The first bikers have arrived in Kaltag after the long over 100 mile stretch up the Yukon River in warm conditions with sleet, rain, snow, wind, overflow and soft trails.

The first two arrive were Petr Ineman and John Logar followed by Troy Sczurkowski.

Troy reports temperatures close to 40 degrees with soft punchy trails.

The two Alaskan women in the race to Nome, Missy and Kim, are making steady progress on the Yukon River despite the warm and soft trail conditions.

Jose Bermudez, Steve Cannon and Peter Felten are keeping a steady pace despite the slow trails.

Runners Beat, Klaus, Eric and Grant are also keeping a steady pace.

I spoke with Eric Johnson. He said he has trouble getting the tracker unit opened up to put new batteries in. The screws are in so tight, he is afraid he might strip them out. Will find out how we can get the tracking unit opened up.

The weather forecast for Kaltag:

Tonight

A 40 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 30. Northeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Sunday

Snow, mainly after 9am. High near 33. Northeast wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Sunday Night

Snow. Low around 27. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Monday

Snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 29. Northeast wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Kathi Merchant, Matanuska Valley

race director

The women’s record holder Jill Homer is in Nome for a month training for the White Mountains 100 race and awaiting Beat Jegerlehner’s arrival. She went on a locals ride outside of Nome today and witnessed a storm that broke the sea ice loose and she writes on face book that now you can see the ocean from front street in Nome. An aerial image posted later by former racer Sean Grady snows most of Norton Bay without ice also. This means most of the trail beyond Shaktoolik to Koyuk, Elim to Golovin will most likely run overland this year. The warm tempereatures along the coast will also not be ideal for running dogs in the Iditarod. They tend to overheat when it is above freezing.

We did hear that Utah runner Eric Johnson left Iditarod last night. He was in good spirits. His tracker is not working. We will leave a message for him in Shageluk that he needs to check his tracking device.

Florian Reiterberger has left the Ophir check point. We are waiting to hear from him once he gets back onto the road system and cellphone signal about his arrival back at the hotel in Anchorage.

All other racers on the trail to Nome are making great progress.

Leading bikers Petr Ineman and John Logar are only 8 miles from Kaltag this morning.

Kathi Merchant

race director

We have been monitoring the trackers all day. The ITI racers are moving along the trail now in the midst of the Iditarod dog mushers, who have arrived in Grayling. The leading bikers in the ITI are still ahead of the mushers, and they are moving along well on the big, wide, mighty Yukon River at over a mile wide in places.

A quote from Andy Heading, a competitor from the UK several years ago : “This is not a river, it is an ocean.”

Florian Reiterberger is still in Ophir, according to his tracker. The weather conditions have most likely prevented a bush flight out. A flight or the trail is the only way out.

Not tracking:

Eric Johnson from Odgen, Utah, is on the trail, but either his tracker is not working or he forgot to turn it on. He left the McGrath checkpoint 2 days ago.

The trail is really remote beyond McGrath, and the 1000-mile race is different from the 350-mile race. It is a self-supported, winter expedition. The only news we get as race organizers is what racers post themselves on social media when they have access to wifi in the villages, or if they call from a village. The only cell phone that works close to or in the villages is the Alaskan GCI cell phone. Some racers carry satellite phones. They are not required to call the race organization. We get what information we get on occasion or through Iditarod news media on the trail. We will share information as racers pass through gateways/villages along the trail. There will be more places to find wifi once racers get to Kaltag and after Unalakleet on the Bering Sea Coast.

Hopefully, we will hear from them sooner.

Kathi Merchant
race director, Matanuska Valley, Alaska

Racers are making steady progress up the Yukon River and the first 3 bikers — Troy Sczurkowski, Petr Ineman and John Logar — have made it past Eagle Island on the Yukon River, heading north towards Kaltag.

The only two women in the 1000-mile event are Alaskans Kim Riggs from Anchorage and Missy Schwarz from Fairbanks. They both have finished the 350-mile event multiple times previously.

They are currently 50 miles south of Eagle Island, moving along at 6 mph. This indicates the trails on the Yukon River are pretty good and have set up to ride.

