Wild and Free

Legend has it that Hobo Jim's song "Wild and Free" inspired a young man named Brent Sass to build a sled dog kennel and win the Yukon Quest. The kennel was going to be named after the song by Alaska's Balladeer.

That young man did build his kennel, and did win the Quest (several). But he didn't stop there. Soon after setting his sights on the Quest, he turned his attention to the "more Hollywood" race of Iditarod. His rookie year he was 13th.

Sass would have a somewhat infamous Iditarod career soon after. In 2015 he was disqualified for having a two-way communication device, which at the time was against the rules. It was a wifi capable ipod and fans and other mushers alike disagreed with the ruling but the musher graciously accepted the decision and vowed to come back strong the next year.

In 2016 Sass was poised to take a top placement when in White Mountain his team stopped on him. He had pushed them too far and even after 8 hours of rest they didnt budge. He finally coaxed them to Nome, winding up 20th, but he was met with harsh criticism for how his race ended.

Faced with the humiliation of having done what no musher worth their salt ever wants to do, Brent vowed to do better. The musher from Eureka, Alaska stopped racing. He took the time off to rebuild his kennel and mindset. He got back to just mushing for the fun of it while developing a healthier training program.

He returned to racing three years later running the Quest and winning in 2019. He returned the following year to the Iditarod where he finished 4th after winning the Quest the month prior. In 2021 he came in 3rd for the Iditarod. It seemed the wake up call of 2016 worked.

And worked it has. Brent has completed what many call a magic run. Early in the race he told Insider that his team was scary fast. Faster than he had planned to go, but they were staying on their schedule. When pressed about the competition of faster teams behind him he pointed to his arm where the words "run your own race" are tattooed.

Brent's magic run was still hard fought, though. The 50th Iditarod was going to make him earn it. In his run from White Mountain the 20mph winds from the North turned into 40-60mph gusts as he came out of the hills and into the infamous "Blowhole". He stalled for at least 40 minutes just shy of a known shelter cabin as fans watched anxiously.

As Brent and team hunkered down, Dallas Seavey and his merry band of 8 still charged through the wind. They took a 22 mile gap down to 10 miles. Brent was again on the move but stopped again as wind raged around him. Race fans knew they had seen this before. The same section of trail blew Jeff King so off course he had to scratch just miles from his 5th Iditarod win in 2014. Dallas Seavey won that year. Was history repeating itself?

 Either the winds died down, or Brent's team proved to him they could do it because they started up and took off for the final checkpoint of Safety. From there the continued up over the final mountain, across the beach and up onto Front Street.

Brent's redemption story is complete. Sass now joins a very elite club of champions of both the Quest and Iditarod. As if winning one wasn't hard enough, it is very rare for a Quest champion to win the Iditarod. Brent is the latest champion to accomplish that feat and he did it with style and grit.

This team has truly been Wild and Free.

Sass and Seavey both headed for Nome

Brent Sass took off right on time at 7:05pm Alaska time.
Dallas Seavey just left right on time at 9:42pm Alaska time.

Depending on trail conditions and what have you we should have a winner between 4am(Danny Seavey's guess) and 6am (my guess) Tuesday morning.

Tomorrow will be a doctor pepper day for me.

The chase pack is still too close to call, but it looks like Dan Kaduce has conceded 3rd place to Jessie Holmes. A lot of the chase are in Elim, but Jessie is going straight to White Mountain it seems. 

Mushing Radio - Iditarod 50: Onward to Nome

Brent Sass poised to take win

With just a few miles until White Mountain and a final mandatory 8 hour rest, Brent Sass looks poised to take his first Iditarod Championship. The three-time Yukon Quest champion is about to become a member of a very elite club of mushers who can say they've won both long distance races. 

