Hello Seeing Double fans! Can you believe we’re back together again for yet another running of the Iditarod?! With this post, we’re only five sleeps away from the restart of the 53rd running of the Last Great Race. This year also brings the 100th anniversary of the Nome Serum run, Anna’s 14th time off the starting line, and what is basically a last minute change in the trail route - complete with the Restart moving to Fairbanks. Plenty to cover, so let’s get to it.
For those of you who are new to this blog, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Kat, “not-a-twin” sister to Anna and Kristy, and self-proclaimed Mad Blogger while either of the twins are out on the Iditarod trail (I’ve been blogging for them since 2012). While I’ve never been a musher myself, I have been closely following the Iditarod since Kristy first ran it in 2010. I’ve been around sled dogs and been on a sled. I have been part of the Ceremonial start in Anchorage and restart 10 times, I’ve been to the finish in Nome twice, and I have the perfect phone-a-friends when I need to get the inside scoop.
To that extent, please consider me a legitimate source.
And apparently my exceedingly longwinded posts are well written enough, seasoned with just enough humor and sarcasm, to warrant a repeat following. Welcome back returning Mad Blogger fans! Or perhaps you are just such huge fans of the twins that you’re willing to subject yourself to this? Either way, I salute you all (and there are a surprising number of you) and am happy to have you along for this ride.
My reporting for this year will all take place from Wisconsin, but Kristy is taking care of things at the kennel in Knik and will give me updates after seeing Anna off the starts, and Anna will have both her GCI cell phone and a sat phone to keep in touch from the race trail itself.
Enough preliminaries. Back to Iditarod.
So, I already mentioned this is the 53rd running of the race. I’ll have more in a later post about the history of the race and how it relates to the 1925 Serum Run to Nome.
The Musher Banquet and bib draw is Thursday evening, Feb. 27th, in Anchorage.
The Ceremonial Start is Saturday 10am AKST in Anchorage (4th and D Streets).
The official Restart is Monday 11am AKST in Fairbanks (Pike’s Landing).
As to the route - The race was slated to run the traditional southern route, which includes the ghost town, and race's namesake, of Iditarod. But southeastern Alaska has had the winter-that-wasn’t, and a section of trail approaching Nikolai was completely devoid of snow. I saw pictures. Dirt. For miles. You can read a story on Alaska Public Media, which features Anna, for more info.
After initially confirming the southern route at the end of January, the Iditarod Trail Committee later came out and said they were moving the restart to Fairbanks. I know more than a few mushers and fans were relieved to hear this, despite the additional logistics. Now, with the Fairbanks to Nome trail, mushers will travel through 21 checkpoints (including Nome) over the course of roughly 1,128 race miles.
That distance is the longest race mileage of the event. Ever.
On the flip side, the noncompetitive Ceremonial Start, a fun run featuring a slightly smaller dog team, an Iditarider, and a second safety musher per team, will be one of (if not the) shortest on record at about a mile and a half. That’s a serious bummer for participants, having experienced a full winter, full 11ish mile run for the C-start myself. But what can you do? I hope the abbreviated route is lined with cheering fans offering hot dogs, muffins, and beverages.
After the ceremonial start on Saturday, mushers will regroup and travel the 360 miles from Anchorage to Fairbanks with all of their dogs, gear, and probably a handler (helper) or two. The first musher will leave the restart line Monday morning.
A total of 33 mushers will leave the starting line this year.
17 Iditarod veterans (5 women, 12 men)
16 rookies (6 women, 10 men)
Of the 11 women, 5 are vets, 6 are rookies.
Of the 22 men, 12 are vets, 10 are rookies.
The majority are from Alaska, (20 of the 33 call Alaska home) although other states are represented, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Montana, Minnesota, Idaho, and New Hampshire. Mushers from Canada, Denmark, and Norway are also competing.
I mentioned that this year is Anna’s 14th time starting in the Iditarod. She has finished 12 of her prior 13 starts. Anna’s primary goal in the Iditarod, as always, is to make it to Nome with as many happy and healthy canine athletes as she can. If the planets align (and we are in the midst of an actual planetary parade, after all), Anna would love to finish in the top twenty this year and improve on her personal record. Her prior personal best Iditarod finish had her in 17th place (in 2019) and her fastest time to Nome was in 2017 (with 10 days, 2 hours, 30 minutes, and 14 seconds on the trail). Improving on either of those would be a win in Anna’s book (although an improvement in finishing rank is the far more likely of the two given the length of this year’s trail).