Florian Reiterberger is still in Ophir. He is waiting for a flight out. His bush flight may have been delayed because of bad weather. Alaska bush pilots fly VFR, which means the must have enough visibility to fly. Icing conditions also prevent bush pilots from flying when temperatures get close to the freezing point.

The last racer on the trail, just out of Ophir, is runner Grant Maughan from Australia.

Anchorage Daily News had this article about the snowless trail conditions and tussocks showing in the 80-mile stretch between Ophir and Iditarod:

https://www.adn.com/outdoors-adventure/iditarod/2019/03/08/its-just-bam-bam-bam-iditarod-leaders-just-spent-hours-grinding-across-a-tussock-studded-trail-with-not-much-snow/?

The picture of the musher in the article explains pretty well what Alaskan tussocks look like.

Current conditions and forecast for the Kaltag area:

This Afternoon

Snow. High near 31. Northeast wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Tonight

Snow, mainly before 4 a.m. Low around 22. East wind around 5 mph becoming southeast after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of about an inch possible.

Today there are 12 athletes making their way to Nome. Eric Johnson is not tracking. He possibly forgot to change his batteries in McGrath or did not turn the tracker back on.

Grant Maughn has new shoes and is on his way as well.

Donald Kane has pulled out of the race:

https://craigmedred.news/2019/03/07/worst-of-times/

Current temperature in Anvik is 27 F. The leading bikers have reached the small village of Anvik on the Yukon River. In the lead are John Logar and Petr Ineman, both veterans of the 1000-mile race. This morning they are moving at 6-7 mph. With cooler temps at night, trails must have firmed up for them.

Aliy Zirkle is the leading musher into Iditarod in the sled dog race. She has not taken her mandatory 24-hour stop yet. Iditarod is the halfway point for mushers as well as human-powered athletes.

Beyond McGrath, there is a drop bag provided by the ITI organization that is flown out by a bush plane ahead of time. Then there are 3 small villages where racers resupply from village stores or retrieve packages they have mailed ahead to themselves as “general delivery.” There is a BNB in Shageluk and Grayling; otherwise, racers sleep in the schools along the way when there are no other lodging options.

The most desolate and longest uninhabited stretch of Yukon River awaits them after the stop in Grayling: over 100 miles on the big, wide and lonely Yukon River until they reach the community of Kaltag.

Day 10 ITI

Trail conditions on the Iditarod Trail are not ideal right now for people or dogs. Temperatures are warming in the Iditarod area and making travel difficult in wet conditions and soft trails.

Two  fat-bikers in the ITI have turned around. German rider Florian Reiterberger is having knee issues and pushed his bike back to Ophir. He is getting a flight out to Wasilla tomorrow. Scottish rider and race veteran Donald Kane, a previous Nome finisher, pulled the plug on his race after heading into heavy snow into the Takotna hills. He walked back to McGrath and flew back to Anchorage today.

Klaus Schweinberger left McGrath and is on his way to Takotna.

Grant Maughan is waiting on new shoes. The ones he used to McGrath caused him foot issues.

9 racers of the 16 who signed up for the 1000-mile event are still in the running.

We are following the Iditarod Sled Dog race updates to get a glimpse of current trail conditions, as well as monitoring speeds and mileage covered by the ITI racers. However, mushing dogs over trail is not the same as riding a bike or running the Iditarod Trail by human power. Dogs don’t need a surface as hard as human athletes do to move forward on a snowy winter trail.

There are several scenarios possible with the current weather pattern on the section from Gayling to Kaltag, a wide-open stretch on the Yukon River of over 100 miles.

The trail could set up hard with cooling temperatures and create fast trails; it could be sugary snow; it could be the consistency of powdered milk or mashed potatoes — all depending on snow, wind, temperature and other factors.

Another issue for these athletes will be moisture management and trench foot issues. Getting wet and damp in these conditions will get you chilled quickly, and it is hard to stay dry. Then you get cold, and it is difficult to dry anything without external heat.

Racers can build a fire. We did in the 2008 race, when we got rained on near Cripple on the Northern Route.