Now, before you think I'm getting cocky and calling a race before it finishes - we do have to remember Brent's had some not so great moments in White Mountain in the past. In 2016, Brent found himself sitting in White Mountain for far more than 8 hours as his dogs decided to play Forrest Gump and just stop running. The incredibly humbling experience as many analysts talked about the reasons behind it saw Brent take time off from long distance racing to focus on a breeding program as well as change his training and racing habits.

In Sass's return first to the Quest and then to Iditarod he's found himself to be more consistently in the top five, and has won several Quest races. It looks like, to most, that whatever he needed to learn - he did. He is having that once in a lifetime, magical run and he deserves to enjoy it. If all things go according to plan and he is first on front street.

Still, Sass has lead for over half the race, and riding that fine line can be arduous. If there's 2014 like storms who knows what could happen, or if Sass has tricked us all and his dogs stall in White Mountain like 2016... both years Dallas Seavey won. Dallas is currently over two hours behind Brent. Many are expecting Dallas to pull some magic trick out of his sleeve and challenge Brent, but even the five-time Iditarod Champion has noted multiple times that unless Brent makes a major mistake he won't catch him.

The Chase Pack had to wait out the storm in Shaktoolik and so there's an even bigger gap between second and third now as they are just now crossing the Norton Sound. Currently in third place is Chad Stoddard (wait, how?!) who is running Dallas's B-team. I don't have the history of puppy teams in front of me, but I'm pretty sure this would be the first time the A and B team of the same kennel come in 2nd and 3rd if Chad manages to hold his position. 

That probably won't be the case as this chase pack just keeps leap frogging over one another.

With the championship nearly set in stone it's truly time to focus on the chase pack and the human interest stories. They're far more exciting in most years, and this year is proving no different.

Mushing Radio - Iditarod 50: Sea Ice and Ugly Dogs

Sass nearing Shaktoolik

Brent Sass was first into Unalakleet a little bit before midnight Saturday night and is now closing in on Shaktoolik. Sass has a lead of 15 miles on Dallas Seavey, and it does not look like his team plans to slow down. Brent is having one of those once in a lifetime runs so far. Perhaps if DSeavey's dogs hadn't been slow to get in race rhythm perhaps the gap would be smaller. Still, the coast can change even the best teams out flat.

While Seavey has gained some time/miles on Brent since the Yukon, there's still a wide margin that right now seems insurmountable. While anything could happen (let's not forget 2014 and Jeff King having a similar run until a freakishly strong windstorm knocked him out of his 5th win completely, had Aliy hunkered down and further back third place Dallas Seavey ended up winning his 2nd Iditarod Championship) it will have to take the lead team making some very big mistakes for Dallas to catch Brent and take off ahead of him.

Meanwhile the chase pack has an amazing among of leap frog going on that will probably continue even past White Mountain. As each team jockeys for position their different strategies have fans finding it impossible to understand who is running in which position. As with many Iditarods the excitement is really third through tenth at this point. 

For those watching Jeff King's race intently, after finishing his 24 in Ruby he made it onto the Yukon and he currently sits in Galena - where he may decide to take his 8. He is currently in 32nd place, which I'm sure he is happy with, but his dogs are probably ready to keep going. He has done amazingly well without too much warning or preparation, using Nic Petit's drop bags as well as his team, and while he's still recovering from surgery (from back in October). As always, Mr. The King is inspiring multiple generations of mushing fans and mushers.

For the back of the pack they are all out of Cripple on the standings, and the GPS shows no one back tracking to the checkpoint to suggest a scratch is forthcoming. Lisbet Norris is solidly bringing up the rear at this point with her team of all pure-bred Siberian huskies. Soon all teams will be on or past the Yukon. 

And, for those wondering about the middle to back of the pack, Insider has heard our pleas and while they cannot follow them through the length of their race they do plan to have live cams in Koyuk and White Mountain until all teams have made it safely through those checkpoints. 

