Five past Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champions are among the pack of 52 teams that got on their way March 3 at Willow for the legendary 1,000-mile trek to Nome, but who will arrive under the winner’s arch is always an unknown.
This year the trail is being run on the southern route, with the halfway point at the Iditarod checkpoint. As four-time champion Martin Buser of Big Lake has noted, it’s not how these mushers run the race itself, but how they work with their dogs the other 50 weeks of the year.
By late on Tuesday, March 5, Iditarod veteran Nicholas Petit, of Girdwood, was the first musher to reach the McGrath checkpoint, and with all 14 dogs in harness. He claimed the inaugural Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award, a pair of beaver mitts made by McGrath ‘s Loretta Maillelle, and a musher hat made by Rosalie Egrass.
Alaska Air Transit, a new sponsor to the Iditarod, provides flight support to communities of the upper Kuskokwim region and Prince William Sound from Anchorage.
Trailing Petit were Iditarod 2018 champion Joar Leifseth Ulsom, of Rama, Norway; Jessie Royer, of Fairbanks; Peter Kaiser, Bethel; Aliy Zirkle, Two Rivers; Matt Hall, Two Rivers; Ryan Redington, Skagway; Travis Beals, Seward; Richie Diehl, Aniak; and Mitch Seavey, Seward, who won the race in 2004, 2013 and 2017. Seavey’s dad, Dan Seavey, ran the Iditarod in 1973.
Four-time champion Martin Buser, of Big Lake, who crossed the finish line first in 1992, 1994, 1997 and 2002, was in 20th place.
Four-time winner Jeff King, of Denali, was in 24th place, and four-time winner Lance Mackey, of Fairbanks, was in 35th place.
Still, Iditarod standings, like the weather in Alaska, are subject to quick change, and race fans from around the world were tracking every change in the standings being posted online steadily at iditarod.com/race/2019/standings.
The pack of 17 women and 35 men this year includes 39 Alaskans, eight international mushers, 10 rookies, plus the five former champions.
