Iditarod champion should finish tonight

Jessie Holmes at the Ceremonial Start of Iditarod 54.
March 7, 2026. Anchorage, Alaska.

Jessie Holmes and his team of twelve dogs rolled into White Mountain at 3:10am AKDST Tuesday for their final 8 hour mandatory break. As stated in previous posts, Jessie Holmes and his team of dogs have dominated the race almost from the get go. The musher felt the pressure to defend his title and made that the only real goal for this season. Should he succeed, he will only be the third musher in race history to defend his title after winning his first one (other mushers have won more, but not consecutively after their first win). He will join his name with legends Susan Butcher and Lance Mackey if all things go according to plan today.

With Jessie coming in at 3:10am he will be able to leave as soon as 11:10am. The team has a four hour cushion (give or take a few minutes) on the next team (and currently only other team) in White Mountain. Travis Beals and his team of eleven came into White Mountain at 7:07am AKDST. The musher ran a solid race and managed his team well to have the ability to pick off quite a few teams that ran the race ahead of him. Beals mentioned to Insider that he felt that his team should be the champion team and that he was just running out of miles to catch Holmes. That seems to be the case with the nearly four hour lead Holmes has. Still, as we learned in 2014, solid leads mean nothing if Mother Nature wants to have her say. Beals will be able to leave White Mountain at 3:07pm AKDST.

The chase pack of positions third through fifth is where the real race is. Not knocking the top two, it's just that there is no clear cut winner for those placements between the trio of Jeff Deeter, Wade Marrs, and Paige Drobny. Drobny, of course, spent much of this race playing cat and mouse with Jessie Holmes sticking with him until the Kaltag Portage where Holmes managed to surge ahead from his already 1.5-2hour lead over the Squids. Marrs, much like Beals, sat back away from the leaders on his run to the coast choosing to bank rest so that his team would be ready to push on the coast. And, in somewhat of a surprise to fans Monday, Jeff Deeter made a huge move on the coast and finds himself in prime position to match or exceed his last finishing placement (4th in 2024 - Deeter did not finish in 2025.)

In a year where many fan favorite mushers spoke to Insider hinting that they were winding down their Iditarod racing careers (Michelle Phillips saying this is her last one as a musher but hopes to be a race judge in the future, Jessie Royer hinting she doesn't have many Iditarods left, and even Jason Mackey hedging on how long he'll keep running the race), the top five give hope that the next generation of Iditarod is in very capable hands. (Honestly, the current top 10 all should stick around a while. - excluding Phillips.)

The back of the pack saw a flip flop over night. When last we spoke Grayson Bruton was the race's red lantern winner, but how that is back to being Jody Potts-Joseph who has a worrisome long campout going on near Old Woman's(?) Cabin. With the champion finish closing in, the back of the pack may need to pick up their pace a smidge - though with Dan Carter being first time race marshall we have yet to know how he will handle that rule of being "non-competitive" at this point. Unalakleet is a major hub and an easy spot to move teams off the trail, so it's the "best bet" for where teams will be WD in this portion of the race. No guarantee that is what will happen here, however.

With Jessie Holmes being able to leave at 11:10am AKDST today, and a 70-77mile jaunt left for his team (mileage depends on who you talk to) there's still plenty of room for a race to go sideways. Most top teams make the run from White Mountain to Nome between ten and eleven hours so start looking for Holmes to finish between 9pm and 10pm AKDST Tuesday night (but watch those trackers sometimes team surprise us with a burst of speed and others surprise us by being blown off course - looking again at you, 2014!).

How do you think those last 70+ miles will shake out for the champ? What races within a race are you excited for? Comment with your thoughts below!

Teams running out of real estate to catch Holmes

Travis Beals and team at the Ceremonial Start of Iditarod 54.
Anchorage, Alaska. March 7, 2026.

Jessie Holmes continues to dominate the trail of Iditarod 54. The reigning Iditarod Champion has led for much of the race and sits with a nice cushion of over 2 hours ahead of the next team. The musher has been very candid throughout the race that he had a goal of joining two other legendary mushers to repeat his win on his first win.