Mushing Radio - Iditarod 50: Toward the Coast

Sass and Seavey finish their Yukon 8

 Brent Sass and Dallas Seavey have finished their mandatory 8 hour rests on the Yukon and are back on the trail. It's not exactly a cat and mouse game at this point, and they both seem to be solidly in the first and second positions with not a lot of room or threat of shake up without some of Mother Nature's intervention. Dallas took his mandatory in the Yukon Village checkpoint of Nulato, coming in at just after Midnight. Brent Sass, right on script, ran all the way to Kaltag and declared his 8 there, getting in just after 2:30am AKST. 

Sass has picked up all of the "first to" awards as he travels down the trail and looks to be the first to the Coast as well. Dallas is a good 3 hours behind him, not completely insurmountable... but not likely without Brent making a mistake and pushing the dogs a little too hard to where they slow or stop completely. All indications point so far to Brent managing his race extremely well, he's learned quite a bit since his team's premature stop in White Mountain in 2016.

The chase back began arriving in Nulato as Dallas was taking off. Jessie Holmes was first in and is running impressive speeds, but even the musher acknowledges that he can't keep up his pace forever. He's cutting rest and that never helps a team maintain the speed it would take to overtake and pick off the lead teams. It will be interesting to see how Holmes plays his cards from here on out. Richie Diehl was next followed by Ryan Redington and Aaron Burmeister. A quick glance at the GPS as I get ready to post this shows them all resting in Nulato except Burmeister who has chosen to continue (it looks like anyway).

In the back of the pack there's a little shake up in standings with Kaylin Davis leading the trio of ladies and Yuka Honda bringing up the rear. Lisbet Norris and her team of Siberians rests between them. The teams have run together most of the race helping each other through blizzards and other hazards. 

Greg Heister just reported on Insider that the winds are so strong between Kaltag and the coast that flights are grounded and Insider can't get to Unalakleet. A storm was supposed to blow in on the West Coast last night and it sounds like it's on schedule. The race ain't over.

Mushing Radio - Iditarod 50: Returned Dogs

The chase is on

Brent Sass and Dallas Seavey have been mostly alone today as they've run down the Yukon, but they're about to get company. The chase pack of Jessie Holmes, Richie Diehl, Ryan Redington, Aaron Burmeister, and Mitch Seavey are all out of Ruby and onto the river after taking their mandatory 8 in the first Yukon checkpoint.

While Mitch Seavey has all but conceded the race and is "planning for the future" (according to a post by Danny Seavey on facebook today), the other teams are hoping that should Sass or DSeavey stall, they will be in striking distance and take advantage. To this point Burmeister has run the most conservative race of the chase pack, and Jessie Holmes is the one who seems most in control with a lot of speed. 

The way the two in front have taken their rests on the river,  it looks like Dallas will 8 in Nulato while Sass will push to Kaltag. There's a big gap between the two teams and right now in order for Dallas to overtake Sass, Sass has to make a mistake or his dogs have to decide to pull a Forrest Gump and just stop running. That's happened to Sass before, but he's shown he's learned that lesson as his team has come back stronger than ever and he's won two more Quests since then. 

Both Seavey and Sass are very happy with how their teams are doing. Dallas was concerned going into his 24 that his dogs were not interested in eating enough, but that's switched up now and he says he can't give them enough food. Sass's team has been steady and fast, with the musher noting earlier this week that it was "scary" how fast they were going while staying on their schedule. That sounds a lot like Mitch Seavey talking about his record breaking finish time when he won in 2017 with a team that he "could not slow down" even going into the finish.

It's not time to call the race, but it definitely looks like the chase pack will be the more exciting race. I seem to recall saying that in 2014 though as we all wondered if it'd be Dallas or Mitch coming in 3rd. Jeff King was solidly in control of the race, and Aliy finally pulled away from the Seaveys to beat them to the finish - only to both have trouble in the final stretch due to a freak windstorm. King would scratch, Aliy would come second, once again, to Dallas Seavey.

