Redington and Robinson poised for a battle for the finish

Teams have begun entering the halfway point of the 2025 Knik 200 race. Ryan Redington, grandson of Iditarod Founder Joe Redington, was first in at 5:26pm with then other teams close behind. Now the teams will take their mandatory six hour plus time differential rest before heading back down the trail to complete a second loop.

A quick look at the times has a late night/early morning "restart" that is all kinds of exciting. The leaders after doing the math look to be Ryan Redington who has just about a minute lead over reigning Knik 200 champion Emily Robinson. Redington will no doubt want to keep as much distance as possible from the teenage phenom, but as most fans know - that won't be easy.

This is starting to feel familiar. In the 2024 Knik 200 Emily Robinson made a name for herself as she ran down and passed 2022 Iditarod Champion Brent Sass just minutes before the finish. The teen went viral on social media when a video of the moment she caught Sass made the rounds, the video famously caught Sass' saying "Son of a B*****!!!" as he realized just how close to losing his lead he was. Robinson went on to dominate every race she entered last season.

This time it's 2023 Iditarod Champion Ryan Redington in the hot seat. It seems Robinson in these "grown up" races enjoys the chase, and there seems to be no intimidation on her part. Her confidence in her team and their ability is evident whenever she pulls the snowhook. If Redington wants to give the teen her first loss in quite a while, he'll have to start fast and keep that pace.

Both teams ran the loop around 6 hours and 10 minutes. Both teams are known for their speed. Emily is known for picking up the pace on the second day of a race. Ryan is known for starting strong and hoping he can gain a large enough gap that should his team start to slow he will hold onto the lead. It works for him in most mid-distance races. 

If all goes well Redington will leave at 11:52pm Saturday night, Robinson will follow one minute later at 11:53pm. Assuming they pick up the pace the finish could somewhere between 5:30am - 6am Alaska time Sunday.

Should someone falter, there are plenty of teams that could possibly take advantage. Hunter Keefe will be eight minutes behind, which will give roughly a mile between the front runners and the chase pack. But a mile can easily be crept up on. Wally Robinson will be next out three minutes behind Hunter (that'll be 11 minutes behind his daughter, the one he joked before race start that he wouldn't let her pass him, that he would push her off her sled if she tried. Dads, amirite?). Rounding out the top five is Ryan's younger brother Robert who will be five minutes behind Wally.

To keep up with all of the in and out times the Knik 200 has graciously shared their times spreadsheet. 

Catch your catnaps now, race fans, it's an early wake up call (for most of us)!

Who do you think will come out on top? Will Ryan come up with the win or is Emily going to once again kick it into gear and run away with the competition? Can Hunter overtake one or both? Comment below with your predicitions and thoughts!

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