Other names to watch during this year’s contest: 2023 champion Ryan Redington. Mitch Seavey, a 65 year-old with 28 total Iditarod finishes including 3 championships, 15 additional top 10 finishes, and the ‘fastest-ever’ title. Matt Hall, who took 2nd in 2024 and 4th in 2023. Mille Porsild, Nic Petit, Travis Beals, Jessie Holmes, Jeff Deeter, Matt Failor, and Paige Drobny - all top 10 finishers in recent years. Plus several top 20 finishers in addition to Anna. It promises to be an exciting race.
The entry fee for the 2025 Iditarod is $4,000 (for race entries prior to Dec. 2nd; after that, the entry fee doubles). Mushers also face a number of costs in addition to the entry fee, bringing the total cost of competing for each musher to north of $20,000 (exponentially more for those having to travel just to reach the race start and all mushers now face the additional costs of the Fairbanks restart).
The total Iditarod prize purse is $550,000 for finishers this year. That purse is split for mushers finishing 1st through 20th (considered “in-the-money” positions), less $2,000 paid to each finisher 21st through the final finisher (a.k.a. the Red Lantern). At least everyone has money to fly home from Nome.
All mushers have sent out drop (resupply) bags to each checkpoint, and their dogs have undergone EKGs and thorough veterinary checks. Final paperwork has been dropped off.
Most mushers, including Anna with Kristy’s help, are getting in final training or leg-stretching runs with the dogs and making final preparations.
Race day is coming up! Y’all good to go? Trail map and distance chart printed? Beverages and snacks? Slippers and internet ready?!
Gear up, armchair mushers. The 53rd Iditarod is upon us.
I’ll be back with an update after Thursday’s Musher Banquet to report on Anna’s bib number, and you can look forward to recaps on the Ceremonial Start, Restart, and a full biography on the dogs making the journey with Anna this year.
Gee-Haw! It’s Iditarod time.
For those of you who are new to this blog, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Kat, “not-a-twin” sister to Anna and Kristy, and self-proclaimed Mad Blogger while either of the twins are out on the Iditarod trail (I’ve been blogging for them since 2012). While I’ve never been a musher myself, I have been closely following the Iditarod since Kristy first ran it in 2010. I’ve been around sled dogs and been on a sled. I have been part of the Ceremonial start in Anchorage and restart 10 times, I’ve been to the finish in Nome twice, and I have the perfect phone-a-friends when I need to get the inside scoop.
To that extent, please consider me a legitimate source.
And apparently my exceedingly longwinded posts are well written enough, seasoned with just enough humor and sarcasm, to warrant a repeat following. Welcome back returning Mad Blogger fans! Or perhaps you are just such huge fans of the twins that you’re willing to subject yourself to this? Either way, I salute you all (and there are a surprising number of you) and am happy to have you along for this ride.
My reporting for this year will all take place from Wisconsin, but Kristy is taking care of things at the kennel in Knik and will give me updates after seeing Anna off the starts, and Anna will have both her GCI cell phone and a sat phone to keep in touch from the race trail itself.
Enough preliminaries. Back to Iditarod.
So, I already mentioned this is the 53rd running of the race. I’ll have more in a later post about the history of the race and how it relates to the 1925 Serum Run to Nome.
The Musher Banquet and bib draw is Thursday evening, Feb. 27th, in Anchorage.
The Ceremonial Start is Saturday 10am AKST in Anchorage (4th and D Streets).
The official Restart is Monday 11am AKST in Fairbanks (Pike’s Landing).
As to the route - The race was slated to run the traditional southern route, which includes the ghost town, and race's namesake, of Iditarod. But southeastern Alaska has had the winter-that-wasn’t, and a section of trail approaching Nikolai was completely devoid of snow. I saw pictures. Dirt. For miles. You can read a story on Alaska Public Media, which features Anna, for more info.