While there are a handful of mushers who have won multiple Iditarods and some winning back to back, only two mushers in the last 53 runnings have defended their first win. Susan Butcher was first to do it when she won in 1986 and then again in 1987. It wouldn't be until 2007 and 2008 when Lance Mackey won the first two of four consecutive wins that a first time champ would repeat back to back.

Now Holmes is poised to be the third. 

Jessie Holmes and his Team Can't Stop dogs have just left Elim after a little over three hours in the checkpoint. Travis Beals and Wade Marrs have attempted to make a charge up the coast to catch the champ. Beals told Insider he felt like his team should be the winning team, Wade Marrs told Insider he had to just keep running the race he had planned and wait for someone to slow up (or mess up) so he could possibly take advantage. Beals rested nearly five and a half hours in Koyuk, Marrs stayed mere minutes. Both will most likely need to break up the run from Koyuk to White Mountain.

Paige Drobny who kept pace with Holmes for much of the middle of the race has seemingly conceded first, and is now in the battle for second place. Drobny is still running a similar schedule to that of Holmes which is opposite in many ways of Beals and Marrs.  The Squids are now facing a battle for fourth against Jeff Deeter who has made a huge leap along the coast to get into the mix.

Travis Beals is currently nine miles behind Holmes, he's rested 5.5 hours to Jessie's 3(ish) hours but Beals has been running several hours and will have to take a break sooner rather than later. Beals is quickly running out of real estate to make a move on Holmes. Barring any random storm popping up out of nowhere (there's nothing really dramatic forecasted for the front runners at this time) that can slow a team up, it may be too late to catch Holmes.

Further back the race for Rookie of the Year continues to be an interesting one. Sam Martin has seemingly pulled ahead to have a strong lead in the RotY department. Kevin Hansen and Martin have been duking it out for much of the race, but the team from Kotzebue is the third ranked rookie leaving Unalakleet Monday. Sandwiched between the two - and currently running two miles ahead of Hansen. Terry's run fairly conservatively to this point and it will be interesting to see how he races on the coast - a very different terrain from the races he's used to running.

Our red lantern has changed hands on the run from Kaltag to the coast. Currently Grayson Bruton is the final musher with Jody Potts-Joseph having leaped-frog (leap-frogged?) over the veteran musher after coming off the Yukon Monday.

Holmes has 43ish miles to go until he hits White Mountain and his final eight hour mandatory rest. He averaged a speed of 8mph on the run from Koyuk to Elim. It's less likely he'll stop now before White Mountain and so if he maintains that average he could be into White Mountain as early as 1:15am (give or take). That would put Holmes with a leave time of 9:15am and a ten to eleven-ish hour jaunt into the finish line from there. Puts him into Nome by dark Tuesday night. We'll know more once he has his official into time in White Mountain.

Do you think Holmes has this in the bag? Can Beals keep second place? Do you think Travis can catch Jessie? Comment below with your thoughts!

(and has this blogger mentioned math and she are not friends?)

Jessie Holmes reaches the coast

Jessie Holmes at the Ceremonial Start of Iditarod 54.
March 7, 2026. Anchorage, Alaska.

The Western Alaskan village of Unalakleet welcomed its first competitive musher this morning at 9:27am AKDST Sunday when reigning Iditarod Champion Jessie Holmes reached the checkpoint. The musher made the trek across the Kaltag Portage Saturday Night into early Sunday morning electing to camp along the trail ahead of his competitors. Upon reaching the checkpoint of Unalakleet the musher formed his famed cuddle puddle of dogs bedding them down for a well deserved rest.

Jessie Holmes has led the majority of the race in the 54th running of Iditarod, even while battling illness himself early on in the race and electing to do his mandatory rest well before he had planned back in Takotna. The musher again elected an early mandatory 8 hour rest on the Yukon choosing the first stop in Ruby. Through it all his spirits have remained high as he focuses on his race in front of him and not the ones around him.

Behind Jessie are Paige Drobny and Travis Beals who are leapfrogging across the Portage. Currently the GPS Tracker shows Beals resting while Drobny is now up and moving and is about 18 miles away from Unalakleet. 16 miles behind Travis are Mille Porsild and Riley Dyche both of whom may join Beals for a bit of trail camping when they reach his spot. 