Trench foot is a condition that reduces circulation in your feet and toes due to prolonged wet and cold conditions. It also encourages blister formation. Worst case, you can lose toes if you keep them in this condition too long.

Historically, the Yukon River on this particular section on the South Route between Grayling and Kaltag has dished out sugary snow, head winds and drifted-in trails, and often slow unrideable trails, even slow for foot travel.

We will keep our eyes peeled on the Trackleaders ITI tracking page and see what progress racers are making.

The 350-mile race is a wrap for the 2019 ITI.

Congratulations to all 39 finishers in the 350-mile event this year!

Full results are found on the Trackleaders page. The results will be posted on our website after this year’s race.

There are 14 athletes en route to Nome.

Current temp in Anvik: 32 F

https://craigmedred.news/2019/03/05/into-the-storm

https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Human-powered-athletes-warn-of-soft-snow-ahead-for-Iditarod-dog-teams

The leaders of the 1000-mile event are in Iditarod. Troy Szcurkowski was able to get a message out to us this morning that they are OK. They found their drop bags and fuel in Iditarod. There is no trail. They have been traveling behind a group of 3 snowmobiles on the trail to Nome as tourists.

The Iditarod Sled Dog trail breakers are on their way, breaking trail for the dogs. The first mushers have arrived in Nikolai.

There is a winter weather advisory in effect for the Shageluk/Anvik area:

Lower Yukon Valley- Including Russian Mission, Grayling, Holy Cross, Shageluk, Anvik, and Flat 448 AM AKST Tue Mar 5 2019 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM AKST THIS EVENING... * WHAT...Snow and mixed freezing precipitation occurring. Plan on difficult travel conditions. Additional snow accumulations of 2 to 5 inches, and ice accumulation of less than a tenth of an inch, are expected. * WHERE...Lower Yukon Valley. Heaviest snow north and west of Anvik.

Good morning from McGrath.

Current conditions here: 18 F

Forecast for the Shageluk area, where the current leaders in the 1000-mile race are:

Today

Rain and snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 35 F. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than half an inch possible.

Tonight

Rain and snow likely before midnight, then snow. Low around 31 F. Southeast wind 15 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.

Tuesday

Snow before 9 am, then rain and snow. High near 35 F. Southeast wind 15 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

More racers arrived in McGrath last night. Asbjorn Bruun from Denmark became the first and only skier to finish, with a time of 7 days, 11 hours, 27 minutes. Congratulations!

Donald Kane and Eric Johnson, both signed up in the 1000-mile event, are here.

Vincent Poffet, Daniel Slater and Jason Davis – all rookies this year – have crossed the finish line in McGrath. Congratulations!

The Schneiderheinzes’ residence is busy again with trail chatter and finishers enjoying the warm hospitality here, with mancakes, omelettes and French-pressed coffee.

Both Kyle Durand and I are here to congratulate the finishers.

What an amazing field and high quality of athletes this year, and the greatest people to share stories and spend time with here at the finish line in McGrath.

Today, Day 8 of the event, we have a few more racers on the trail between Nikolai and McGrath.

There is a winter blizzard moving into the Lower Yukon area around Shageluk, with temperatures rising to 35 F, and rain and snow from 5-8 inches to possibly even 16 inches.

Iditarod Sled Dog Race trail breakers are in McGrath and heading up the trail today ahead of the dog race, which started yesterday in Willow. The first mushers will be in McGrath tomorrow night.

Our 1000-mile leaders, Troy Scurkowski, Petr Ineman, Jose Bermudez and John Logar, have been stopped at the Moose Creek cabin for quite some time.

The question remains, is there a trail to Iditarod and Shageluk?

McGrath current temperature 30 F (-1C)

13 racers remain on the trail to McGrath. The last racers are arriving in Nikolai tonight. 7 bikers are en route to Nome between Ophir and Iditarod. Beat Jegerlehner, Peter Felten and Florian Reiterberger are prepping to leave McGrath tonight and in the morning.

