Aaron Thrasher finished the 350-mile bike race in McGrath today at 16:24.
Well done Aaron for a great performance on the Trail!
#ITI2020
Race Day 3 and Day 4.
All the skiers had a great day making their way from Finger to Puntilla. Skier Mathieu Bonnier said it was “the best day of skiing of his entire life.”
They're all currently making their way up the pass towards Rohn and then to some beautiful downhill sections as they wind their way down through the Dalzel gorge.
Day 4:
Bikers Nina and Cheryl made the Finger cutoff by 23 minutes.
Willy Mulonia and Roberto Gazzoli, both from Italy, attempted to fix Roberto’s broken derailleur, which was stomped by a moose during an attack. It is still broken, but he now has limited functionality and ability to use a few gears.
Willy is currently just over 9 miles from Rohn.
Gavan Hennigan, the leader of the 350 foot division is now only 23 miles from Nikolai.
Bergur Benediktsson, from Reykjavic, Iceland, Jamie Hollingsworth, from Fairbanks and Casey Fagerquist, from Anchorage are recuperating in Nikolai.
Our female foot athletes deserve a huge accolade for taking such a tough Trail this year.
Our five competing female foot racers are all still on the Trail despite battling harsh conditions and difficult terrain all week so far.
Faye Norby leads the women athletes on foot and is currently heading to Rohn with a considerable advance.
Following her are Amber Bethe, from Anchorage, and ITI1000 Bike Record Breaker Jill Homer, from Boulder, Colorado, who are both enjoying a well-earned rest in Puntilla.
Kari Gibbons, another Twin Cities athlete who has competed in the Arrowhead ultra with ITI leading female cyclist Kate Coward, is progressing well towards Puntilla.
She's followed by ITI Legend Loreen Hewitt, from Greensburg, Pennsylvania. We like to call Loreen an ITI Legend and not just ITI Veteran as she broke - and still holds - the 1,000 mile foot race record for women back in 2014.
We know what you are going to say. Where are the action pictures?
Well, these ladies are so fast, we couldn't quite catch up with their stride it seems.
But rest assured that we will up our pace.
From left to right, Faye Norby, Amber Bethe, Jill Homer, Kari Gibbons and Loreen Hewitt.
Kurt Refsnider, from Prescott, Arizona, arrived today at McGrath at 5.25pm, which makes him our winner in the bike category for the 350-mile ITI race, 2020 edition.
It is the first time an ITI rookie wins this distance by bike.
But don’t be fooled, if Kurt is an ITI rookie, he is no rookie at all. In fact, Kurt has over 20 years of mountain bike racing experience and has broken records notably in the Arizona Trail 750 and 300.
And just because it’s not enough for this overachiever, our 2020 ITI350 Bike Champion is also an ultra cyclist racer, a Nordic ski racer and an ultra runner.
When he is not busy training, Kurt, a professor of geology with a Ph.D. in geological sciences, is also an advocate for public lands and wild places.
Kurt has been riding with Tyson Flatherty and Clinton Hodges all the way.
The three men have displayed a great team spirit that has been inspiring to everyone and they certainly have kept everyone on their toes until the finish line.
Volunteers in Nikolai predicted a win by Kurt when noticing that he was definitely fuelling up with intention and stepping into a winning mindset when he left the checkpoint.
This tactic, along with a fierce attack 50 miles out clearly gave him the winning advantage.
Huge congratulations Kurt, we are honoured to call you our 2020 ITI350 Bike Champion.
Champion Kurt Refsnider at the Pre-Race Meeting.
As athlete and ITI rookie Kate Coward is moving towards Rohn, her journey up Rainy Pass begins.
What awaits her under those blue skies? An iconic part of the Trail.
Once over the Pass, and down the Dalzell Gorge, ITI volunteers will welcome her into Rohn.
Well done Kate for your outstanding effort since the start of the race!
ROHN UPDATE
The leaders have made it into Rohn, a remote check point on the other side of the Alaska Range. For context, Rohn shelter is a wall tent and wood stove and there is also a small public use cabin.
Forecast ahead of them is a fair but breezy 10°F with wind blowing 32mph and a wind chill of -9°F.