Currently rounding out the top ten are Wade Marrs, Michelle Phillips, Jeff Deeter, Matt Hall, and Ryan Redington (respectfully, according to current GPS Tracker placement). Lauro Eklund is the eleventh musher off the Yukon and into the Kaltag Portage. Several teams have elected to rest in Kaltag before heading across what can be a very challenging crossing to the coast. 

The trail from Kaltag to Unalakleet is often a bumpy ride with a trail full of moguls. There's also much of the time wind directly in the team's face. Iditarod is not for the faint of heart and even the most prepared teams falter on their way to the final stretch of race.

Even expedition teams are having a difficult time on the Iditarod with the first Expedition Musher reportedly cutting his run short. Steve Curtis, the last minute expedition entry, has elected to cut his expedition short and announced this morning he was coming off the trail in McGrath. Fans wondered much of Saturday if this was his fate as he spent several days in the checkpoint. One more reminder that Iditarod is anything but easy - even when you have a support team and the ability to swap out dogs and camp in style.

At the back of the pack, the teams have made their way to Galena - all but Jody Potts-Joseph who is about 10 miles back - with only Jody having taken her mandatory Yukon 8 in Ruby. It's probably a good guess that these teams are looking at taking their 8 in Galena as the sun rises and sets up the heat of the day. Sadie appears to have been in Galena almost seven hours at this point, and should be expected to leave in another hour or so. Grayson came in a little after seven this morning and if he takes his eight hours here should be ready to leave after 3pm Sunday giving Jody time to get into Galena and settled for a rest if she chooses and able to continue traveling with "the back of the pack."

It's reportedly not windy (what?!) in Unalakleet this morning, which no doubt makes the teams running into the checkpoint very thankful.

We have officially entered the race part of the race. All bets are off as the foot comes off the brake and it's pedal to the medal! Hold onto your hats and glasses, folks, cuz this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness! (Couldn't help it!)

Do you think Jessie still has this in the bag? Is he having that magic ride? Did you know only three mushers in race history have defended their first Iditarod win? Comment below with your thoughts about the race so far and who you're cheering for!

The Iditarod is on the Yukon

Jessie Holmes at the Ceremonial Start of Iditarod 54.
March 7, 2026. Anchorage, Alaska. 

For a race that started off a little on the slow side, it's picking up speed as we enter the second leg of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. Teams are now into Ruby with the top two teams currently running toward Galena on the mighty Yukon.

Jessie Holmes was first to the Yukon and the checkpoint of Ruby at 4:55am AKDST Friday, winning the First to the Yukon award of a five course meal that he shared with Ruby elder Billy Honea as well as offered part of the meal with Paige Drobny who came into the checkpoint a little over two hours behind Holmes.

Drobny and Holmes have been playing leapfrog since coming off of their 24 hour rest, but Drobny has reported she's having a bit of trouble that has cost her time. "Everything is breaking," the musher told Insider early Friday morning in Ruby. Her alarm clock, she said, isn't working and her phone has died because both of her chargers have snapped due to the extreme temps the teams have faced for nearly a week now. Paige said she had no way to tell time until Ryan Redington who was camped near her on the run into Ruby offered her a watch. She rested thirty minutes longer on the trail than she had planned and is now trying to figure out how to catch up to the current race leader.

Both Holmes and Drobny had not originally planned to take their mandatory 8 hour rest on the Yukon in Ruby, but Holmes carried a 70lbs dog all the way from Cripple and decided the dogs needed the longer rest. Drobny decided to take her 8, she said, because she needed to get back on track to running at night and not during the heat of the day. Holmes left at 12:55pm AKDST Friday, Drobny gave chase at 3:01pm.

As the chase pack continue to make their way to Ruby, the back of the pack are closing in on Cripple. The big talk of this year's race is how big the teams are this far into the race. The colder temps have kept the trail quite nicely for the teams and things are going well for most everyone.

