Defending Iron Dog champions Nick Olstad and Tyler Aklestad scratch in Unalakleet

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Iron Dog is headed to its halfway point in Nome, but that won’t be the case for defending champions of Team 7, Tyler Aklestad and Nick Olstad, who scratched at the Unalakleet checkpoint.

“Bad news #Team7 fans,” Team 7′s Facebook page posted on Monday. “There won’t be a repeat for us.”

Earlier in the race, Aklestad and Olstad ran into issues at the Puntilla checkpoint when they had to replace a chain, according to the team’s Facebook page. The duo has a combined six Iron Dog championships between them and earned their first title together last year.

At the time of writing this article Team 11, David Wagner and Eric Wellman, along with Team 23, Jarvis and Jordan Miller, have scratched from the 2021 Iron Dog.

The race continues to heat up as teams make their way to Nome with $5,000 waiting for the first team to arrive at the checkpoint. So far, the 2021 Iron Dog has had two different teams lead the race through the two days of competition. Up to date standings and GPS tracking can be found on the Iron Dog website.