The 53rd running of the Iditarod boasts a roster of thirty-three, of that number nearly half are rookies. Sixteen "rookie" mushers from Alaska, Canada, the Lower 48, and Europe are getting ready to head for Nome in just under two weeks. Of the sixteen, five have attempted to complete the Last Great Race at least once before. Pandemics, illness, injury, tragedy took them out in the past, but they're trying their hand again to complete the journey. Each musher has their own motivation for attempting the race.
There's a musher from a legendary family, there are handlers taking puppy teams thru their first Iditarod, there are mushers wanting revenge on a trail that bested them before, adventurers, bucket listers. The things that will bind the Idita-Class of 2025 will be the trail and the adventure shared with 16 of their best friends.
The mushers are rookies in name only. Sure, they may not have taken the trail ahead of them before (to be fair most of the mushers this year qualify as not having run this particular route as it's a re-route) but each have spent countless hours training teams. All rookies must qualify for the Iditarod by completing several mid-distance races (two 300 mile or longer approved races, and one 150-200mile approved race--or have completed the 1,000 mile version of the Yukon Quest), they must also provide a reference from a veteran Iditarod musher.
Keep in mind, if you're playing Fantasy Mushing that the award for Rookie of the Year is only for first year rookies, those that have started a race to not finish previously cannot be elligible for ROTY.
With such a large number of rookies in this year's race there will be many names/faces fans may not be familiar with. Let's do a quick rundown of who they are, and how you can find out more about them and support them.
Idita-Class of 2025
Brenda Mackey - That last name looks familiar, doesn't it? Brenda is the daughter of 1983 Iditarod Champion Rick Mackey (Rick passed away in 2024 after a hard fought battle with cancer). That makes her grandfather (1978 Iditarod Champion, member of the first class of Iditarod mushers) Dick Mackey, and her uncle is the late Lance Mackey (that guy who won 4 Yukon Quests and 4 Iditarods in a row, with several of those wins overlapping). Brenda first attempted the Iditarod in 2021 on the Gold Loop Trail but had to scratch in Nikolai in the best interest of her team. It was a huge disappointment, and she took a few years to regroup. Brenda's husband Will Rhodes completed his first Iditarod last year and Brenda decided to run again this year. Brenda has said numerous times that she knows her father will be with her as she travels the trail. You can learn more about Brenda and the Mackey's Alaskan Distance Dogs via her Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook page, and Instagram.
Bryce Mumford - Mushing is a family affair for the Mumfords. Bryce got into dog mushing after watching a tv special on the Iditarod in 2008. While Bryce is the one who got the family into the sport, his father and his kids are also racing these days. Mumford notes that one of his proudest moments in the sport is winning an award for best dog care in the Race to the Sky race. Mumford is one of the few teams not from Alaska in the Iditarod this year. Bryce is another one of the mushers looking to complete what he started last year. Mumford made it to Unalakleet after having difficulty on the run from Kaltag, his team had stalled and he chose to scratch to preserve his team. To learn more about Bryce and the Mushing Mumfords you can read his Iditarod Bio, Website, and Instagram.
Calvin Daugherty - The son of Iditarod Veteran (and obsessive mountain climber, as well as one of Alaska's top oncologists) Larry Daugherty tried his hand at the Iditarod last year. After suffering the loss of a dog out on the trail (which is an automatic scratch when cause cannot be immediately determined) Calvin and his team from Mitch Seavey's kennel will try again. An undetected cardiac arrithmia was most likely to blame for Henry's passing. Calvin has spent the last year working through all the what ifs and will carry that into this race. You can learn more about Calvin from his Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook, and Instagram.
Charmayne Morrison - Charmayne is one of those kids who fell in love with the Iditarod and sled dogs and by 14 had her own kennel. She established Morrison Racing Kennel in 2015 and moved to Bozeman, Montana in 2018 to work with her mentors Rob and Cara Gregor. Morrison has been successful in many mid-distance races in the North West part of the Lower 48. This will be Charmayne's first attempt at the Iditarod, fulfilling her childhood dream. Don't be surprised if she's in the running for Rookie of the Year. You can learn more about her through her Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook Page, and Instagram.
