Day 10: Chasing Trail Magic
The days are stretching out now, seemingly calm from when our athletes were crossing the Alaska Range. As those racers who made it through unscathed continue their way to McGrath, the calm is a mask for the ticking clock. Now, as the remaining field make their way on the final stretch to McGrath, some will celebrate a finish, while the rest will need to make a decision on how to proceed.
In an unusual twist, the 1,000 mile race is being led by the foot division as most racers on bike have scratched. We’ve been watching racers leave McGrath, turn around to come back. Why is this happening? It is a perfect storm of trail conditions, mode, time, and what we are willing to endure.
The last two years have been different than usual when it comes to this crossing of the Alaskan Interior. From McGrath to Ruby lies roughly a 200 mile stretch of completely remote wilderness, and no aid or shelter beyond two safety cabins that dot the trail.
In the past there had been a potential tent associated with the Iditarod Dog Sled Race that athletes could take advantage of (if invited), there are now no aid stations currently set up in Ophir and Cripple again (the same as 2025), and no trail set in. This year anyone in the 1,000 who leaves McGrath will be tackling a two fold challenge. The first and most immediate is that the trail leaving Tokotna has not been put in by the Iditarod Dog Sled Race, due to an unfortunate gap in the calendar. That race usually takes place one week after the ITI but this year it starts two weeks later.
The reason for the gap between these two races is an unlucky calendar blip. ITI is always scheduled to start on the last Sunday in February, and the ceremonial start for the Iditarod is always the first Saturday in March. Typically those two events are roughly a week apart, but this year due to the way that those dates fall on days of the week, they are roughly two weeks apart.
The leaders in the sled dog race are preceded by the Iditarod trail crew (ITC), who drive snowmachines down the Iditarod Trail; the snowmachine traffic has the effect of packing the snow and making the route more easily passable. In a typical year, the ITC crews would be on the trail around now, but this year they are not expected for days. Even in deep snow, a semi-packed trail means the difference between waist or thigh deep snow and ankle deep snow with snowshoes on. For bikes, it is the difference between pushing and riding.
The timing of the ITI sits in between two major events, the biggest events of the area actually, one being the sled dog race and the other is the Iron Dog, the world’s longest, toughest snowmobile race. The Iron Dog will often pave the way, or more accurately, break trail on their out-and-back route starting in Anchorage, heading to Nome, and home to Anchorage. This year they followed a different route to finish in Fairbanks, and the trail they previously set is now weeks old. Lastly, the trail not being set in was one edge of the sword, the other edge is the large amount of snowfall in the area. Any trail that had been laid by the Iron Dog, would have all but disappeared.
What’s a girl to do! Some have scratched, knowing the trail breakers are coming at some point, but unsure when, and after clearing the Interior, the racers still need to travel some 500 miles to finish in the allotted 30 days. The cutoff to leave McGrath is at 2PM on Wednesday so simply remaining for the trail breakers is not an option. Some are continuing on regardless, especially for foot division that simply takes more time to cross these expanses, forward motion is a must, even if it is at 1.5 mph.
Today we saw a lot of forward motion from the field as a whole and the leader of the 1,000-mile race, Gavan Hennigan. He had left Tokotna and spent last night at the Ophir Airport (the airport consists of a small clearing in the woods, don’t get excited!). After a short bivy he left early this morning and made his way onto the Innoko River similar to what he did in 2025 when the trail had also not been put in. He did travel via snowshoes for sometime before getting turned around by yet more relentless deep snow.
Further back our 1,000 mile bikers Ryan Wanless and Erick Basset had left McGrath and made for Tokotna, as well as two more foot division athletes, Herman Watson and Takao Kitada. After Takotna is where the trail disintegrates, and we will have to wait with baited breath until tomorrow to see what they decide.
Kendall Park and Mayella Krause had a nice rest at Nikolai and have been making strong progress on the 50 mile stretch to McGrath, playing the smart game. They will have a chance to rest there before leaving tomorrow.