Weather forecast for the Shageluk, Anvik, Grayling area:

Winter Weather Advisory

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
National Weather Service Fairbanks AK
301 PM AKST Sun Mar 3 2019

AKZ215-041600-
/O.EXT.PAFG.WW.Y.0056.190304T0600Z-190306T0000Z/
Lower Yukon Valley-
Including Russian Mission, Grayling, Holy Cross, Shageluk, Anvik,
and Flat
301 PM AKST Sun Mar 3 2019
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING
TO 3 PM AKST TUESDAY...
* WHAT...Snow expected. Plan on difficult travel conditions. Total
  snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches, with localized amounts up
  to 10 inches, are expected.
* WHERE...Lower Yukon Valley.

McGrath. March 3, Sunday, Day 8

Current conditions in McGrath : 17 degrees F, cloudy and calm

In the 1000-mile race:

https://craigmedred.news/2019/03/03/idit-a-grunt/ news article by Craig Medred

Ghost town of Iditarod:

https://www.adn.com/iditarod-communities/slideshow/photos-ghost-town-iditarod-alaska/2013/03/08/

Checking the trackers this morning, it appears that the lead pack of four bikers is riding now, judging by their speeds. John Logar is moving at 5.5 mph. Kim and Missy are moving along well also, followed by Steve Cannon. The snowmachines with tourists heading to Nome from Wasilla obviously passed them and the trail is setting up.

The race is on among the lead pack of four!

In the 350-mile race:

Several more racers arrived last night and this morning to finish the 350-mile event in McGrath.

Tracker issues:

Sean Brown’s tracking unit was not working on a remote part of the trail. RD Kyle Durand switched out the tracking unit and Sean Brown is tracking now. He is almost in Nikolai.

McGrath March 2 

Current conditions in McGrath: 12 F with light snow, no wind

Rob Henderson from Minneapolis won the 350-mile running division last night. Piotr Chadovich from Belarus is the second runner to arrive in McGrath. Congratulations to them both!

Steve Cannon from Des Moines, Iowa, and Alaskan cyclists Missy Schwarz of Fairbanks and Kimberly Riggs of Anchorage  departed the McGrath checkpoint en route to Nome this morning. It appears the three snowmachines reported en route to Nome have passed the leading bikers and have put in a trail to the ghost town of Iditarod, where 10,000 gold miners once lived. 

The race takes an alternating course each year after Ophir, following a northern route in even years and a southern route in odd years. Many ITI racers find the southern route – which includes the town of Iditarod – interesting because of its historical significance, and I have heard from racers who have done it that it’s especially scenic between Ophir and Shageluk.

The 1000-mile race is more an expedition and adventure than a race. Before anyone can enter the 1000-mile race in the ITI, they need to have finished the 350-mile event in a previous year. Since the year 2000, only about 65 human-powered racers have crossed the finish line under the burled arch in Nome. Only seven have been women.

Go Missy! Go Kim!

The sole remaining skier on the course, Asbjorn Bruun from Norway, is now 18 miles from Nikolai. Last year, we had two skiers finish the 350-mile race. Few skiers enter this race – even fewer finish. It is not hard to understand why. The trail often includes snowless sections of ice and rocks that are difficult to ski. It’s bumpy from snowmobiles and windy through the trees, and there are short, steep sections that are very narrow and icy. And when it is really cold, there is no glide to skis. 

There is a reason fat bikes dominate this race, always win and set the fastest times: A fat bike has proved to be the fastest mode of transport for human-powered travel on the Iditarod Trail. In 2015, John Lackey of Anchorage set an ITI 350 bike record by making it to McGrath in under two days, beating the fastest time of even the dog mushing teams on that stretch of the trail. Jeff Oatley from Fairbanks set the 1000-mile bike record in 2014 of 10 days, 2 hours and 53 minutes. In the early days of the Iditarod, Jeff would have won the dog race with this time. The winning time for champion musher Martin Buser’s dog team in 1992 set a record at just over 10 days, and it wasn’t until Doug Swingley’s win in 1995 that a dog team finished in under 10 days.  

