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Hi, ADN Iditarod fans,

Competitors in the 2026 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race are about a third of the way into their journey to Nome, and it's been anything but uneventful so far. 

From frigid temperatures and strong winds over the Alaska Range to wildlife encounters along the trail, mushers have plenty to contend with. Challenging conditions have already resulted in one scratch from the race and caused some mushers to abandon predetermined strategies in favor of improvisation.

Most of the top teams in this year’s race opted to declare their 24-hour mandatory rests in Takotna. The checkpoint is considered a safe, convenient spot for one of the most strategically important decisions mushers make in the course of the competition.

Rohn Buser cares for one of his dogs, Duchess, in McGrath on Wednesday, March 11. (Ava White / Alaska Public Media)

Defending champion Jessie Holmes was the first to pull into Takotna on Tuesday night. He was joined there in the overnight hours by a bevy of other top teams, including Paige Drobny, Mille Porsild and prior champions Ryan Redington and Pete Kaiser. A few others went even further before stopping, opting to take their long rests in Ophir.

Billionaire businessman Kjell Inge Røkke and 2020 winner Thomas Waerner, who are both participating noncompetitively as part of the race's new Expedition Class program, pushed even further down the trail. The pair arrived in the Ophir checkpoint late Wednesday morning but did not stay, instead heading back out onto the trail toward Cripple. 

(You can read more about the Expedition Class and its implications for the Iditarod here.)

Iditarod teams are required to take three mandatory rests throughout the course of the race. The first is a 24-hour break, which can be taken at whichever checkpoint the musher chooses. The next is a shorter, 8-hour rest that teams must take at one of the checkpoints along the Yukon River: Ruby, Galena, Nulato or Kaltag. The final mandatory rest is an 8-hour stop in White Mountain, about 77 miles from Nome.

Where mushers choose to take their rests is a key part of their overall race strategy. 

A handful of mushers opted to take their 24-hour break in McGrath. Fairbanks musher Jeff Deeter, who was among those to bed down there, told Alaska Public Media that he didn't want to start his 24-hour break with "any sort of depletion of the team."

"I wanted to catch them while they’re still sound and hungry and feeling their best, so that we can build on that and actually leave here really ready for the final two-thirds of this race," Deeter said.

Jason Mackey feeds his team in McGrath on Wednesday, March 11. Mackey was taking his 24-hour mandatory rest, along with a handful of other mushers. (Ava White / Alaska Public Media)

Competitors described deep cold and wind, watery overflow on the trail and even a wild bison encounter to Alaska Public Media's Ava White in McGrath. Near that checkpoint, teams experienced windchill down to 45 below zero.

Willow musher Gabe Dunham said bison were standing at the edge of the trail while she was heading through the Farewell Burn after the notorious Dalzell Gorge.

There were no further scratches from the race as of Wednesday afternoon. Holmes will be cleared to resume racing overnight, and the other mushers taking their 24-hour rest in Takotna will hit the trail again Thursday morning.

Stay tuned for more updates from the trail as Iditarod mushers make their way toward the Yukon River checkpoints. And as always, thanks for reading!

Happy trails, 

Megan Pacer
mpacer@adn.com

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