After initially confirming the southern route at the end of January, the Iditarod Trail Committee later came out and said they were moving the restart to Fairbanks. I know more than a few mushers and fans were relieved to hear this, despite the additional logistics. Now, with the Fairbanks to Nome trail, mushers will travel through 21 checkpoints (including Nome) over the course of roughly 1,128 race miles.
That distance is the longest race mileage of the event. Ever.
On the flip side, the noncompetitive Ceremonial Start, a fun run featuring a slightly smaller dog team, an Iditarider, and a second safety musher per team, will be one of (if not the) shortest on record at about a mile and a half. That’s a serious bummer for participants, having experienced a full winter, full 11ish mile run for the C-start myself. But what can you do? I hope the abbreviated route is lined with cheering fans offering hot dogs, muffins, and beverages.
After the ceremonial start on Saturday, mushers will regroup and travel the 360 miles from Anchorage to Fairbanks with all of their dogs, gear, and probably a handler (helper) or two. The first musher will leave the restart line Monday morning.
A total of 33 mushers will leave the starting line this year.
17 Iditarod veterans (5 women, 12 men)
16 rookies (6 women, 10 men)
Of the 11 women, 5 are vets, 6 are rookies.
Of the 22 men, 12 are vets, 10 are rookies.
The majority are from Alaska, (20 of the 33 call Alaska home) although other states are represented, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Montana, Minnesota, Idaho, and New Hampshire. Mushers from Canada, Denmark, and Norway are also competing.
I mentioned that this year is Anna’s 14th time starting in the Iditarod. She has finished 12 of her prior 13 starts. Anna’s primary goal in the Iditarod, as always, is to make it to Nome with as many happy and healthy canine athletes as she can. If the planets align (and we are in the midst of an actual planetary parade, after all), Anna would love to finish in the top twenty this year and improve on her personal record. Her prior personal best Iditarod finish had her in 17th place (in 2019) and her fastest time to Nome was in 2017 (with 10 days, 2 hours, 30 minutes, and 14 seconds on the trail). Improving on either of those would be a win in Anna’s book (although an improvement in finishing rank is the far more likely of the two given the length of this year’s trail).
Other names to watch during this year’s contest: 2023 champion Ryan Redington. Mitch Seavey, a 65 year-old with 28 total Iditarod finishes including 3 championships, 15 additional top 10 finishes, and the ‘fastest-ever’ title. Matt Hall, who took 2nd in 2024 and 4th in 2023. Mille Porsild, Nic Petit, Travis Beals, Jessie Holmes, Jeff Deeter, Matt Failor, and Paige Drobny - all top 10 finishers in recent years. Plus several top 20 finishers in addition to Anna. It promises to be an exciting race.
The entry fee for the 2025 Iditarod is $4,000 (for race entries prior to Dec. 2nd; after that, the entry fee doubles). Mushers also face a number of costs in addition to the entry fee, bringing the total cost of competing for each musher to north of $20,000 (exponentially more for those having to travel just to reach the race start and all mushers now face the additional costs of the Fairbanks restart).
The total Iditarod prize purse is $550,000 for finishers this year. That purse is split for mushers finishing 1st through 20th (considered “in-the-money” positions), less $2,000 paid to each finisher 21st through the final finisher (a.k.a. the Red Lantern). At least everyone has money to fly home from Nome.
All mushers have sent out drop (resupply) bags to each checkpoint, and their dogs have undergone EKGs and thorough veterinary checks. Final paperwork has been dropped off.
Most mushers, including Anna with Kristy’s help, are getting in final training or leg-stretching runs with the dogs and making final preparations.
Race day is coming up! Y’all good to go? Trail map and distance chart printed? Beverages and snacks? Slippers and internet ready?!
Gear up, armchair mushers. The 53rd Iditarod is upon us.
I’ll be back with an update after Thursday’s Musher Banquet to report on Anna’s bib number, and you can look forward to recaps on the Ceremonial Start, Restart, and a full biography on the dogs making the journey with Anna this year.
Gee-Haw! It’s Iditarod time.
 Anna with Tesla (left) and Elmer. |  Mad Blogger with her pup, Otis McGee, in Wisco. |