Kathi Merchant in McGrath
race director

Women in the ITI

Women in the ITI are just as tough as any other athlete in the race. This year we have Rebecca Rusch in first place. She has been an endurance racer for more than 20 years and is known as the Queen of Pain.

At 50 she wanted to do something that challenged her. She took first place in the women’s division.

There were 10 women in the race this year out of 82 participants. It seems like a small number, but it is pretty average. 3 women scratched for different reasons.

The women’s field has been small over the years, but the women that attempt the ITI are pretty special. As race organizers and coaches in our training camps we are especially proud of Cheryl Wallace and Nina Pebbles who participated in the camp this year and completed the 150 mile event with shining colors!

Only 7 women ( 3 on foot ) and 4 by fat bike have made the 1000 mile journey to Nome since the year 2000.

Missy Schwarz and Kimberly Riggs are attempting to go to Nome this year. They are currently in McGrath. They would only be number 8 and 9 making the trip to Nome under human power.

1000 miles on the Iditarod Trail is not only 3 times as far as McGrath but it exponentially more difficult.

The 350 mile event is a race, but riding or hiking to Nome is a real adventure and winter expedition that takes a lot of training, experience, knowledge and mental as well as physical strength to accomplish.

Trail Conditions between Rohn and McGrath

Daytime temperature is in the 20s, nights -10F

This side of the mountains is in the rain shadow of the Alaska Range. This means there is often little or no snow. This year there are 12 miles of ice, rocks and dirt. This is fast for the fat bikes, but slowing down the runners dragging a sled.

There is a BLM shelter cabin 50 miles from Rohn. Some racers stopped there to rest, sleep and dry gear.

It is really remote and desolate country when racers leave Rohn. In past years the race has seen -40 F all the way from Rohn to McGrath. This year the coldest temperatures were in the -25 to -30 F range. Heading into Nikolai there is always a breeze, a stiff wind blowing at your face.

Our Nikolai check point volunteers George and Lucas are working hard today and all night to take care of racers and grill burgers for them.

1000 mile race

Troy Sczurkowski, John Logar, Jose Bermudez and Petr Ineman are on route to Nome. It appears they are pushing their bikes judging by their progress and speed. Until the Iditarod Trail brakers come by, there is no trail on the South Route. No anyone can put it in, it is hard to find your way across there. The ITI does not break trail to Nome only to McGrath. The events are times this way that the 1000 mile racers will have a trail and all the activity that the Iditarod race brings with it. Another bonus for the racers heading to Nome is that they get to see the Iditarod dog sled teams on the trail.

Kathi Merchant from McGrath

race director

Good morning from McGrath!

Temperature is -18 F.

Idaho campers (Jay P’s Idaho Island Park fat bike training camp) Graham Muir and George Adams from New Zealand and Brian Broomall roll into McGrath at 6 am this morning all frosty but all smiles.

Participating in the ITI annual training camp is another way to enter the race. Camp participants have done extremely well in this race. It is a 5 day camp on the Iditarod Trail where participants learn the skills and knowledge necessary to safely navigate the route. They learn about layering, use of stoves, proper tire pressure, winter bike maintainance and how to eat and fuel our bodies in the cold. As race directors and race veterans teach those skills at the camps and share their knowledge from many years on the Iditarod Trail.

“Wow what an amazing experience!”

They saw Northern Lights last night and had good trails to ride.

There is much activity in the Schneiderheinze’s with racers arriving, eating breakfast and enjoying the famous mancakes and 3 egg omelettes.

Status runners

Rookie Rob Henderson is the leading runner in the 350 mile race. He is 41 miles from McGrath.

Beat Jegerlehner is the leading runner in the 1000 mile distance.

Troy Szcurkowski appears to be pushing his bike on the Southern Route beyond Ophir. There is no trail at this time until the Iditarod trail breakers come through braking trail ahead of the dogs. The ITI always follows the same route as the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.

The Iditarod starts on Sunday out of Willow. The trail breakers are usually 24 hours ahead of the first musher. Mushers will start arriving in the community of McGrath Tuesday night.