PUNTILLA UPDATE
Athletes are dealing with an aggressive Moose near Shell Lake and Peter Basinger and Aaron Thrasher have turned back towards Puntilla.
Kate Coward keeps moving forward. More on Kate in the next post.
Winds of 25-30 mph are forecasted. The windchill is predicted to be at -35°F to -40°F.
Snowdrifts have been particularly bad this year with drifts reaching up to 5-7ft in places. For those not familiar with snowdrifts, strong winds gusting snow result in snow walls/dunes that reduce visibility and make the terrain more challenging for racers.
SKWENTNA UPDATE
Janice Tower and her brother Matt Tanaka have decided to scratch and end the race at Skwentna.
Thank you all for your support.
ITI 2020 is a tough edition for the athletes, with many veterans scratching due to the particularly harsh conditions this year. We are in awe of all participants for their stamina!
Wind drifts making the Trail hard to see.
Making your own Trail - rearview shot.
The leading athletes have passed Puntilla and are now moving to Rohn in head winds blowing 25-30 mph and a maximum of 4°F.
So far the racers have been pushing up the largely flat terrain of the rivers. From Finger Lake the real climbing begins as they face the mighty Alaskan range. It’s a formidable challenge, especially in a high snow year, but it’s the only way to get to the remote checkpoint of Rohn.
The leading pack has chosen to tackle this part at nighttime, making it an even tougher challenge.
UPDATE WINTERLAKE:
With wind blasting nearly 50mph gusts and wind chills as low as -25°F, racers are fighting weather into Finger Lake.
A big thank you to our friends at Winter Lake Lodge for providing warm food and a comforting welcome to our athletes in the face of such inhospitable conditions.
UPDATE YENTNA:
More scratches, which brings the total to 16 so far. It took Rusts 4 flights to Yentna to bring all racers.
A few racers returned from Yentna with injuries - Jesse Pisel, hip issue due to the hard pushing, Erika Van Meter, twisted knee and Crispin Studer, knee injury.
Thank you everyone for all the words of encouragement that you send to the racers, it helps them push harder when the struggle becomes too much on the Trail.
Rainy Pass today.
Toni Lund, from Paimio, Finland. Toni is currently 120 miles into the race.
There was a pretty good crowd resting at Yentna Station last night.
For those not knowing, it is a small place with rooms upstairs and a few cabins outside, so no doubt it was cosy!
Many racers have departed from Yentna Station this morning.
UPDATE FROM SHELL LAKE:
Clear weather, -15 F and now wind at Shell Lake this morning.
Our volunteers Chalyne and Rhende from Minnesota are doing an amazing job there at Shell Lake Lodge, so a big shout out to them.
This is their first time to Alaska and they are thrown in the deep end, running the kitchen, taking care of racers as well as snowmobilers that came through before the race started.
UPDATE FROM WINTERLAKE LODGE:
Race leaders Tyson Flaharty and Kurt Refsnider departed Winterlake Lodge this morning after 6 hours of rest. They pushed really hard. In past years, race leaders have not rested there this long. That’s a good indication of how much tougher this year is.
The trails between Shell lake and Fingerlake (Winterlake Lodge) are completely blown in and athletes have to contend with knee deep snow from Shell to Fingerlake.
The best surprise of this race edition is Kate Coward, a rookie this year.
Kate is in the top 5 and the first woman to arrive at Winterlake Lodge along with 6-time champ Peter Basinger and Aaron Thrasher. Well done Kate, we are in awe of your tenacity, drive and endurance.
There are 18 scratches so far.
YOU ARE YOUR ONLY OPTION. But team work makes the dream work.
Athletes continued to battle heavy snow showers through the night into the late afternoon, as most made their way up the Yentna River.
The leaders are approaching Checkpoint #3 at Finger Lake and have found the trail blown out by strong winds with temperatures dropping.
Thank you everyone for the support!
Despite a foot of new snow reported in some places along the trail, the athletes are making good progress up the trail.
The lead is especially moving fast, with defending champion Tyson Flaharty, from Fairbanks progressing along the Trail with Clinton Hodges and Kurt Refsnider.
ITI veteran Clinton, from Anchorage, has placed second and third in previous years.
New to the ITI, Kurt Refsnider is an accomplished endurance cyclist in many other events.
They are followed by rookie Kate Coward and 6-time champ Peter Basinger.
