Iditarod 37
Dallas Seavey, winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race last week, keeps the focus on his dogs and mushing family in an interview broadcast today on National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation" show. "These dogs, this breed as a whole, is a phenomenal animal, and we have the utmost respect for all of them. So [lead dogs] Guinness and Diesel may have the privilege of being the poster child for the Alaskan husky, but they represent the breed as a whole," Seavey tells host Neal Conan. Sounding well-rested, Seavey also talks about race strategy and the business side of sled dog racing.
IDITAROD 40
Iditarod ends with Steves taking the Red Lantern
Jan Steves crossed the finish line at 2:57 a.m. Monday to snag this year's Red Lantern award and bring the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to a close.
Jonrowe wins dog care award; Mackey honored for sportsmanship
The changes in mushing affect the Iditarod at many levels. I would like to reflect on the evolution of running styles we have seen over the past 30-plus years.
Happy trails from ADN Iditarod team
We're back in Anchorage Friday after a fantastic two weeks on the trail. A big thanks from photographer Marc Lester and I to everyone who followed along on the blog, on adn.com and in the paper.
2012 IDITAROD: DAY THIRTEEN
Third-place Ramey Smyth: 'I almost didn't get to the start line'
Willow musher Ramey Smyth is the only racer to finish in the top three of each of the past two Iditarods. A ferocious finisher known for surging on competitors late in the race, he said it's been frustrating to come so close only to return home without a win.
2012 IDITAROD: DAY TWELVE
Buser father and son stage snout-to-snout finish in Nome
Martin Buser and his son Rohn crossed the burled arch today with their lead dogs side-by-side, a photo finish that was too close to call from the sidelines.
2012 IDITAROD: DAY ELEVEN
Top rookie Brent Sass aims to be a future top-10 contender
Brent Sass of Eureka finished 13th in his first Iditarod, winning top rookie honors and setting the stage for what he hopes will someday be a title run.
Meet the sled dogs: Brent Sass and Carbon
Lance Mackey in Nome: 'It wasn't the stellar performance I was expecting'
2012 IDITAROD: DAY TEN
Dallas Seavey claims victory in the 2012 Iditarod
Don't say he didn't warn you. As early as the halfway mark of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, 25-year-old Dallas Seavey revealed the plan that would crown him the youngest champion in race history. On Tuesday, he came through on his promise, finishing at 7:29 p.m. and holding off second-place Aliy Zirkle for the win.
Video: 'It's all you can do to not come to tears'
New names in top 10 signal change
Dallas Seavey closes in on Iditarod victory
Dallas Seavey of Willow is just minutes from becoming the youngest Iditarod champion in race history. The 25-year-old, third-generation Iditarod competitor left Safety at 3:42 p.m. with nine dogs in harness. Aliy Zirkle left the final checkpoint about an hour and 10 minutes later.
Video: Seavey describes how he took control of the race
Video: Grumpy mushers make for grumpy dogs
Photos: Iditarod Day 10 | Day 9
2012 IDITAROD: DAY NINE
Seavey profile: Athletic musher would be youngest Iditarod winner
If anyone was born to run the Iditarod, it's Dallas Seavey. He's a third-generation musher whose grandfather is an Iditarod pioneer. His father is an Iditarod champion.
Zirkle profile: Two Rivers musher has rep for doting on her dogs
Born in New Hampshire, raised in St. Louis and Puerto Rico and educated at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned degrees in biology and anthropology, Aliy Zirkle found her calling when she came to Alaska at age 20.
Hard-charging Smyth roars into third place
Ramey Smyth, famous for his finishing kicks, is steamrolling through the competition, grabbing third place Monday when he left Elim at 6:56 p.m. Ahead of him on the trail to Golovin are Dallas Seavey and Aliy Zirkle.
Video: Mitch Seavey: Dallas "has it sewn up if he does what he knows how to do"
Listen: Jeff King on his decision to scratch: "If it gets ugly, then we stop"
Sebastian Schnuelle: Elim head games and the race to White Mountain
Sebastian Schnuelle: The push up the coast
Trails have been very soft for the front-runners, so a few more of them have been taking shorts rests along the way.
2012 IDITAROD: DAY EIGHT
Dallas Seavey leaves Shaktoolik before pursuers arrive
Nobody followed when Dallas Seavey left Shaktoolik with the Iditarod lead on Sunday night. Seavey left the checkpoint at 6:38 p.m., before anyone else had arrived.