Rebecca Rusch rides into the McGrath this morning under blue skies and sun this morning at 10:55 am just in time for the famous Mancakes at the Schneiderheinze residence. She is the first women to arrive in the 350 in the 2019 ITI. 3 days 20 hours 55 minutes. Temperature was -10 F here this morning.

Good morning from McGrath. The Schneiderheinzes residence is a busy place this morning. It smells like pancakes, omelettes and coffee here this morning. Racers are booking flights to get back to Anchorage today and tomorrow.

First women Rebecca Rush is 8 miles out. There is a crowd of friends, racers waiting for her to cheer her in.

More bikers arrived here last night: Chris Lowry, Jim Vreeland, John Logar and Petr Ineman.

Temperature in McGrath is -6 F this morning. Calm, no wind.

1000 mile leader Troy Sczurkowski left McGrath early this morning and is already in Takotna 18 miles from here.

Congratulations to all the 150 mile finishers. It was a new distance we added this year from the 130 mile finish the last two years.

Very proud of all the ITI camp participants that had participated in this year’s training camp on Flathorn Lake mid February and started the 150 mile 9 days later. Congratulations Nina and Cheryl!! 2 days and 21 hours!

Congrats to Maren Bradley for winning the running division in the 150 mile!! 2 days 23 hours 6 minutes.

Maren is from the Yukon Canada and recently turned from mushing dogs to ultra running. Her goal is to go human powered on her own feet to Nome in a few years. Go Maren!

Stephan and Manfred from Germany also participated in this year’s camp and finished in 3 days.

Congratulations to all the 350 and 150 mile finishers so far!

350 mile Foot Division: Leading runner is rookie Ron Henderson at the 200 mile Rohn check point.In second place is Piotr Chadovich a rookie in the ITI as well.

350 mile Ski Division: Leading skier ( one of 2) is Asbjorn Skjoth Bruun from Norway.

350 first woman Rebecca Rush is almost in Nikolai, the last check point before the finish of the 300.

Leader in the 1000 mile race is 3 time finisher Toy Sczurkowski from Australia.

Leader in the 1000 mile foot race is

Scratches: Trail legend Tim Hewitt with 11 finishes in the 1000 mile race to Nome and featured athlete in the new film in film festivals that premiered recently in Anchorage and Vancouver has scratched in Puntilla/Rainy Pass Lodge due to knee issues. His tracker showed him going 113 mph on the airplane back to Anchorage.

Tracker mulfuntion:

Sean Brown left Winterlake Lodge at 10 am this morning. His track needs new batteries or is not facing the sky. The next check point will alert him of the tracker mulfunction.

One more scratch at Rainy Pass Lodge: Erika Van Meter

There are so many amazing people with amazing stories out there.

Today we had more people covering the event and family members arrive in McGrath on a flight. There are no roads to McGrath, only air planes or a winter trail that comes alive this time of the year.

More riders are arriving tonight, expecting Jim Vreeland anytime now, Adam Erritzoe and Chris Lowry a rookie in the ITI.

On route to Nikolai are brother and sister Janice Tower and Matt Tanaka. Janice has done the race twice before and for Matt it is his first time.

Some of the fans and family members might be surprised to hear that some of the racers are in the 50’s or even 60’s doing this extreme event. Extreme because of the cold temperatures, remoteness of the trail, extreme weather with wind and drifted in trails. People can excel in ultra endurance events at that age. Experience and knowledge can take them many miles and beyond many obstacles. They are all amazing no matter their age or how many times they have been here.

They come for all over the world, there are 20 different nationalities represented this year.

2/27 8:18 AM

current temp McGrath: 0F

current conditions Puntilla:

4 bikers are at the finish line in McGrath and 4 riders have finished the 150 mile race at Rainy Pass Lodge (Puntilla Lake).

Conditions yesterday and this morning are firm and fast with sunny skies and temps in the high 20s. The temperature at Puntilla was -8F when Kim and Missy rolled out this morning under an aurora-lit sky. 

Our this years rookies and training camp participants in the 150 mile race are all doing well.

In mid February 8 participants from 5 different countries took part in our annual 5 day winter training camp on Flathorn Lake: Brian Marang finished, Nina Stupples, Cheryl Wallace.

