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.

The mighty Alaskan Range and its indisputable beauty.

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.

The 2020 ITI starts today, Sunday March 1, at Knik Lake. We will have breaking news here once a day. We will also be posting on Facebook and Instagram daily.

Start tracking the athletes live here at 2 PM Alaska Standard Time:

https://www.iditarodtrailinvitational.com/tracking

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.

https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaRusch/videos/868818893495945/UzpfSTczMzkwOTg0MzozMDYwNjExMjk0OTk0MTQ6MTA6MDoxNTY0NjQyNzk5Ojg3NDYyMjEyNTYyMDk0MDc3NTg/

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!

View fullsize

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.

Congratulations to Jose Bermudez for finishing the ITI 1000 in 20 days, 5 hours and 38 minutes and for raising over $14,000 for charity as part of his journey to Nome.

Well done, Jose!

Congratulations to Troy Szczurkowski of Brisbane, Australia for placing 3rd in the 2019 ITI 1000 in 19 days, 16 hours and 14 minutes!

Troy is the only Australian to have completed the ITI 1000, and this is his fourth finish in Nome out of four attempts. Troy also completed the ITI 350 in 2015.

Troy led the 1000 mile race for the first 400 miles and battled injuries to his feet for most of his journey to Nome. The determination he showed by pushing through very tough weather and trail conditions while overcoming physical setbacks was inspiring and a testament to his resilience and grit.

Congratulations to John Logar and Petr Ineman for winning the ITI 1000 Men’s Bike Division in 19 days, 3 hours and 56 minutes!

John and Petr persevered together for over 700 of the 1000 miles, conquering overwhelming challenges during every day of their journey, and, in the end, they crossed under the burled arch in Nome at the same time as champions of the 2019 ITI 1000.

It is day 20 in the 2019 Iditarod Trail Invitational and 12 athletes are still making their way to Nome in the ITI 1000. Six athletes have previously finished the ITI 1000, but the other six have paid their dues on the Iditarod Trail by finishing the ITI 350 one or more times in the past.

John Logar and Petr Ineman are expected to be the first finishers in Nome this evening. They have been riding together for more than 700 miles and took the lead between Ophir and Iditarod from Troy Szcurkowski. Troy is in third place, 14 miles behind the lead duo, and has been battling trench foot for more than a week.

Jose Bermudez is in White Mountain in fourth place, 25 miles behind Troy. Meanwhile, the women’s duo of Missy Schwarz and Kim Riggs, who have ridden together since the start of the ITI on February 24th, is expected to arrive in Elim tonight.

The lead runner, Beat Jegerlehner, on his 5th run to Nome, is approaching Shaktoolik, around 750 miles into the race. Beat is about 100 miles ahead of the next runner, Eric Johnson, who is also a previous finisher of the ITI 1000 and who is currently in Kaltag.

Iowa’s Steve Cannon and Germany’s Peter Felten left Unalakleet this morning and are about halfway through the 40-mile leg to Shaktoolik. Suffering from gut problems, Steve stayed in Unalakleet for two days until he felt well enough to continue.

The ever-positive and smiling Austrian, Klaus Schweinberger, is in third place in the foot division, just a few miles ahead of Australian Grant Maughan. Both men will reach Eagle Island tonight, the halfway point in the long, desolate and tough 120-mile Yukon River section. As the last competitors on the Iditarod Trail this year, they face the daunting task of covering ground over trails that have not seen traffic in a few days.

After 17 days, ITI athletes are spread over more than 300 miles.

A frosty Petr Ineman

Petr Ineman and John Logar were the first to make it across Norton Bay between Shaktoolik and Koyuk, spending around 19 hours on the ice working against strong headwinds, snowfall and a blown-in trail. After leaving the bay, they will cover 12 more miles on a revised overland route before arriving in Koyuk.

About 20 miles behind them, Troy Szczurkowski arrived at the Little Mountain shelter cabin, perched on a peninsula jutting into Norton Bay. Troy rested, recovered and attended to his injured feet for about 13 hours in Shaktoolik before making the six hour push to the cabin and is not expected to stay long before embarking on his crossing of the sea ice.

Jose Bermudez stopped in Shaktoolik after crossing the tough Blueberry Hills just outside of Unalakleet and pushing his bike for most of the last 11 miles across the soft trail into Shaktoolik. He plans on resting for a few hours before pressing on towards and across the sea ice.

The Little Mountain shelter cabin
📷 Craig Bullen

A contemplative Jose Bermudez
📷 Jose Bermudez

Missy Schwarz and Kim Riggs arrived in Unalakleet and caught their first glimpse of the coast at 3:30pm while Steve Cannon made good time about 25 miles behind them, riding the packed trails of the portage from Kaltag.

Missy and Kim prepare firewood at the Old Woman shelter cabin between Kaltag and Unalakleet
📷 Nicholas Carmen

Steve Cannon arrives in Kaltag at 1am

📷 Nicholas Carmen

Grant Maughan works his way along a soft trail in snowshoes

Leading the foot race, Beat Jegerlehner arrived in Kaltag around 2pm after spending 3-1/2 days working against a sloppy, soft and wet trail. Peter Felten is 36 miles back, doing his best to navigate the overflow and slush while pushing his bike.

Eric Johnson, the second-place foot racer, left Grayling at 1:02pm after spending a day resting and recovering before embarking on the long, arduous and remote 121 mile trek to Kaltag. Although the Eagle Island checkpoint is approximately mid-way between Grayling and Kaltag, there are no services and is only composed of a few tents used as a rugged dog sled race checkpoint.

Klaus Schweinberger is 493 miles into the race and is just about to drop onto the Yukon River, 6 miles from Anvik, while Grant Maughan is 20 miles behind him after having just left Shageluk. Both men trudged through the day in light snowfall and soft trails with temperatures in the high 20’s to low 30’s.

The Iditarod Trail changes slightly each year, based on conditions. This year, warm temperatures and unstable surfaces have required a deviation in the trail over the sea ice between Shaktoolik and Koyuk. ITI athletes will travel closer to the coast after leaving the Little Mountain Cabin and will take an overland route for the last several miles before Koyuk.

After Koyuk, the trail heads takes a more inlet route for the first few miles before rejoining the standard track to Elim. Once athletes leave Elim, they will take the overland route to Golovin.

The map below shows the standard route in red along with the planned revisions in green.