The ceremonial start to the 2026 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the "Last Great Race," will be held today in Anchorage. The actual race will begin tomorrow in Willow.
This year, the race will follow the northern route, the standard trail for even-numbered years. The 975-mile northern route follows the same path as the southern route for the first 450-or-so miles before turning north at the Ophir checkpoint. From there it follows the Yukon River through checkpoints like Ruby, Galena, and Nulato. Although the route last year had to be modified due to insufficient snow, race officials report sufficient snow along the northern route for this year's race.
After crossing two mountain ranges, the Yukon River, and a stretch of Bering Sea ice, the finish line is near Nome's City Hall, built on the former site of The Dexter, a bar once owned by Wyatt Earp during Alaska’s gold-rush days. The winner is expected to arrive in Nome the week of March 16.
This year's field includes three former champions looking for their second title - defending champion Jessie Holmes, 2023 champion Ryan Redington, and 2019 winner Pete Kaiser. Holmes, star of National Geographic’s Life Below Zero, is trying to join former champions Susan Butcher and Lance Mackey as the only mushers to win their second title the year after winning their first. Redington, who finished 8th last year, is the grandson of Joe Redington Sr., the race’s co-founder, and Kaiser is the first Yup’ik to have won the race.
In all, there are 34 mushers competing this year, including returning veterans Matt Hall, who finished in 2nd place last year, and Paige Drobney, Michelle Phillips, Bailey Vitelo, Travis Beale, and Mitch Seavey, who were 3rd through 7th, respectively. Denmark's Mille Porsild (9th), as well as veterans Jason Mackey (16th) and Brenda Mackey (scratched), are also competing. Last year's promising rookie, Emily Ford (18th), is not racing this year.
Disturbingly, the Iditarod has started a new "honorary category" which allow billionaires, not content to own more money than god and to play astronaut with their vanity space programs, to participate in the race with the assistance of outside help, although they are not eligible for prize money. Norwegian billionaire Kjell Rokke, who now lives in Switzerland, will be assisted by Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner, who won the 2020 Iditarod. Canadian entrepreneur Steve Curtis will be assisted by four-time champion Jeff King.
Rokke is providing financial support to the race, including boosting the purse by $100,000 to a total of $650,000 and providing $170,000 in support for the 17 Alaska Native villages that serve as checkpoints. Curtis, whose addition was only announced three days ago, has committed $50,000 to support youth sports programs in villages along the trail. Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach said the donations will raise the payouts to competitors, with the winner getting about $80,000 this year, well above the $57,000 paid to the top musher last year.
Cool, and I'm happy to see donations going to the villages. But I swear, those billionaires better not get in over their head and either interfere with other teams' progress or require a rescue. On the other hand, if a legitimate team gets stranded and needs emergency dog food, I suggest they slaughter a billionaire and use him to feed their team. Eat the rich, yeah!
After today's ceremonial start and photo ops on the streets of Anchorage, tomorrow's Official Restart is at 2:00 p.m. Alaska time, 6:00 p.m., Eastern time, although Daylight Savings might make a difference and I'm not smart enough to work that out.
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