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| Ebbe Pederson at the ReStart of Iditarod 53. March 3, 2025. March 3, 2025. |
Many were expecting the Red Lantern to come in Monday evening, however Jenney Roddewig pulled the plug on her race shortly before her scheduled leave time in the checkpoint. The musher's family took to the kennel's social media page to explain that the Sage Mountain Sled Dogs had had a rough run from Elim to White Mountain and Jenny rightfully did not want to ask them to do more than they should.
With the scratch around 6am, the race decided to let the new Red Lantern have a chance to rest before meeting under the burled arch to extinguish the Wildow's Lamp and receive his Red Lantern trophy. Ebbe Pederson was heard exclaiming "Oh, look at this! A big trophy!" as they handed him the Red Lantern award. Ebbe went to bed an Iditarod finisher and woke up a finisher with a trophy and cash prize.
Ebbe didn't travel alone to Nome, he took the last run together with fellow rookie Dane Baker of Alaskan Husky Adventures. Baker has worked with Matthew Failor for several years as a dog handler and was excited to finally take on the thousand mile race. Failor made sure to thank his handler during the Iditarod Finisher's Banquet, acknowledging Baker was still out on the trail "and probably climbing the Topkok Mountains as we speak." Baker came in ahead of Pederson by five minutes. He came in 21st place wearing bib number 21.
It has been several years since the race ended after the Finisher's banquet. As is tradition, a smaller banquet was planned for the mushers not able to make Sunday's dinner. While not covered by media and typically has less pomp and circumstance, most that have attended in the past say it is far more fun.
Thirty-three teams started the journey from Fairbanks to Nome on March 3, 2025 - twenty-two teams completed the 1,128 mile trail. It's said that Iditarod 53 was the longest Iditarod race to date, as well as one of the toughest. Many of the mushers at the banquet recounted how difficult the endless miles of river they were on (especially the Yukon River) and how they were done with river running for a while. Every year is difficult in ways unexpected, and every rookie race is hard, but the class of 2025 should be exceptionally proud of what they and their teams accomplished.
With a third of the field unable to complete the course, Iditarod 53 had the lowest number of finishes since 1973 - the first ever Iditarod. Many of the finishers at the banquet said they planned to be in the 54th running of the race, while others remained silent or even suggested they were planning to take a year off. With the uncertainty of everything these days making a commitment that is a massive financial suck takes a little time to decide.
Iditarod 53 may be over and Nome may be getting back to normal, but fans will now be turning towards kennel websites and social media to read the stories from the trail. Iditarod Volunteers will gather on Wednesday for the volunteer potluck where even more stories will be told. There are still several mid-distance races to follow in the next few weeks - many of them qualifiers for the Quest and the Iditarod. The season is not quite over.
Musher sign-ups for 2026 and volunteer appreciation picnic will be held on June 28, 2025.
