Pete Kaiser and Richie Diehl have been friends for years, and in Iditarod 51, they had a surprise visit from another pair of best friends: their wives, Bethany Kaiser and Emerie Fairbanks-Diehl.
The face of a race and the heart of a sport, Lance Mackey showcased one of the most dominant runs dog mushing has ever seen with passion, care and resiliency.
While the excitement has ramped up, the numbers have gone the other way. The 51st edition of the Last Great Race will feature its smallest field ever at 33 teams.
There are many stops on the 1,000-mile Iditarod trail from Anchorage to Nome, but some of the most important stops happen before pawing starting line, including the food drops and the vet checks.
Four veteran mushers beat the November 30 midnight deadline at the last second, but the field of 34 mushers who have signed up for the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is still among the smallest in race history.
Brushkana resident and four-time Iditarod Trail sled dog race finisher Jessie Holmes was injured after traveling to Golovin last week with a group of other mushers to assist in cleaning up after the remnants of Typhoon Merbok ravaged the western coast of Alaska.
The four-time Iditarod champion was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2001 but overcame the illness after undergoing both surgery and radiation therapy. He then announced his second bout with cancer in August 2021.
A total of 21 mushers have signed up for the 51st running of the historic Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, including defending champion Brent Sass, who did so remotely, as the lone competitor to have previously won the 1,000-mile trek to Nome.
Leon, a dog belonging to Iditarod musher Sebastien Dos Santos Borges, was last seen at the Ruby checkpoint on March 13, 2022 but now he has safely been reunited with his owner in McGrath.
Both Mille Porsild and Michelle Phillips sought refuge inside a shelter cabin along the race route due to the extreme weather on the night of March 14, causing them to lose places in the event.
Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach said in an email that race officials are looking into a new stipulation regarding keeping track of sled dogs, and reviewing the rule book when it comes to sheltering dogs during the race.
Sled dogs owned by the 2022 Iditarod third-place finisher Jessie Holmes attacked and killed a small family dog that was attached to a lead in its yard late last month, according to a Wasilla family.
In March, Brown finished in third place in the foot division for the 2022 Iditarod Trail Invitational. It's a 1,000-mile human-powered race that follows the Iditarod trail by foot, bike or skis.
Michelle Phillips, Mille Porsild and Riley Dyche were all found to have broken part of rule 37 in the Iditarod Rule book stating that “Dogs may not be brought into shelters except for race veterinarians’ medical examination or treatment.”
Iditarod musher Sebastien Dos Santos Borges' dog Leon remains missing after it escaped from the returned dog lot at the Ruby checkpoint on March 13, according to race officials.
Now that the Red and Widow Lanterns have been extinguished and all the mushers are off the trail, they gather in Nome for a banquet to give out awards.
As the top 15 Iditarod mushers have reached Nome, we hear from Iditarod veteran DeeDee Jonrowe and Alaska’s News Source reporter Beth Verge on the sportsmanship they’ve seen along the trail.
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