Connor McMahon - he musher who named his kennel Feral Racing has been working with dogs since age fifteen and it was a malamute with "behavior issues" that got him into mushing. The one-dog team instilled a desire to mush full time and that's what the Canadian does now. Training and racing dogs in the winter and giving rides in the summer at Caribou Crossing. Connor attempted the Iditarod just last year and had to scratch in Galena when his dogs decided they were done running on the river. Connor was a fan favorite for always having a smile on his face, and it is a very happy surprise that he's come back to try again so soon. You can learn about Connor from his Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook Page, and Instagram.
Dane Baker - Dane is one of those mushers who was just going to try mushing for a season - it was his gap year plan before heading off to college. That was a while ago. Instead of college he's spent years studying the sport under several kennels where he's landed as one of the main handlers at Matt Failor's Alaskan Husky Adventure Kennel. Baker will be taking out the "puppy team" as they're lovingly called. The team that isn't planning to win, but is planning to finish. Baker will most likely not be running for a top placement, but he will no doubt give Insiders some wonderful interview moments. You can learn about Dane from his Iditarod Bio, Facebook Page, and the Kennel Facebook Page.
Daniel Klein - Daniel is an adventurer at heart. That's what Iditarod means to him: Adventure. Klein is running dogs out of Ryan Redington's kennel. He'll no doubt use everything the 2023 Iditarod Champion has taught him as he takes on the Last Great Race. Daniel has completed races like the John Beargrease - the lower 48's longest and some say toughest race. He's run the Knik 200 and Copper Basin. It's anyone's guess what Daniel is planning for his longest race yet, but there's no doubt he'll be loving every minute of it. You can learn more about him through his Iditarod Bio, and follow his race from Ryan's Kennel Facebook Page.
Ebbe Pedersen - The Iditarod Volunteer (2004) is now an Iditarod musher. Pedersen has handled for Iditarod teams for a while now, and in the last few he's been with Turning Heads Kennel (Travis Beals). Ebbe just came off the Kusko earlier in February with the Red Lantern award. The musher knowingly chose to take it easy giving his young team much more rest (and camping out on the trail experience) than what the other teams were taking. Perhaps he had a premonition that his team would need experience of camping between checkpoints and river running ahead of the 2025 Iditarod. You can learn more about Ebbe from his Iditarod Bio and you can follow his race through the Turning Heads Kennel Facebook Page.
Emily Ford - Another one of those with an adventerous spirit, Emily is running dogs from Kathleen Fredrickson's Shameless Huskies kennel. Ford is no slouch, a quick search on the interwebs will find a whole host of accomplished adventures and accodlades for this young musher. Emily's partner Anna Hennessy completed the Iditarod last year, so this year it's Emily's turn. Emily will join a small group of black mushers to run the Last Great Race. Emily says she continues to seek adventure and represent the underrepresented in outdoor spaces. You can learn more about her by going to her Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook Page, and Instagram.
Jenny Roddewig - This second-generation musher (her dad ran Iditarod twice and is mentor to Charmayne Morrison!) is well known in mushing circles and is considered one of the favorites for Rookie of the Year. Jenny's got a list of top finishes starting from her junior mushing years all the way up to having won the Race to the sky 10 or so years ago - the youngest winner! Jenny is from Montana but moved with her husband to Fairbanks three years ago to accomplish her dreams of establishing a kennel and running the Iditarod. You can learn more about Jenny through her Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook Page, and Instagram.
Justin Olnes - Justin is one half of the human team that makes up ReRun Kennel. The Marine Biologist came up to Fairbanks for his gradutate degree and fell in love with mushing after working with his professor's trapline dog team. He met his wife and kennel partner Kailyn during the pandemic and the rest is history. What's fun about the Olnes' kennel is about 75% of their kennel is made up of rescued dogs. Justin says many of their rescues make up his Iditarod team. You can learn more about Justin from his Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook Page, and Instagram.