It appears that some of them bivvied last night on their way to the finish line in Puntilla.

They are all doing really well on the trail. The camps is another way to enter the race for new people without a lot of winter and cold weather experience. ITI offers this camp every year.

Leading woman is Rebecca Rusch. She is on route to Nikolai. It appears she has been stopping along the way. Currently she has been stopped for 2 hours.

Racers bivi in this race. This means they are getting off the trail and getting their sleeping bag out and getting a few hours of rest alongside the trail. The tracker color goes to a faded lighter color. This means they have been stopped for more than 30 minutes.

150 mile distance, new for 2019:

Leading runner is Maren Bradley, she is a runner, she is just a mile ahead of Cheryl Wallace and Nina Stupples from New Zealand. They both did this year’s ITI training camp on Flathorn Lake.

German runners Stephan Huss and Manfred Krause, also camp participants this year are doing well.

Troy Szcurkowski from Australia is leading in the 1000 mile distance.

Leading runner is rookie runner Rob Henderson (mile 161). He is on his way to Rohn and heading over Rainy Pass.

The next runner behind him is at mile 136 is Jeff Rock, also a rookie.

Foot record holder David Johnson from Willow Alaska who hold the running record of over just 4 days is not competing this year.

This year the lead bikers report great conditions of the pass with ridable trails which does not happen very often since the terrain is above treeline and often windblown with drifted in trails. It is a crux point of the course. In past years racers have turned around on the pass and come back to the Puntilla check point due to cold strong winds and drifted in non existent trails.

This year mother nature seems to be smiling on the racers. Race veterans Jay Petervary (11 finishes) and Peter Basinger (16 finishes) report some of the best trail conditions in year, rideable trails, no wind and fairly mild temperatures.

Kathi Merchant
co race director in McGrath 2/27 9 AM.

Current conditions in McGrath: 14F 2/26 9:20 PM
current conditions in Skwentna: 4 F 2/26 9:20 PM

We have a new champion in the 350 mile champion in McGrath. He wins the 350 mile ITI in 1 days 23 hours 54 minutes. Tyson is from Fairbanks and this is his second year in the ITI. He was second to Tim Berntson in 2016.

Rebecca Rush is the leading woman and she has arrived at the 200 mile Rohn check point. Most of the field is now between Skwentna and Rohn. Local skier Lars Danner is the Red Lantern on the trail.

The temperature is 12 degrees here in McGrath, blue skies and sunny. I had a great flight on Alaska Air Transit on the mail plane today from Nikolai. It is just a little hop between these two communities. These towns and villages are not road accessible for those not from Alaska following this event. Once a year they are connected by a thin white line in the snow, the Iditarod Trail during the Iron Dog, ITI and Iditarod Sled Dog Race.

All the supplies, food, mail, volunteers and even tax accountants come in on airplanes. There is no highway or road system out here in the bush of Alaska. It takes people and all the different events doing their part putting in a trail. Putting in a trail here means not just driving a snowmobile. Sometimes cutting trees, shoveling sidehills and building ice bridges in the fast flowing Dalzell Creek in the Dalzell Gorge is neccessary to get to the Tatina which then takes racers into the remote Rohn check point. There is a small BLM cabin, population zero. We fly in a wall tent, wood stove and drop bags a week before the start.

Our Rohn crew serve brats to the hungry racers.

On the first part of the race course there are several lodges catering to trail travelllers whether they are on a snowmobile, fat bike , ski, on foot, dog team or come in by airplane.

Longtime host Peter Schneiderheize told us it was -20 last night here which is typical for this time of the year. We have seen -40 in many years past.

The 4 fat bikers report good trails, despite a lot of snow on the trail this year, we heard rumors of lots of overflow due to the recent snowfall. But the riders into Nikolai so far report none.

Nobody expected such a fast pace, close to the 2015 record year. The racers also report no wind drifted trails either. Warm temps, followed by snowmobile traffic, followed by cold temperatures at night, set the trails up once again for a fast ride in the 350 mile race.