On the final stretch from Nikolai to McGrath there is a strong line of 350 athletes making their way to the finish including Sunny Stroeer who has finished the 1,000 in the past and Gillian Smith who might just have that on her bingo card for next time. On his way to the finish, here is a special shout out to the ever cheerful Luke Thomas, who has a good thought for anyone wanting to try this race, “The trail is magic” and I think that is true, and if you can get through the high winds and plunging mercury, the miles of solitude, the hours of unassuming company, then there is a quiet magic that exists for those who are looking.
Congrats to race finishers since yesterday’s update: 350-mile racers Casey Bredeson (Cavalier County, North Dakota, bike) and Kristoffer Jonson (Seattle, Washington, foot), as well as 1,000 mile racers who have reached McGrath, which is only another checkpoint in the race of that distance - Troy Szczurkowski (Australia, bike), Beat Jegerlehner (Boulder, Colorado, foot), and Mark Hines (UK, foot).
As the 350-mile race begins to wind down, every person will look back at their experience, win, lose, or draw, and have stories to tell for years to come. If there is one lesson we have learned this year, it is that none of us do this alone. Whether on the trail or back home, there is much to be grateful for when it comes to our support group, sponsors, and cheerleaders. We asked people to talk about who they are grateful for, tonight and tomorrow we will list them all. We are all truly, Stronger Together.
Written by Kari Gibbons
Photo credit Kendall Park
Thanks to Wild Winter Women - Allison Carolan, Amanda Harvey, Faye Norby, Jan Redmond Walker, Jessica Roschlan, Leah Gruhn, Laura Wiesmann Hrubes, Lynn K Hall, Madeline Harms, Rashelle Hintz, Rebecca McVay-Brodersen, and Sarah Bergstrom.
A thank you from the participants:
Andy Weinzierl: Galleria Bicycle for keeping my bike in great shape, and my wife for putting up with me obsessively talking about the ITI over the last year.
BRIAN HAMILTON: In training my Northern Lites snow show broke, and thy immediately overnighted me upgraded replacements so I would not miss out. I loved this customer service so a shout out to this brand.
Bryce Williams: My Mother
Cayden Boll: Everyone who's experiences I've learned from in getting to this point.
Curtis Henry: Tyson with Goldstream Sports and Apocalypse Design has been incredibly helpful preparing for the race. The Fairbanks Community and a few veteran racers have done a lot to convince me to sign up for this race.
Derrick Seys: Inspiration and support from my wife Anne, family, and No Ride Around teammates. Tks to the entire ITI and supporting communities.
Elias Miner: My wife Meg for supporting me through all the training, planning, and preparation.
Frances DeBlare: My extremely supportive wife and my artist side gig DeBlare Designs that helps me pay for training, those “panic buy” gear purchases and race costs each year!
Ginny Robbins: My huge support network, and the whole extended cheering squad! Also my friend and bike mechanic Frank Trotter who removed almost all my bike-related worries.
Hilary Kunz: Jordan (hubby)
James Mowbray: Family
Jamie Hollingsworth: About five years ago, my family's life changed forever when my wife Teresa was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. She passed away this past May. Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for those under 50. The Colon Cancer Coalition is following me in this race to help me raise awareness of the disease. Awareness and prevention is key. Please consider donating at https://coloncancercoalition.org/
Jason Hutchins: Thank my wife Sarahi Ruiz, donations made to intrepid path on my behalf, and Old Elliott Provisions (my little gear company) because I relearned the whole sewing process to be able to make my own dyneema overboots for the race. They are custom fit and weigh about 9 ounces for the pair. I hope to sell them to other racers next fall
Jason Mancini: My wife, Rachel
Jason McDaniel: My wife Christine. She is a superstar.
Jerry Palmer: Melissa my wife, always.
John Clarke: My daughters, India and Natasha.
Kenneth Bruun Jørgensen: My girlfriend for buying the ticket.
Kristopher Kleine: My Family, Happy Tails Veterinary Care, The Hub Bicycles
Laura Rushfeldt: Friends, family, Wy&Wo
Luke Thomas: My wife Odara, the dogs Meesh and Hazel, and the cat Pearly.
Matt Webb: My wife Connie