The pace should speed up as teams hit the Yukon. Think of it like a mushing freeway as they run on a solid flat stretch for the next day or so before making the portage from Kaltag to Unalakleet where the race will really shake out and we'll have a really good idea of which teams have the gas left in the tank to make the push for the win.

Shhh, Iditarod is napping.

It's been a quiet day on the Iditarod trail this sunny but cold Wednesday as teams are mostly resting in checkpoints taking their first Mandatory break of the Last Great Race. Teams have been jockeying for position as they "race to their 24" since Sunday and now it's time for them to settle in and get it done.

Teams made their way into the popular rest stop checkpoints of McGrath, Takotna and Ophir Tuesday night and all day Wednesday with the back of the pack hitting McGrath Wednesday night leaving Richie Beattie in Nikolai as the final musher. Beattie, according to his kennel page on Facebook, is taking his mandatory 24+differential hour layover.

Jessie Holmes ran through to Takotna, coming in around 10:30pm Tuesday night. The Champion musher bedded his team and declared his 24 citing his not feeling well and hoping a good break would be just what he needed to be able to clear up whatever he is fighting to compete in the second half. 

Riley Dyche and Matt Hall elected to continue on past Takotna and they (along with Lauro Eklund and a couple other teams) are 24ing in Ophir.

Back with Holmes are Paige Drobny, Peter Kaiser, Jessie Royer, Ryan Redington and Travis Beals (to name a few). Holmes will be the first to come off his 24 and can leave Takotna on his way to Ophir at 11:30pm AKDST. He'll have just over an hour before Paige will be hot on his heels. 

If this blogger's math is to be believed (and let's face it, it probably isn't) then Riley Dyche can be first to leave Ophir at 5:54am Thursday. Jessie will most likely be well ahead of Dyche by the time the team starts up again, but will have several hours of running on them with Dyche having fresh legs. While Holmes has control of the race - for now - he is by no means running away with the competition just yet.

It's quiet right now. All trackers are showing teams at rest. The insider live feeds have lots of happy sleeping dogs, a few locals wandering about, but everything is quiet and at peace. Fans should take the opportunity to shower, clean house, catch up on insider interviews, or just go to sleep. We have several hours before things get moving again.

Drobny, Redington chase Holmes out of McGrath

Paige Drobny and team at the Ceremonial Start of
Iditarod 54. March 7, 2026. Anchorage, Alaska.

Jessie Holmes has about an hour and a half lead over the next two teams out of the checkpoint of McGrath Tuesday night. The reigning Champion has commanded much of the first leg of the 54th running of Iditarod, steadily gaining time on the competition. 

Holmes was first to McGrath at 8:03pm AKDST. The champion spent just moments in the checkpoint gathering supplies from his drop bag and accepting the First to McGrath award before continuing on. Holmes was seen carrying a large bale of straw on the back of his sled as he took off.

At a little after 9:30pm AKDST Paige Drobny and her team of Squids entered McGrath. The musher wasted no time allowing vets to do a quick once over of her team before leaving - without grabbing anything from her drop bags. Iditarod Insider commentator Jodi Bailey said it was no big surprise to see Paige not grab supplies as Drobny and her team are experienced back country living and carry large loads all year long. Ryan Redington was just minutes behind Drobny and spent a quick few minutes to gather items from his drop bags before taking off in chase.

As of 9:45pm AKDST Mille has checked into McGrath and is surrounded by fans and volunteers. It remains to be seen what she plans to do here in McGrath. It's about to get busy as the front runners continue to jockey for placement heading into their 24 hour mandatory rests. 

It's anyone's guess what Jessie Holmes has planned as it appears with the straw bale he will camp on the trail which may mean he is planning a push to Cripple. A ballsy move, but one that could pay off if his team is ready for it.

He'll have several other checkpoints to stop in between McGrath and Cripple should he so choose.

Hang onto your hats, Iditafans! The race is getting ready to go into nap mode (so we'll all be able to catch up on work while the mushers try to catch up on sleep). 

Foucher scratches in Rainy Pass

In a press release early Tuesday morning, Iditarod announced that 2026 rookie Jaye Foucher made the difficult decision to scratch from the race. 