Video: Aliy Zirkle and Dallas Seavey discuss race
As end game nears, Dallas Seavey revs up
This late in the Iditarod, the team that doesn't eat is the team that loses. That's why Dallas Seavey, 25, is happy to see his fleet huskies wolfing meals at every stop. The youngest of three generations of Seaveys competing in this year's race, Dallas is trying to devour everything in front of him as well.
King, 3 others scratch; Berkowitz withdrawn with injury
Four-time champion Jeff King, a veteran of 21 previous Iditarods, joined the list of mushers who are out of the race, scratching Sunday afternoon in Unalakleet.
Iditarod becomes test of stamina for leaders
The Yukon River can be dull. No twists and turns. Just a flat, snowy desert interrupted by islands of spruce and willow trees. Scenery that can lull a musher -- and even sled dogs -- to sleep after seven days on the Iditarod Trail.
2012 IDITAROD: DAY SEVEN
Mackey dogs have romance, not running, on their minds
Late Friday night, Lance Mackey was more than 50 miles behind Iditarod leader Aliy Zirkle. His go-to sled dog, Maple, was in heat and driving the rest of the team bonkers. Even the zipper on his jumpsuit was broken.
Zirkle keeps lead by leaving Kaltag first
Aliy Zirkle drove a team of 12 dogs out Kaltag at 4:55 p.m. Saturday, still in command of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Left behind at the checkpoint were two of her dogs and five of her pursuers.
Zirkle pulls into Kaltag with 3-hour lead
Aliy Zirkle arrived in Kaltag with a lead of about three hours and intentions to stay awhile -- a change of habit for the Two Rivers musher. Zirkle has been the Iditarod's drive-through race leader, on a schedule that has her running through checkpoints and resting on trails. Behind Zirkle is a chase pack of five mushers. Make that two chase packs.
For front-runners, race strategy gets serious
For the leaders, the 975-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is more than halfway over. At this point, the race becomes a battle of sleepless gambits and counterattacks. Let the head games begin.
2012 IDITAROD: DAY SIX
Seavey regains lead by pushing past Galena
Iditarod pacesetters Mitch Seavey and Aliy Zirkle continued their game of leapfrog, only this time it was Seavey who blew through a checkpoint, leaving a resting Zirkle behind. Seavey arrived in Galena with a team of 13 dogs at 9:08 p.m. Friday. He departed 12 minutes later.
Video: Seavey mushes out of Ruby
Video: 'More power to the women!' fan tells Zirkle
2012 IDITAROD: DAY 5
71-year-old Lanier wins first gold in Iditarod career
Jim Lanier of Chugiak won a heaping tablespoon of gold nuggets for arriving first at the halfway point of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Thursday, a feat he accomplished by sleeping just three hours over four days.
Zirkle roars through Cripple to regain lead
Just as it looked as if Mitch Seavey had turned in an epic, possibly game-changing run of nearly 100 miles on Thursday to seize control of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Aliy Zirkle showed up to inject some intrigue. Zirkle snatched the lead by zipping in and out of the Cripple checkpoint, sort of the way Seavey had charged through the Ophir checkpoint earlier in the day.
Leaders talk of smooth trail and warm days
As Iditarod front-runners Aliy Zirkle and John Baker waited out their mandatory 24-hour layovers in Takotna on Wednesday, they talked about everything from near error-free runs to listening to music -- and even dancing on a dog sled. Check out this Q & A with reporter Kyle Hopkins to see what's on their minds as the race nears the halfway point.
2012 IDITAROD: DAY 4
Schnuelle: Back-of-packers put dogs first
Dogs first. That seems to be the slogan of the back-of-the-pack mushers.
We started crunching the numbers to figure out who truly will be the Iditarod leader tonight when the lead pack pours out of Takotna.
Collapsed dog receives mouth-to-snout CPR
One moment, 9-year-old Marshall was pulling hard at Iditarod sophomore Scott Janssen's sled, the tug line taut as a guitar string. The next, the husky was down on the snow. “I was sobbing,” said Janssen, an Anchorage mortician, who began a kind of CPR that ultimately saved Marshall. “I really love that dog.”
