Athletes of the Week: Iron Dog team 16′s Ashley Wood and Hillarie Gossett

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Ashley Wood and Hillarie Gossett are the only all woman team in the race and they are looking to become the first all-female team to finish the Iron Dog since 2001.

This run will be Gossett’s first time on the Iron Dog trail, although she does have back country experience. This is Wood’s third time taking on the Iron Dog trail, and now she’s ready to make history with Gossett while inspiring others along the way.

“The whole community is behind us,” Gossett said. “But being able to see the girls that are there kind of wide-eyed, like ‘I’ve been saying I want to do this, I go out and I ride with the guys’, and so for them to be able to see that come through, it honors us a lot to be part of that.”

Team 16 made it into Nome relativity clean, meaning they didn’t have much to wrench on once their time for repairs started. Both Gossett and Wood were quick to thank their husbands for all of the work they have put in for the team as well, with one being a pilot and the other a skilled mechanic.

Now with the Kotzebue loop behind them, all that is standing between these two and becoming the first all-female team to finish since 2001 is trail that they have already run.

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