Foucher reported Monday via her team back home that she had encountered some difficult trail and had managed to break her sled on the first portion of the race (Sunday into Monday) and that she was unsure of how she could continue. After some work in the checkpoint she managed to continue on down the trail but according to her kennel page things did not get easier and a series of more crashes on the trail led to an even more broken sled and some lost mandatory gear. Report of the team is that all dogs are doing well.

A scratch by any musher is a difficult decision - and sometimes they cannot bring themselves to officially do so and ask for an official to withdraw then instead - and it is always made with the best interest of the team. Officials and other mushers often come alongside the musher and encourage them to sleep on it before pulling the plug on their race. In the case of losing mandatory gear, however, if you haven't sent out replacements in your drop bags it isn't always feasible to replace that gear in the checkpoint (with race judge approval). 

"We appreciate the determination and sportsmanship Foucher has shown during this year’s race," Iditarod wrote in its release, "and hope to see her return to the Iditarod Trail in the future."

Jaye Foucher had fifteen dogs in harness and in good health at the time of her decision.

To send encouragement to the musher please be sure to visit her website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Iditarod 54 rookie class

As with every Iditarod, there is a class of musher that can be the most exciting and inspirational. The Rookie Class is filled with teams of all different goals and backgrounds. Some are looking to start on the professional mushing journey, others want to fulfill that childhood dream, there are some that just want to make it to Nome. All carry with them the well wishes of those watching who earnestly hope they all reach the finish and receive the coveted finisher's buckle.

This year the race technically has thirteen rookies headed down the trail, but one of those rookies is the musher in the inaugural Expedition Class of the race and so for our purposes we'll focus on the other twelve who had to qualify for the race as well as have to stay competitive in order to finish. No easy task as we've seen in recent years as the race grows increasingly faster and the gaps widen considerably. 

Of the twelve racing rookies, three are returning rookies - meaning they will not be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award. (Though at this point getting that buckle may be what they care about more.) Four of the rookies are women. All in all a healthy roster of rookies.

With that in mind, let's get to the task of familiarizing ourselves with the new crop and make sure we know how we can follow them to learn more.