Keaton Loebrich - Keaton is one of the "newest" mushers, having only started racing in the last couple of years (after starting his kennel just a couple before that). He is known for his enthusiasm. A man of few words (for his bio anyway) he shares a lot of his mushing experiences over social media. It's one of those mushing stories where it went from "I got a few dogs" to "I got a few more dogs, and oh look more dogs" pretty quickly. His kennel is one of the smaller ones in the field, but they've steadily improved their standings and seem poised to make a go at the longest race to date. You can learn more about Keaton from his Iditarod Bio, TikTok, Facebook Page, Instagram, and GoFundMe.
Mike Parker - It's been a few years since we had a team from the Northern Whites on the Iditarod trail. Mike Parker has worked hard to be prepared to take the dogs from Jim Lanier's kennel back onto the Last Great Race. Fans may remember that last season Parker and his team were involved in a snow machine accident, they lost a teammate, but Parker and the Northern Whites have perservered to make their goal of Iditarod 2025. I'm told that Parker is not one to sleep on as far as what to expect for the race. It will be interesting to see how thier race pans out. You can learn more about Mike from his Iditarod Bio, Facebook, and Instagram.
Quince Mountain - Quince is back for a second try at the Iditarod. The second year rookie had a strong race in 2020 that went a little sideways when he got sick a couple of days into the race (not Covid). Having to take a somewhat slower pace to try and get over whatever bug it was, he fell off the pace he had wanted to set. Cobble that with the pandemic that hit just as teams hit the Yukon and it became a hurry up and finish situation for all mushers. Quince was one of many teams that ended up having to cut their race short because the trail officials wanted to pack up quicker than normal to beat any sort of shut downs. Q took it in stride, but took some time away from Iditarod to focus on family, fans, and fun with the kennel he shares with wife Blair Braverman. The new dad chose to come back this year to be a light in darkness. The first openly trans musher to run Iditarod, Quince felt very strongly that he needed to come back to Iditarod to prove that there is a place for Trans athletes to compete. He wanted to give a voice and face to those who feel they have no voice and must hide. You can learn more about Quince through his Iditarod Bio, Patreon Page, Facebook Page, BlueSky, and GoFundMe.
Samantha LaLonde - It will be really interesting to see what time of race Samantha runs. She's running dogs from Dallas Seavey's Kennel in a year that no one else from Alaska Sled Dog Tours/Dallas Seavey Racing kennel. Samantha worked with ATAO kennel for a long while before moving on to working with Dallas and his crew. Samantha is one of those mushers that kinda flies under the radar. That's not a slight, it's just hard to know what to expect - except that there should be little worry about if she will finish. She's got the training and the team to do it. You can learn more about Samantha from her Iditarod Bio, Facebook, and Instagram.
Sydnie Bahl - Sydnie is dreaming her dream and running dogs from, well, Vern Halter's Dream a Dream Kennel. Bahl met Iditarod Veteran Cindy Abbott and learned about Cindy's experiences mushing the Iditarod and was intrigued. After visitng Vern's kennel and taking a ride, she was hooked. She stated she started working for Vern the next day and now here she is running her first Iditarod. It should be an enjoyable ride to follow along with her journey. You can learn more about Sydnie through her Iditarod Bio, and Facebook Page.
This year's race is on record as possibly the longest trail in Iditarod's history. The teams prepped and planned for the traditional southern route while dealing with lack of snow and trails to run on during this insane winter. As with every Iditarod, curve balls have been and will be thrown at all of the teams, and the rookies will have no Iditarod experience to fall back on. One of the fun things about the reroute of Iditarod 2025 is that no team has the advantage of having run this exact trail before. While many of the miles and routes are the same for those like Mitch Seavey who have run reroutes in the past, the Iditarod has once again changed which turns it will take and which checkpoints it will go through. Everyone is on even footing in deciding where to stop, where to go through, and the like. This should be a very exciting and fun ride for all sixteen mushers working to achieve a dream and receive that coveted belt buckle. To join that very exclusive club of Iditarod finishers. Here's a toast to all sixteen with the hope and prayer they all have the ride of their lives.
Which rookies are you cheering for? Who do you think will end up with Rookie of the Year? Comment below!
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