has had a string of bad luck with the race to Nome, in 2023 she scratched due to frostbite after an extremely cold night caused many racers to pull out, and in 2024 she was forced to stop by illness. We wish her safe travels home and hope to see her again next year!
Author: Amber Crawford