Neff scratches in Ruby

Hugh Neff came into Ruby this morning pretty happy with how his team from Jim Lanier's Northern Whites Kennel looked coming onto the Yukon. He chose to rest his team in the checkpoint and as hours ticked by fans believed the musher had declared his 8 hour mandatory rest that must take place somewhere on the Yukon. As the countdown ticked down and Neff didn't leave, folks began to grow concerned. A zoom in of the tracker showed Neff's flag near the airport, which could only mean one thing. Scratched.

The press release read in full:

"Veteran Iditarod musher Hugh Neff scratches at Ruby checkpoint 

Anchorage, Alaska –– Veteran Iditarod musher Hugh Neff (bib #50) of Anchorage, Alaska, scratched at 11:40 a.m. today at the Ruby checkpoint. In conjunction with Iditarod Race Marshal Mark Nordman, Neff made the decision to scratch due to their concern for his race team. Neff had 11 dogs in harness at the time he made the decision to scratch."

The press release's wording is peculiar as it's not the normal "best interest of the team". We'll have to keep and eye out to see if anyone gives more detail once the team is back at home. 

Mushing Radio - Iditarod 50: The Mighty Yukon

Mushing Radio - Iditarod 50: Heading to the Yukon

Sass is on the Yukon

Brent Sass pulled into Ruby, the first stop on the Yukon River, at 5:57 this morning. Brent did not stay long. The Wild and Free team took off down the river just five minutes later and has picked up speed as they are now on Alaska's "super highway". At this point only one other team has made it into the checkpoint of Ruby, but no one has truly given chase to the musher from Eureka.

At this point it looks like Brent Sass has a solid win on his hands, they've gotten through the hard part of the trail and now are on what is typically the best groomed section of the entire race. That being said, there's still another third of the race to go after the River, and we've seen teams have issues after dominating early.

Behind Sass are Hugh Neff, the only other team currently in Ruby, Dallas Seavey, who reported in Cripple that his dogs weren't eating like he'd like, Jessie Holmes who made his move to get into the chase pack yesterday, and Richie Diehl the only musher from the Alaskan coast in the mix. Each team has their own strategy, and it will really start to play out today. The race is on. Many of those that were confident they could catch the leader a day or two ago are now less confident. Sass says he's playing it conservative, and he's running like he's trained all season. 

Expect the lead teams to pick up speed today as they hit the fast trails along the Yukon. At some point they will all have to decide where they will take their mandatory 8 hour rest.   

Ryne Olson second musher to scratch

Ryne Olson chose to scratch just after 5pm Alaska Time today in the best interest of her team. The Ryno Kennel team was seemingly having some trouble when fans noticed that the musher was down to 9 dogs, having flown 5 back to Anchorage, and not even halfway through the race. While teams are only required to finish with five dogs in harness, you don't typically see teams return so many dogs this early in the race.

Ryne's social media team posted on her page after the press release stating in part: "We’ll leave the details up to Ryne for later on. But over all, for the health of the dogs and the musher herself, it’s the best decision for the team. Making these tough decisions and top notch dog care is what mushing and racing is all about. And if we’re not having fun, it’s time to rest up and try again another time."

Ryne has run the Iditarod three times (this being the fourth), with her best placement coming last year when she finished in 18th place. This is Ryne's first scratch in Iditarod.

Anja Radano scratches in Nikolai

Overnight the Iditarod reported that Anja Radano of Swamp Dawg Kennel chose to scratch in the checkpoint of Nikolai. The press release stated that she made the decision in the best interest of her dogs. Fans had been concerned much of Wednesday when they watched her tracker leave Nikolai only to return, with some faithful tracker followers noting that her tracker posted speeds closer to snowmachine than dog team on the return back.

This morning the folks running her kennel page while she is away confirmed she has scratched but said they would not comment further on the scratch or make  more posts on her behalf - that they would let her choose when to tell her trail stories when she returns in the next day or two.

Trail continues to be impacted by heavy, wet snowfall near McGrath as teams are in the midst of taking their 24s.