2012 IDITAROD: DAY 3
Iditarod front-runners put pedal to mettle
An uncharacteristically gentle trail and unprecedented lack of race-ending mishaps has brought smooth sailing to the front of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. While several big names are delighted with their runs, none has pushed the pace more than 41-year-old Aliy Zirkle.
Three generations of Seaveys tackle Iditarod
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ended last year for 2004 champion Mitch Seavey when he nearly sliced off one of his fingers while opening a bale of straw for his dogs. If the 52-year-old veteran Iditarod musher runs into trouble on the trail this year, he can count on family.
Zirkle pushes the pace and remains in lead
Aliy Zirkle is pushing the pace in the Iditarod and remains in the lead out of Nikolai, along with defending champion John Baker. Zirkle is quick to remind that she started 14th in the field of 66, more than an hour ahead of many others. But Hugh Neff said the co-leaders look tough. "Usually it's been the Lance show, but this year, even Lance is trying to hang with (Baker.) And Aliy's got a really outstanding outfit this year," he said.
Race leader Zirkle pulls out of Nikolai
Leader Aliy Zirkle has left Nikolai as a train of teams pulls into the checkpoint, while the Iditarod's caboose is safe and sound in Rainy Pass. Dan Seavey, 74 and the oldest musher in the race, was the last to reach that checkpoint this morning.
2012 IDITAROD: DAY 2
Defending champ couldn't quit on Native people
It took John Baker 16 tries to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. He had to think long and hard about coming back to defend his title.
Zirkle leapfrogs Neff to lead pack out of Rohn
A wall of bad weather kept planes out of Rainy Pass for much of Monday, but the storm didn't stop the dogs on the first full day of racing in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Aliy Zirkle leapfrogged Hugh Neff to take the lead in Rohn, and when Kelley Griffin followed in second it put two women in front.
Schooling puppies on the Iditarod Trail
For some young dogs, the 2012 Iditarod is triple-A training, not the big leagues. Iditarod mushers like rookie Matt Failor and veteran Dan Seavey are following race blueprints calling for moderate speeds and long stops. If young dogs enjoy their first trip down the Iditarod Trail, they’ll race harder when called up for championship teams, the thinking goes. “They need more rest, just like little kids,” Failor said.
JOHN SCHANDELMEIER
Racing dogs need to consume 10,000 to 12,000 calories every 24 hours, and the food Iditarod mushers provide the athletes is as varied as the dogs themselves.
Leaders ride good trail into Rainy Pass
The Happy River Steps, which almost weren't part of this year's Iditarod, got good reviews from the first mushers to take the roller-coaster ride on Monday morning. Ray Redington Jr., Hugh Neff and Lance Mackey were first into the Rainy Pass checkpoint after that.
2012 IDITAROD: DAY ONE
Iditarod begins with Redington Jr. out front
After Sunday's restart of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Willow, when racing begins in earnest, Ray Redington Jr. of Wasilla made it first through the first two checkpoints in the famed 975-mile race to Nome.
2012 Iditarod under way from Willow
Sixty-six mushers and more than 1,000 dogs set out from snowy, blue-skied Willow on Sunday afternoon, marking the official start of the 2012 Iditarod. Many of the mushers carried talismans, good-luck charms and reminders of why a person would choose to run sled dogs nearly a thousand miles through raw and treacherous Alaska wilderness.
2012 IDITAROD: CEREMONIAL START
Odyssey begins for 66 Iditarod mushers
Sixty-six mushers passed under the banner on Fourth Avenue on Saturday for the ceremonial start of the 2012 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Among them were past champions, cancer survivors, rookies and septuagenarians, and their stories are as diverse as the 975 miles of trail they will embark on Sunday when the race officially begins in Willow.
Young mushers are nipping at veterans' heels
While most eyes will be on the former champions in this year's Iditarod field, there's a host of 25-and-under mushers ready to step in. And judging from their recent results, it would be a mistake to call them up-and-comers -- they've already arrived.
Jonrowe understands her Idita-Rider's plight
Bev Nelms was back on Fourth Avenue on Saturday, hitching a ride in DeeDee Jonrowe's sled for the 15th time as an Idita-Rider and the first time as something of a soul sister. Nelms, a 76-year-old Texan, was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks ago, news that hit Jonrowe in the gut.