The weather is challenging our athletes and we had a few scratches so far: Bob Ostrom, Steve Cannon, Mike Wallace, are currently riding back to Knik Lake, and both Brian Marang, Paul Schlagel, currently in Yentna Station.
No injuries.
Two athletes did not start: Donald Wood, Judd Rohwer
and Stefan Chmel is 2 hours from Yentna Station. His tracker was reset but is not working.
Our race co-director Kyle Durand is moving through the field reporting that the amount of snow is making it even hard progress on the snowmobile for him this morning.
We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting a new qualifying race. The Drift 100 is the highest-elevation winter ultramarathon in the United States and takes place in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming, the largest mountain range in the state.
Racers may ski, bike, or run on the snow-covered groomed trail, making it a great training race towards the ITI.
Organizer Darren Hull used to volunteer in communication at check points for the Iditarod Sled Dog race and understands our racers' challenges on The ITI Trail.
This year's Drift 100 will start on March 13th, so head over to https://www.thedrift100.com/whatwhen/ to find out more about this great winter ultra.
As our race in by invitation only, racers require to qualify to enter our expedition-level winter ultra.
Many of our finishers have taken our annual training camp to complete their qualification process.
This year’s training camp is held between February 17th-21st and it is filling up fast.
We have a few spots left if you are interested in signing up check out info here:
https://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com/camps
Many racers return year after year and have competed in different disciplines and distances.
We would like to celebrate your incredible achievements with the introduction of the Trail Heritage Program.
All 2020 racers will receive a jacket with the new patch system in Alaska before the race.
It will feature distance and division patches.
You will get one silver stripe for each finish.
After finishing 5 times you will be able to trade up your silver stripes to one gold stripe.
Winners of the ITI350 and ITI1000 will also receive the coveted Champions patch.
Your jackets will come with all the relevant patches based on past achievements to celebrate and proudly display your personal history on the Iditarod Trail.
As The Trail Heritage Program is introduced with #ITI2020, previous racers not returning this year will be able to purchase the jacket at a preferential rate at a later stage.
Details to follow soon.
Follow Rebecca Rusch on the Iditarod Trail on Outside TV. She participated in the ITI this past winter.
The 2019 ITI is a wrap with Grant Maughn and Klaus Schweinberger concluding their ITI 1000 journeys in Nome. Grant finished in 33 days, 7 hours and 9 minutes and Klaus in 34 days, 12 hours and 1 minute.
The two did not make the 30 day cut off, but that does not diminish the feat they accomplished, covering 1,000 miles on foot across the Alaskan wilderness in rain, winds, soft snow conditions and low visibility for the final several hundred miles of their journey. They demonstrated remarkable grit in persevering in the face of enormous obstacles and embodied the resilient spirit of the ITI community.
Grant Maughn under the burled arch
Klaus Schweinberger finishes his journey on foot to Nome
Congratulations to Eric Johnson of Centerville, Utah for taking second place in the ITI 1000 foot division in 29 days, 18 hours and 25 minutes!
Congratulations to Steve Cannon of Des Moines, Iowa for finishing the ITI 1000 in 26 days, 2 hours and 33 minutes!
Photo: Dave Mable
Peter Felten of Bad Honnef, Germany completed his journey to Nome in 26 days, 6 hours and 43 minutes. Way to go!
Photo: Jill Homer
Congratulations to Beat Jegerlehner for winning the ITI 1000 foot division in 25 days, 5 hours and 11 minutes!
Beat has been on the trail in the ITI every year since 2012. This is his 5th finish in Nome and his first win. Beat finished over 150 miles ahead of the next foot athlete, covering much of the 1000 miles at night to take advantage of cooler temperatures and firmer trails. His relentless progress towards Nome was amazing to watch as he overcame temperatures as low as -30F and as high as 40F that turned the trail into wet, mushy mess.
Beat’s win was a master lesson in preparation, strategy and tenacity by a true champion.
Photo: Jill Homer
Congratulations to Kim Riggs and Missy Schwarz for finishing the ITI 1000 in 21 days, 23 hours and 39 minutes as the 2019 Women's Bike Champions! They are only the 8th and 9th women to complete the journey to Nome since the ITI began in 2002.