Idita-Class of 2026

Adam Lindenmuth - Adam began mushing in 2017 learning from other mushers before creating his own kennel in 2021. He ran races prior to his opening his own kennel, and spent the last two years qualifying for the Iditarod using his own dogs. Adam has seen success in the races he's run, winning several along the way. Adam said in his bio that "the pups are old enough so here we are!" ahead of the Iditarod. It will be interesting to see if he tries for Rookie of the Year.You can learn more about Adam and follow his journey from his Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Brenda Mackey - They say third time's the charm, and that's what Brenda is hoping for. Brenda comes from one of those "legacy" mushing families and is incredibly capable - it's just the last two tries she's ended up with sick dogs that called the race for her. Her true rookie run was in 2021 on the "Gold Loop Trail", the modified trail during Covid. Mackey, like many teams that year, ended up scratching due to dogs getting a very bad bug. Brenda returned last year feeling good about her chances, but after an emergency situation and confusion with the SOS button early on in the race Brenda was out again. Both times she did right by her dogs and that's all one can hope a musher does. Brenda says this year she's looking forward to seeing more than the first 300 miles of the Iditarod. Learn more about the musher from her Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Jaye Foucher - Jaye is finally going to be on the trail! After having her dreams dashed well before the race in 2022 after a training run turned into a nightmare when on a road crossing a car didn't see Jaye's team and hit the team. Foucher was emotionally and physically not ready to run the race after that and chose to withdraw and head back home to the Lower 48. Jaye will be the only team to have a mix of Siberians and Alaskan Huskies. It will no doubt be an emotional moment to see her take off from the start line. You can learn more about Jaye from her Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Jesse Terry - Jesse is coming off of a win at the Canadian Challenge just last week and is on the road (probably already made it by the time this is posted) to Alaska. Terry is a member of the Lac Seul First Nation and has run dogs most of his life. He began racing in 2012 and boasts an impressive record of top placements and Vet and Sportsmanship awards. He also recently took over Hans Gatt's sled building business, proving he is exceptionally good at what he does. If we were playing the Oregon Trail, he'd be the one that cost the post to choose as your player - he's got all the skills. You can learn more about the musher by going to his Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Jody Potts-Joseph - Jody is Han Gwich’in from Eagle Village, Alaska and a citizen of the Native Village of Eagle and Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation in Dawson City, Canada. She raises her family and her kennel "on the land of her ancestors". Mushing is not just something to do, it is a part of her. Jody wrote recently, "For me, the Iditarod is more than a race. It continues the way my ancestors traveled the land, cared for their dogs, and sustained life along the Yukon River. In the race’s 50-year history, only a small number of Alaska Native women have stood on this trail." Just last year we watched this woman wade through several miles of overflow getting her team down the trail of the Yukon Quest. She's no doubt got the heart and strength for Iditarod. Learn more about this amazing woman and musher from her Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Joseph Sabin - From sled dog tour guide to kennel owner. Joseph has learned from some of the leading kennels how to train dogs and now it's his turn to go down the trail. Originally from the Lower 48 he would travel to Alaska during tourist season to run tour operations for other mushers. That wasn't enough for Sabin and around 2020 he decided he needed to start his own team. He still manages tours in the summer for another kennel, but he's taking a team of dogs he bred, raised, trained and raced to the start of the Iditarod. He moved to Alaska about three years ago and settled in Fairbanks where he and his partner Willoe Maynard run and train their dogs. You can learn more about Joseph from his Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Kevin Hansen - Another rookie who embodies Joe Redington Sr.'s original vision for the Iditarod, Hansen hails from the West Coast of Alaska in Kotzebue. The Physical Therapist by trade, but musher at heart has been training and racing dogs for much of his life with the dream of Iditarod always in the back of his mind. Fans may recognize him most from the Kobuk 440 a springtime race run out of Kotzebue each year as Hansen has in most recent years stuck with the top teams having consistent top placements. Just getting to the starting line makes him a winner with the added expenses (to an already insanely huge expense just to run the race) with living in remote Alaska off the road system so he has to fly his dogs to Anchorage so that he can mush them back to the West Coast. You can learn more about Kevin from his Iditarod Bio, Facebook, and Instagram.

Richie Beattie - Okay. So. This one's tricky. Not the musher's fault. It's a technicality really. Many fans may remember Beattie has run the Iditarod before and he did make it all the way to Nome. Richie technically completed the race in 2019 but the Iditarod still lists him as a Rookie. This has thrown a lot of people, but a quick look at his race history shows a "WD" designation next to his Nome "checkpoint". This was due to them having to envoke that year's Rule 42. (It needs to be said that Iditarod's necropsy and investigation never lead to any wrong doing from Beattie and he was not sanctioned.) So technically he's finished, but he's also technically a rookie. Clear as... mud? You can learn more about Richie and his team of Wildthingz from his Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Sadie Lindquist - She'll be running Mitch Seavey's puppy team, so don't expect her to break any records. Her job - as with all Seavey puppy teams - is to get the young pups to Nome in the most fun way possible. No stress, just fun! And that's kinda how Sadie is in general. Guests to the Seavey Kennel in Seward will likely recognize her as she's one of the familiar faces giving demonstrations, talks, and tours of the Ididaride Kennel. She's a life long Alaskan who has been connected with these dogs pretty much their entire lives. Expect her to make it to Nome beaming that Sadie smile the whole way. You can learn more about Sadie by going to her Iditarod Bio, Website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Sam Martin - Ten years ago there was this kid straight outta high school looking for adventure and found it on the Panhandle of Alaska. Like many, his start was giving tours on a glacier for hundreds of cruise ship passengers wanting to experience Alaska. Sam says one summer was all it took, he was hooked and soon found his way to Matt Failor's kennel where he has helped run and train dogs. Martin has run his qualifiers at a conservative "finish with everyone happy and ready for more" type pace and it may be how he takes on the much larger beast known as Iditarod. You can learn more about Martin from his Iditarod Bio, GoFundMe, and Facebook.