2012 IDITAROD TRAIL SLED DOG RACE
Late route change adds back Happy River Steps
Shortly after the 66 mushers in the 2012 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race completed their ceremonial start Saturday from downtown Anchorage to Campbell Airstrip, race officials released this surprise: This year's race will indeed include the Happy River Steps, a notorious section of the trail that officials had earlier said they'd planned to eliminate.
IDITAROD LIVE: THE SLED BLOG
Mackey says he still has the desire to win
After an unprecedented four-straight Iditarod wins, Fairbanks musher Lance Mackey fell to 16th in the 2011 race. He vowed he'd be back. But is Mackey, who is running this year alongside 25-year-old apprentice Braxton Peterson, happier as a father figure than a perennial Iditarod contender?
2012 IDITAROD SLED DOG RACE
Iditarod teams complete ceremonial start
With thousands of fans lined up along snowy city streets and trails and Ray Redington Jr. leading the way, all 66 teams kicked off the 2012 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race by completing the 11-mile ceremonial start from downtown to Campbell Airstrip. Teams will now travel to Willow for the 2 p.m. official start Sunday.
Mackey says he still has the desire to win
Audio: Jeff King returns to Iditarod
2012 IDITAROD TRAIL SLED DOG RACE
Iditarod's sister act: Twins to hit the trail
As the 975-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race begins this weekend, Kristy and Anna Berington are the first twins to compete in the event's 40-year history, according to a race spokeswoman.
SEBASTIAN SCHNUELLE: Showtime on Fourth Ave.
ON THE TRAIL By SEBASTIAN SCHNUELLE
Iditarod's ceremonial start lights fuse for mushers, fans
Before the real test begins, it’s showtime on Fourth Avenue: the ceremonial start. Sixty-six Iditarod mushers — 15 rookies and 51 veterans — will line up to run their teams 11 miles through the heart of Anchorage.
IDITAROD LIVE: THE SLED BLOG
'Demon' the sled dog kicked by moose on city trail, musher says
Zoya DeNure's lead dog "Demon," a reformed biter that we recently profiled in our "Meet the Sled Dogs" series, was injured Friday in a moose attack, the Gakona musher says. DeNure's racing sled was also damaged in the melee.
IDITAROD LIVE: THE SLED BLOG
Musha Rhymes: Team Mackey moves to conquer sled dog hip-hop
The inevitable collision between rap music and sled dog racing has arrived. Time to meet 25-year-old Iditarod rookie Braxton Peterson, a hip-hop head who will be dreaming up lyrics as he mushes across Alaska.
Video: Young contenders: Rohn Buser
Map: Where to watch Saturday's ceremonial start in Anchorage
2012 IDITAROD SLED DOG RACE
Redington Jr. will be first musher on trail
Hugh Neff is back for his ninth Iditarod and drew No. 27 in Thursday night's 2012 Mushers Drawing Banquet at the Dena'ina Center.
IDITAROD 40: MEET THE SLED DOGS
Demon of a husky to lead DeNure team in Iditarod
Zoya DeNure of Gakona knew her husky Demon had a reputation when she rescued him about seven years ago. Find out how ornery Demon ended up as one of DeNure's lead dogs for this year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
One of the best lead dogs Iditarod musher Jeff King ever had was also one of the best bargains of his mushing career. In exchange for 100 pounds of outdated hamburger, the then-struggling young musher acquired Hickory, a feisty brown puppy whose best friend was a cat and who learned how to run while balancing himself on the gangline like a tightrope walker.
New Iditarod rule mandates kennel cough vaccination
For the first time, Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race officials are requiring all dogs in the race to be vaccinated for kennel cough. Several top mushers spotted signs of the sickness in their huskies during the 2011 race.
Video: Mushers discuss last year's kennel cough
The mushers collect the prize money and make the headlines, but there can be no great sled dog teams without great lead dogs. Here's our unofficial Howl of Fame -- a lineup, in no particular order, of some of the sport's most spectacular athletes.
The dog team wound down the ridge through the trees and on to Paxson Lake. On the open lake, the north wind struck like a blow. It was full dark and snowing lightly, the visibility zero. There was one dog back in team that I could depend on -- Sadie. I put her up and immediately she took charge.
Silver the sled dog has created quite a legacy for himself, replete with rescues, trail-breaking tales, T-shirts and a tattoo.