Radano had 12 dogs on the line when she scratched and is the first team to end their race early in this year's Iditarod.

Brent Sass first to Cripple, again.

 As in 2021, Brent Sass is first to the halfway mark of the Iditarod. The musher received 3000 dollars worth of gold nuggets as his prize. Brent should take his 24 in Cripple after what one can only imagine was much of a slogfest of snow and not well packed trail in the heat of the day. His dogs will no doubt need at least a little break before continuing on, and the musher has yet to declare and take his 24hour+differential rest in the race.

Dallas Seavey is running about 20 miles behind Brent, picking up a little bit of time off the front runner who most likely had to break trail. Behind Seavey are Hugh Neff (9miles behind Dallas), Mitch Seavey (3 miles behind Hugh), and Ryan Redington (4 miles behind Mitch). All of the teams on their way to Cripple have yet to take their 24.

Meanwhile back in McGrath Aaron Burmeister is counting down to when he can take off after taking his mandatory 24+. He should be out of the checkpoint sometime after 5:40pm Alaska Time (I didn't do the math to get exact time). The conditions in McGrath are wet, heavy snow and a lot of it. Teams behind those in McGrath are having slow yucky go of it. 

Still no scratches in this year's Iditarod which is a huge feat and I'm not even sure this has happened before. 

Hope everyone's enjoyed a much more relaxing day today. Tomorrow will run about the same as we wait for Burmeister to slingshot past those who are up ahead miles wise now but don't have their 24s completed.

The race will truly start from there.

Brent Sass on the trail to Cripple

As teams begin taking their 24 hour plus differential rests, the leader and the chase pack continued up the trail Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Brent Sass is currently running to Cripple - the half way point of the Iditarod in the Northern Route years - where as Redington, Neff, and Seavey Squared are all camped out further back and just outside of Ophir. With snow hitting the trail and the storm on the way it could be teams are trying to get out ahead of it before breaking trail slows them down. It could also be their strategy set weeks ago.

It's a good bet that these teams will twenty four in Cripple before hitting the Yukon River where they will have to choose a checkpoint to take their first of two mandatory eight hours. For the next day and a half fans need to get in their own mandatory rest. As teams stop along the trail to take their 24s there won't be much to follow, and so catching up on sleep, work, chores, etc should be the priority for those sitting at home.

Sass reported to the Insider earlier that he was surprised and "a little scared" of how fast his team is going, but he says he is taking the same amount of rest at this point as he did in both 2020 and 2019 so he feels his team is just very strong and fast this year. 

As I get ready to post this very short update - it looks like Dallas Seavey has popped the snow hook and started his run to Cripple now. He was camped near his dad Mitch, and will pass by where Neff and Redington are camped shortly. The race to the 24s is on.

Mushing Radio - Iditarod 50: Into McGrath

Burmeister looks to be first to McGrath

With just twenty miles to go, it looks like Aaron Burmeister is set to be the first into McGrath. With that will come the "First to McGrath award", according to Iditarod this year's prize consists of "a pair of musher mittens made of beaver fur and moose hide handmade by Loretta Maillelle of McGrath as well as a musher hat made from beaver fur and beaded velvet made by Lucy Miller of McGrath.  Alaska Air Transit will also be providing hand-made awards in Nikolai." This is the first of the "special awards" given out on the trail. 

Aaron Burmeister has had a solid, strong race to this point having kept right with Seavey and Sass as well as Redington. He narrowly missed beating Dallas Seavey for the top prize in last year's Iditarod and he is hungry to bring home the championship to Nome, his hometown. If he can continue as he is, he'll be right in the mix for first to the finish line.

Behind Burmeister are Richie Diehl, Ryan Redington, and Dallas Seavey. Brent Sass is camped out on the trail. Mille Porsild looks to getting nearing to passing where he's stopped.

The Insider live feed went down I assume they are getting ready to move up the trail, and hopefully they'll have the McGrath feed up soon.