Sam Paperman - Sam's one job is to get the Turning Heads Kennel puppy team to Nome. With, you know, happy dogs ready to do it again. Paperman has been with THK since he was 14 years old working his way up from kennel hand to dog trainer and now racer. He's also a volunteer EMT for their local emergency services (fans may remember he helped save a man's life when a boulder fell on him while hiking). When Sam is racing his dad is often keeping folks updated on how it's going for the young musher (the proud dad posts are fantastic and informative). Don't expect Sam to take away any top prizes, but it's a good bet this guy will get them to Nome. You can learn more about the musher by going to his Iditarod Bio, Facebook, and Instagram.

Sydnie Bahl - Sydnie is another one of the rookies returning for a second try at this finishing thing. Bahl ran last year and was one of the heartbreaking scratches/withdrawals from the race. Sydnie was having quite a good run up to when her race ended and many felt she should have continued on. That's water under the bridge as of now, though, because she's on her way to try number two. The trail is the normal one, there are no extra miles, no back and forths, no millions of miles of river (well except for the normal amount). Bahl runs a team out of Vern Halter's kennel and he does his best to create a schedule that sets his musher/team up for success. To learn more about Sydnie you can visit her Iditarod Bio, Website, and Facebook.

The Iditarod kicks off Saturday, March 7 with the Ceremonial Start in Anchorage, Alaska. 

What do you think of this year's rookie class? Who do you have for Rookie of the Year? Comment below with your thoughts and predictions!

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Iditarod 54 Musher Roster

Can you believe it? Iditarod 54 begins in just two weeks. Two weeks! How did we get here so fast?! The first quarter of 2026 is flying by faster than a blink and it no doubt has hit the mushers just as much as it has hit those of us watching from home.

The mushers spent much of the last week delivering their drop bags to Iditarod. Mushers close to the South Central area drove their hundreds of pounds of food and gear to the warehouse where Iditarod Volunteers sorted and prepped the bags for shipping out to each checkpoint along the trail. Those further North drove them to Fairbanks to have them cargo flown to Anchorage, and Pete Kaiser who was a last minute entry shipped his directly from his home in Bethel.

All the norm for this time of year gearing up for The Last Great Race. 

Iditarod did, however, announce several NEW things coming to this year's race. After many years of staging race headquarters in The Lakefront Hotel in Anchorage, the race has found a new partner with a more Downtown Location. The Lakefront has been a fantastic facility for a one stop shop of sorts for all the race needs, but about ten years ago it pulled it's official partnership due to increasing pressure from certain outside groups doing what they do best. The race continued to use the hotel, but it added to the increasing costs to put on the race. As of now it will still be where the race houses the return dog Anchorage team and where return dogs will be transported from off the trail as the hotel sits on Lake Hood where small float and ski planes land all year long.

The new Headquarters will be right where the action all takes place on that first Saturday in March, the newly remodeled and renamed Wildbirch Hotel. The Wildbirch was once the quirky Aviator Hotel that fans had booked for years to watch the Rondy and Iditarod races from their hotel room windows. Now, with the upgraded look, it's taking on a much more prominent and official role. 

Also new this year is a new class of musher, the "expedition class." It's been long suggested by mushers and fans alike that the Iditarod could fix many of its "teams must be competitive" rule cutting off teams earlier and earlier in the race if they held two classes in the race, a professional race for the win type of class and the adventure (or expedition) class for those that are doing it as a bucketlist or just getting their feet wet. That isn't *exactly* what's going on here as this expedition class is more like those tours we see happening nearly every year by kennels that "follow" the trail but do not participate in the race with high paying clients.

Iditarod has jumped in on that and they have their first "Expedition Class" musher who will be guided by 2020 Iditarod Champion Thomas Waerner (who has done these types of tours previously). As part of his participation Rokke paid $2000 of each entry fee of mushers who signed up between June and November. To his credit, Rokke has been mushing dogs under the guidance of Waerner for several years and has run some races over in Europe, so it's not like they're handing some dude who's never seen a dog sled a team of dogs and wishing him the best of luck.

