Iron Dog

McKenna, VanMeter win Iron Dog by more than an hour

Holding a bottle of champagne in one hand and his 3 1/2-year-old daughter, Asa, in the other, Marc McKenna tipped the bottle up, took a big swig and then shook it up and sprayed family and friends who had surrounded him to celebrate his and Dusty VanMeter's victory in the Iron Dog on Saturday.

McKenna, VanMeter holding steady in Iron Dog

With two Iron Dog titles to his name, Marc McKenna knows what it takes to win the longest and toughest snowmachine race in the world.

Morgan and Olds lead Iron Dog at Kaltag

Mike Morgan and Chris Olds were the first Iron Dog team to reach Kaltag on Thursday, pulling in at 3:59 p.m. and declaring their mandatory 10-hour layover.

Iron Dog team still in race reaches Nome

Of the 31 Iron Dog teams that left Big Lake on Sunday, 27 safely reached Nome, the halfway point of the 2,000-mile snowmachine race to Fairbanks.

Iron Dog leaders in Nome

Led by drivers Marc McKenna and Dusty VanMeter, eight Iron Dog teams arrived in Nome on Tuesday, marking the halfway point of the 2,000-mile snowmachine race from Big Lake to Fairbanks.

Pdf: Iron Dog driver profiles

Photos: Iron Dog start

Iron Dog website: Track the racers

PHOTO GALLERY

Iron Dog front-runners reach McGrath

The 2012 Iron Dog is under way. Thirty-one teams left Big Lake starting at 11 a.m. Sunday and are on their way to Fairbanks, a roughly 2,000-mile journey. By late Sunday several teams had reached McGrath, where they were taking a layover.

Iron Dog website: Track the racers

Iron Dog starts today

Thirty-one Iron Dog racers will leave Big Lake today and head into the wilderness for a 2,000-mile journey across Alaska in the 28th running of the world's longest and toughest snowmachine race.

Iron Dog start line is flooded

Recommended gear for Sunday's Iron Dog start at Big Lake might include hip waders. Reports of standing water -- perhaps 18 inches of it -- could make things messy when 31 pro teams leave the frozen lake Sunday afternoon for the start of the 2,000-mile race across Alaska.

Defending Iron Dog champs to race with new partners

Chris Olds and Tyler Huntington won't be defending their title in February's Iron Dog snowmachine race -- at least not together.

2011 IRON DOG

Polaris revved up about how its machines performed in Iron Dog

Champions Chris Olds of Eagle River and Tyler Huntington of Fairbanks weren't the only ones ecstatic at the result of the Iron Dog, that ended Saturday night in Fairbanks with the team's second consecutive victory.

2011 IRON DOG

Huntington-Olds team wins the Iron Dog snowmachine race

Tyler Huntington of Fairbanks and Chris Olds of Eagle River repeated as Iron Dog champions early Saturday evening, passing the team of Todd Palin and Eric Quam in the final 100 miles of the 2,000-mile snowmachine race across Alaska.

2011 IRON DOG

Wild Iron Dog headed for close finish tonight

A crazy Iron Dog snowmobile race battered by nasty weather and driver mishaps looked to be headed for a logical ending tonight, with two of the top teams gunning it for the finish line neck-in-neck.

McKenna, Van Meter lead Iron Dog pack

Sixty-nine hours after they arrived at the halfway stop of Nome, leaders Marc McKenna and Dusty Van Meter fired up their Ski-Doos and returned to the trail late Friday afternoon to resume the storm-battered Iron Dog.

SNOWMACHINE RACING

Iron Dog competitors stalled by coastal blizzard

The Iron Dog ground to a halt again Thursday evening as racers holed up for the night in towns along the Seward Peninsula to wait out weather that some race officials called life-threatening.

Nasty weather stops Iron Dog - again

Slapped by warm winds that whipped up a ground blizzard, the Iron Dog ground to a halt again early Thursday evening as small packs of snowmobilers holed up for the night in White Mountain and Golovin to wait out conditions some race officials called life threatening.

Iron Dog leaders can leave Nome this morning

Rested from a 36-hour layover, the top Iron Dog competitors are scheduled to leave Nome this morning, although a snowstorm might not leave them with much of a trail.

Iron Dog front-runners take mandatory layovers in Nome

As a warm, blustery storm blew into Nome late Tuesday, a dense pack of the world's top snowmachine racers motored into Nome for respite, repairs and, in some cases, piles of cash.

2011 IRON DOG

Near-disaster during refueling forces veterans out of race

The brutal 2,000-mile Iron Dog snowmobile race, in which racers annually endure bone-chilling temperatures, faced a new peril Sunday afternoon -- fire.

Iron Dog front-runners take mandatory layovers in Nome

The Iron Dogs are running toward Fairbanks

Dusty Van Meter and Marc McKenna, who own five Iron Dog championships between them but are in search of their first victory together, are the first team on the trail as the world's longest snowmachine race begins today.

PDF: 2011 Iron Dog racer profiles

2011 IRON DOG

Padding the resume

Cory Davis of Soldotna is the winner of a pair of Winter X Games medals for snowmachining, an achievement which makes him a big deal in just about any circle.

Iron Dog start and finish to be televised, webcast live

For the first time ever, the start and finish of the 2,000-mile Iron Dog snowmachine race across Alaska will be televised live across much of Alaska.

SNOW MACHINING

Iron Dog purse cracks $200,000 barrier

The record purse of the world's longest and toughest snowmachine race has cracked the $200,000 barrier.

Iron Dog field thinned out by medical issues

The rugged Iron Dog is already taking its toll on drivers -- and the race is still almost a month away.

SNOWMACHINE RACING

Iron Dog tops 2,000 miles with official OK of route change

The world's longest snowmobile race just got longer. Iron Dog organizers say they have approval to re-route the race through the town of North Pole to finish in downtown Fairbanks, pushing the length past 2,000 miles.

Iron Dog announces record purse

The world's toughest and richest snowmobile race got a little richer Wednesday.

TV show featuring Iron Dog to air in April

The Iron Dog snowmachine race is hoping to use video to boost the profile of the world's longest and toughest snowmachine race -- in much the way the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race did years ago to help it gain a national audience.

Iron Dog field awash in rookies

Before 60 snowmachiners roar across Big Lake at the start of the Iron Dog next February, drivers will apply duct tape to their skin and don the best Arctic gear available . So forgive Joseph Ulrich of Team 25 if he momentarily daydreams of Florida.

SNOWMACHINE RACING

Iron Dog deadline nears

Racers ready for the challenge of the world's longest and toughest snowmachine race have until the close of business Monday to sign up for the Iron Dog.

Davis, Palin won't partner in Iron Dog

Two storied Iron Dog champions who have raced side by side for eight years are headed in separate directions. Veterans Scott Davis of Soldotna and Todd Palin of Wasilla, who own 11 championships between them, will leave the Big Lake starting line with new partners in February.

Team profile: Scott Davis and Todd Palin

Past Iron Dog coverage

Iron Dog announces halfway prize in gold

Organizers of Iron Dog on Wednesday announced a new $10,000 halfway prize in gold -- dubbed the Gold Rush Prize -- for the first team reaching Nome, the race's halfway point.