What was different about the year 2015 when John Lackey set the 1 day 18 hours record was that there was no snow on many sections of the trail compared to this year.

The forecast calls for fairly mild conditions, partly cloudy skies and lows in 5-10 F at night.

Daytime temperatures are much warmer, days are getting longer by 10 minutes every day in February. Soon it will be spring and the Iditarod Trail will melt out and disappear until it is created new the following year.

I had a beautiful flight over to McGrath today.

We are waiting for 3 more bikers today, all ITI veterans, Jay P, Clinton and Peter B.

The bulk of the racers is now between Skwentna Roadhouse mile 90 and McGrath spread out over 300 miles of trail.

Kathi Merchant

co race director from McGrath

Tyson Flaharty from Fairbanks is crushing it! He arrives in Nikolai at 4:40 this morning. This is his second year racing in the ITI. He is close to John Lackey’s record time of 1 day 18 hours to McGrath, the record.

He looks good and he sounds good. He plans to take a rest here in Nikolai. The next racer behind him is Jay Petervary who is 23 miles out of Nikolai.

Crispin Studer wins the 150 mile race to Rainy Pass Lodge. Congratulations. Crispin is from Switzerland, he lives in the Yukon Canada, he is a rookie this year.

7 racers were resting at the 150 mile mark at Rainy Pass Lodge this morning including 1000 mile leader Troy Szcurkowski and leading woman Rebecca Rush in her rookie year on the Iditarod Trail.

Leading racer in the running category is rookie racer Rob Henderson at mile 118. Tim Hewitt is leading the running race to Nome, his 12th time going to Nome at route mile 92.

First skier is Askjorn Skjoth at route mile 85.

Current temperature in Nikolai: -12 F.

Current temperature in Puntilla/Rainy Pass Lodge:7F

race report from Nikolai-Kathi Merchant co race director

current weather/conditions in Nikolai:

18 F , partly sunny, no wind.

Rainy Pass Lodge on Puntilla Lake mile 150 reports 3 F and no wind, clear skies.

The temperature dropped to -25 F on the Yentna River last night and at least 4 people have frostbitten face, fingers and toes.

There are 10 scratches so far:

David Barker Milner, Thomas Keene,Teri Buck, Tony Newton, John Berryman, Tobias Bos, Ronnie Carrara, Bartosz Skowronski.

Thomas Keene walked back to Knik Lake. David Barker Milner got a ride back to Anchorage.

I only recive face book messages from our checker at Yentna Station,so I don’t have too many details on exactly why they scratched. All I know there is some frostbite and general fatigue. Regal Air was taking those racers back to
Anchorage today.

We have corrected the tracker mulfunctions Dennis Staley and Tyson Flaharty who is now in the lead and on his way to the Rohn check point, over the Alaska Range (Rainy Pass).

Race leader Tyson is in Rohn mile 200. His chasers are Jay Petervary 12 miles from Rohn and Clinton Hodges 16 miles from Rohn. Behind is Peter Basinger. Both veterans with many finishes, wins as well as course records.

All of them are entered in the largest field and most competitive distance of 350 miles.

Leader in the 1000 mile distance is Troy Szurkowski, also a race veteran with 3 finishes in Nome.

The first woman is Rebecca Rush is in Fingerlake ( Winterlake Lodge) on a fat bike.

Asbjorn Skjoth Bruun is the first skier and he is 72.3. He is a rookie racer. Local skier Lars Danner is at mile 55.6 currently.

First on foot is Rob Henderson at mile 85, he is a rookie this year.

After arriving in Nikolai with our 2 volunteers Kiwi Lucas Smith ( second year in Nikolai) and George Grigonis from Philadelphia.

I was told by locals there is a significant amount of overflow between Nikolai and McGrath up to waist deep in places due to the recent snow and warm temperatures. It is springlike here and way too warm according to the locals. Nikolai is a small athabascan village along the Kuskoskwim River with about 90 people. It is quiet here. There is a church, school, city building, airport, post office and small general store. There some activity here, locals are setting up check points for the mushers race, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race which starts this coming Sunday.

Kathi Merchant in Nikolai
co race director

February 25 2019