Also new this year is a new Race Marshal - now before you start asking where Nordman went, Mark's gone no where. Nordman for the last few years has stepped into the role of Race Director seeing to all of the logistics of the race where as the Race Marshal focuses on the race itself. Warren Palfrey took over when Nordman stepped into the director role, and now Dan Carter will Marshal the 2026 race. Carter is a veteran of the race, a long time race judge, and has run other races both as a musher and an official. Carter seems well liked by mushers and should be fair in his decisions. If you're fortunate enough to talk with him you'll hear some pretty amazing stories of the trail and his whole body lights up talking dogs.

Whew! That was a blog post in and of itself, but that's not what you're really here for. So let's talk the roster, shall we?

In a year that saw several legacy mushers pass, it comes as no surprise that the Iditarod would name one as their honorary musher for this year's race. Mary Shields is given this honor for 2026. Shields was one of two women to enter the second ever Iditarod, and was the first to cross the finish line solidifying her place in Iditarod and mushing history. Mary passed in July of 2025 and the Iditarod announced her as honorary musher earlier this month.

With Food Drops officially here, no new names can be added to the roster but there is still a chance a team or two will have to withdraw prior to March 6. Still, the roster is sitting at thirty-six names (including the expedition class musher and guide). There are four returning Iditarod Champions (though one is the guide for the expedition class). There are thirteen recorded rookies (counting expedition class); twelve women are in this year's race. 

As always, once bib numbers are published by the race after Bib Draw on March 5 the roster will be edited to reflect start order. Bib numbers have been drawn!

Bib	Musher	Kennel	Link	Link	Link	Link
2	Adam Lindenmuth	Sojourn Kennels	Bio		Facebook	Instagram
3	Rohn Buser	Susitna Sled Dog Adventures	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
4	Travis Beals	Turning Heads Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
5	Ryan Redington	Redington Mushing	Bio	Website	Facebook
6	Kjell Rokke	"Expedition Class Musher"	Bio
7	Jessie Holmes	Can't Stop Racing Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
8	Chad Stoddard	Happy Trails Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
9	Bailey Vitello	Team Bailey	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
10	Paige Drobny	Squid Acres	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
11	Joseph Sabin	VOA Racing	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
12	Keaton Loebrich	Star Gazer Racing	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
13	Thomas Waerner	Berserk Kennel (Expedition Class Guide)	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
14	Jessie Royer	The J Team	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
15	Mille Porsild	Mille & Co	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
16	Matt Hall	Silver Ace Sled Dogs	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
17	Lauro Eklund	Skookum Expeditions	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
18	Gabe Dunham	Evermore Adventures	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
19	Riley Dyche	Dark Horse Sled Dogs	Bio	Website
20	Sydnie Bahl	Dream a Dream Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook
21	Richie Beattie	Wildthingz Dog Mushing	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
22	Jason Mackey	Mackey's TopNotch Comeback Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook
23	Hanna Lyrek	Team Lyrek	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
24	Sam Martin	17th Dog / Alaskan Husky Adventures	Bio	Website	Facebook
25	Sam Paperman	Turning Heads Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
26	Wade Marrs	49th State Sled Dogs	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
27	Josi (Thyr) Shelley	There & Back Again Sled Dogs	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
28	Jaye Foucher	Sibersong Sleddogs	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
29	Jesse Terry	On the Land Sled Dogs	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
30	Michelle Phillips	Tagish Lake Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
31	Sadie Lindquist	Seavey's Ididaride	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
32	Jody Potts-Joseph	Raven Clan Kennels	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
33	Peter Kaiser	Kaiser Racing	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
34	Kevin Hansen	Hansen Kennel	Bio		Facebook	Instagram
35	Jeff Deeter	Black Spruce Dog Sledding	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
36	Brenda Mackey	Mackey's Alaskan Distance Dogs	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
37	Grayson Bruton	The Cure Racing Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram

*Roster as of March 5, 2026 @ 10pm AKST.

Bold reflect past Iditarod Champion.

Italic reflect Expedition Class participant.

Who are you excited to watch race on the Iditarod trail? Thoughts on the roster? The changes? Comment below!

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