53rd Iditarod Official Restart in Fairbanks
Today marks the official restart for the Iditarod sled dog race, sending mushers and their teams out from Fairbanks, Alaska for the 1,100 mile re-route along the Northern Route. In typical Odd years, the Iditarod and ITI run the southern route, dipping down from Ophir to Iditarod, Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling, then north again to Eagle Island and meeting back up to the route in Kaltag.
During Even years, the route heads north from Ophir to Cripple, hitting Ruby, Galena, and then Nulato before Kaltag. As we have mentioned, due to low snow, the Iditarod sled dog race needed to adapt; thus we have their 53rd annual event racing west from Fairbanks. A total of 33 teams will run west through Nenana, Manley, and Tanana before reconnecting to the route in Ruby, Galena, Nulato, and Kaltag. (We’re still not certain what the ITI racer’s drop bags look like in Cripple!) From Kaltag, the dog teams will head south to Eagle Island, Grayling, Anvik, and Shageluk before lollipopping back to Grayling, Eagle Island, and Kaltag. The dogs and their mushers will rejoin the same route that ITI athletes are traveling through the Kaltag Portage to Unalakleet, home of Peace on Earth Pizza and the first coastal village on the Bering Sea.
2025 signals one of the smallest fields ever for the iconic sled dog race, tied with 2023. The first Iditarod was held in 1973, hosting 34 mushers in its inaugural year. The largest field ever was 96 mushers in 2008. Dorothy Page and Joe Redington Sr. conceived the idea of a long-distance race to honor the Iditarod Trail, which eventually led to the first Iditarod 53 years ago. This year’s Iditarod sled dog race reroute honors another famous route: the 1925 Serum Run. A century ago, a diphtheria outbreak hit the population in Nome. After serum was shipped by rail from Anchorage to Nenana, dog teams picked the serum up in Nenana and carried the medicine along the Yukon River and then mail trails to Nome.
We know one of the musher’s lining up for this year’s exciting Iditarod sled dog race: WWW member, Emily Ford from Duluth, MN, is excited for her first time lining up at this historic race! Emily has been a member of the Wild Winter Women since December 2020, and in the winter of 2021 she solo hiked the 1,200-mile Ice Age National Scenic Hiking Trail with her four-legged Alaskan Husky friend, Diggins. Emily Ford’s dream is to show that the outdoors is for everyone: “No matter your background, you deserve to feel comfortable and successful in outdoor spaces.”
Our friend Kari Gibbons made it to McGrath just after 3am, finding humor and loving life out on the trail. Kari was joined by Luke Thomas and Petr Ineman, also both 1000 foot participants. Today we’ve seen Magdalena Pascke make it to McGrath, and Jan and Petra Francke finishing their 10th honeymoon with mancakes in place of wedding cake. We’ve seen quite a few athletes finish in McGrath in the last 24-hours, so be sure to utilize the replay feature on trackleaders - so fun to see people choose the river versus the overland route to town! Or as I like to affectionately call it: the moose gauntlet.
Stacy Fisk and Melanie Vriesman bivied for roughly 6 hours last night while Sarah Hurkett got comfy in the Bear Creek cabin for hours. With this much time out on the trail, we’re seeing the athletes taking longer, and much needed, rests. The cold, snow, and precipitation out on the trail this morning was rough, causing Gavan and others to experience rainy bivy-times. Gross. The weather was much better later in the day, dry and warm for solid bivy sleep conditions. Another tactic athletes may find in the cold is sleeping during the day when temps are a little more comfortable.
1000-mile bike Peter Delamere is trucking right along, having taken 12 hours to ride straight from Ruby to Galena and beyond without any substantial breaks. He’s got the lead by quite a bit, roughly 45 miles ahead of Joshua Brown, Mike Beiergrohslein, and Casey Fagerquist, who took a longer rest in Ruby.
Also on bike, Janice Tower and Julie Perilla Garcia made it to the Innoko cabin just south of Cripple for a rest before moving on. The cabin there has four bunks for the presumed five-some that stayed the night there (Ryan Wanless, Karl Booth, and we believe Matt Tanaka is with them despite his tracker showing a long rest at the Carlson Crossing cabin.)
Gaizka Aseguinolaza made it to Takotna and, after a rest, made his way back down the trail to McGrath. It has been confirmed that he has scratched from this year’s race. We’re happy to see that he’s able to self-extract himself from the course and that he was able to get to a good spot for his travels home.
Volunteer favorite, Alexandria Manley, left Nikolai towards her 350-mile finish in McGrath with an infectious positivity that left Amber Bethe and other volunteers absolutely glowing. “I love riding even when I hate it.” Alex has been traveling with thank-you cards for ITI volunteers and delivering them with sincere gratitude along the way. An attitude and appreciation like Alex’s is sure to get her anywhere she wants to go out on this beautiful trail. A Fairbanks local and ITI rookie, Alexandra is no stranger to winter ultras, with three finishes in her backyard event, the White Mountains 100, and a 2021 finish in the Tanana River Challenge. Competing in ITI has been a childhood dream for Alex, who fundraised and worked hard to make it to this year’s start line.
“There must be over two hundred people who have supported my racing and training in some way, from my friends and strangers on my Go Fund Me to the volunteers and race directors in various races. When I am riding, I bring with me everyone who has ever helped me, and I feel like I am never alone on the trail. The support is truly overwhelming.” Keep inspiring us with your contagious energy, Alexandria! Congratulations on finishing your first ITI. We can’t wait to see what you get up to next.
https://iditarod.com/race/2025/mushers/
https://apnews.com/article/iditarod-sled-dog-race-alaska-2025-9da0f472620a8fcf9d9a380273a2bdba
https://www.emilyontrail.com/about