IDITAROD LIVE: THE SLED BLOG
Moose attack ends one-eyed husky's Iditarod
Chaos erupted when an ornery moose stomped its way through the teams of Iditarod musher Karen Ramstead and her handler while on a training run outside of Willow earlier this month.
Enchiladas, roast beef aid in capture of runaway sled dog
Whistler, a lead dog for German Iditarod rookie Silvia Furtwangler, was found Monday morning in Anchorage near the Chester Creek Trail. He had been missing since early Thursday, when he escaped from a dog truck.
German Iditarod musher's lead dog missing in Anchorage
A rookie Iditarod musher's lead dog is missing in Anchorage after escaping from a dog truck last Thursday, friends say.
IDITAROD LIVE: THE SLED BLOG
A son replaces his father on the Iditarod Trail
Veteran musher Mike Williams has told Iditarod officials he is withdrawing from the race. It would have been the veteran musher's 15th Iditarod. Competing in his place: Williams' 26-year-old son, Mike Jr.
IDITAROD LIVE: THE SLED BLOG
Iditarod critics again target sponsors over dog treatment
Two of the most aggressive Iditarod critics say two consecutive years without a sled dog death in the event hasn't cooled their objections to the race.
SLED BLOG
Top 30 Iditarod mushers to split $550,000 purse this year
The top 30 mushers in this year's Iditarod will split a combined purse of roughly $550,000, the race director said Thursday.
Iditarod Trail will be a little tamer for this year's race
Feared by rookie mushers and respected by veterans, the Happy River Steps live in Iditarod Trail infamy as a place of busted sleds and broken bones. This year, for the first time, the Last Great Race will bypass the Steps.
Andy Baker was elected president of the Iditarod Trail Committee's board of directors over the weekend.
Seats on Iditarod sleds are open for bidding
Anyone who ever dreamed of hopping into their favorite musher's sled at the start of the Iditarod can start bidding in the Idita-rider musher auction.
6 Iditarod champions headline sign-up list for 2012 race
Look for an ultra-competitive Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in March. Headlining the group of returning past champs is Kotzebue's John Baker, who blazed 1,000 miles in record time this year to become the first Inupiat Eskimo Iditarod champion.
Check out daily galleries from this year's race, and seven years worth of past Iditarods.
Track the race on the musher gallery leader board with updated results and standings.
Follow the mushers along the Iditarod trail's northern route, with live standings at each checkpoint.
Check out the The Last Great Race from the fans' perspective as readers post photos from every checkpoint along the Iditarod trail.
Armchair Musher: Sebastian Schnuelle
Musher Sebastian Schuelle will be following this year's Iditarod on snowmachine and writing about it for the ADN.
Follow the news and notes leading up to the Iditarod and, after the race begins, live from the trail.
Latest posts
Jonrowe wins dog care award; Mackey honored for sportsmanship 3/18 9:44 PM
Happy trails 3/16 2:47 PM
Third-place Ramey Smyth: 'I almost didn't get to the start line' 3/16 7:15 AM
Meet the Sled Dogs: Colleen & Penny 3/15 7:09 PM
WATCH: Rapping dog musher finishes Iditarod, raps about the race 3/15 3:37 PM
Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey greets Aliy Zirkle in Nome after she finished in second place, an hour behind Seavey.
Happy mushers make for happy dogs. And vice versa, Iditarod racers say. Iditarod musher Brent Sass and Armchair Musher Sebastian Schnuelle explain it.
Race leaders Aliy Zirkle and Dallas Seavey talk about their race strategy in the last half of the Iditarod.
Scott Janssen's dog Marshall, who was resuscitated by Janssen on the trail, has a homecoming in Anchorage.
While resting at the Takotna checkpoint, 2011 Iditarod champion John Baker talks about whether Aliy Zirkle could win the race, what fans should make of the pace and how you might catch him dancing to 80s music on the dog sled.
We asked Dan Seavey who has the faster team, Seavey's son Mitch or his grandson, Dallas.
Iditarod rookie Matt Failor was the last musher to leave the Skwentna checkpoint on Monday morning. Failor, from Mansfield, Ohio, explains why it's all part of the plan and why doesn't expect to stay in last place for long.
Sign-up for the Iditarod newsletter to receive "Postcards from the Trail," archived images sent out in the weeks leading up to the ceremonial start, and then our twice-daily updates during the race.
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