Iditarod 53 musher roster

We are into the final weeks before Iditarod 53 makes its way down the trail to Nome. This year has been a series of "will we"s as much of South Central Alaska (and the Western Coast) saw little to no snow, abnormally high temperatures, and so much rain it seemed winter was washed away. Yet, here we are, just days away from the Last Great Race on Earth once again being the focus of many Alaskans and fans world wide. 

The race still has a few unknowns (like where are they going to take off from - as of February 16, 2025) but the excitement continues to build. The race is now taking off from Fairbanks with the longest trail in race history planned. With a field that includes 16 rookies, this race has the potential to see a lot of new faces in the top 10 of Iditarod. Granted, the door is wide open for those that fans know and recognize to make that next move, but there seems to be a great shake up going on within the Iditarod. With half of the field made up of rookies, anything is possible this year. Of the 16 rookies, 12 are eligible for Rookie of the Year (must be first year rookies, those that have attempted previously cannot win ROTY).

Only two returning champions are on the roster. Three-time Champion Mitch Seavey last won in 2017 and last ran the Iditarod in 2022 where he placed 16th (the first time he'd been out of the top ten since 2003 - not counting the year he was WD due to a severed finger in Ophir). 2023 Iditarod Champion Ryan Redington is also back for another try at a win. Redington has taken it "easy" this season, often letting his handler team take top positions while he rode further back in the pack of the mid-distance races, last year Ryan placed 14th in a very competitive Iditarod.

While we won't know which junior musher will start the run off down 4th Avenue in Anchorage until after the completion of the Junior Iditarod scheduled for February 22-23, we do know who the honorary musher will be. Each year the race chooses a person to be the honorary musher "wearing" bib number one. In the early days of the race, the Iditarod chose to honor the mushers of the Serum Run, but now includes a host of names celebrating men and women who helped make the Iditarod what it is today. Mushers, volunteers, and community members have all been honored over the last 50 years. This year the race has chosen Dr. Stu Nelson as the Honorary Musher.

Dr. Stu Nelson was Iditarod's Chief Veterinarian from 1995 until 2024. In the nearly thirty years in his role Nelson championed greater veterinary care on the trail and in kennels. He studied tirelessly to figure out the causes of dog expiration, and was brought to tears many times when speaking of how hard he and all of the vets worked to create a safe event for all canine participants. Stu could be seen not just at the starts and finish of each race checking out the dogs, but he also spot checked most of the checkpoints. He was available to mushers during the race and year round. Because of Dr. Stu Nelson sled dog care and health has never been better - and by association many of our pet dogs have benefited as studies on Iditarod dogs helped in the fields of canine nutrition and medical care.

Dr. Stu Nelson unexpectedly passed away in September of 2024 while out on his usual run. He was known by mushers, volunteers, and fans alike as being a kind, compassionate, friendly persona. His passing shocked the Iditarod and Mushing community. Nelson's work will live on with the race. Read the full press release on Dr. Nelson being chosen as this year's honorary musher here.

With nearly two weeks until the Ceremonial Start, the roster may change. There are several unknowns about the trail and that has some mushers extremely concerned and contemplating a late withdrawal. All eyes have been on the Iron Dog as they traverse over a lot of the same trail dog teams are set to run on. The Burn especially is the focus of many musher fears, some are hoping for a last minute change to running the Fairbanks route (which would pair well with this being the 100th anniversary of the fame Serum Run that much of the Fairbanks route would follow the same trail). **Edited to add: Iditarod has officially changed the race from the traditional Southern Route to a route leading out of Fairbanks and looping on the Yukon River before heading to Nome. It will be roughly 1128 miles total, which is said to be the longest trail in race history.)

Bib #1 is set, however the rest of the teams won't have their number until the Musher Banquet on February 27. As such, the roster below is listed as it stands now on the Iditarod website - in order of sign up. This post will be edited with the final roster and bib numbers after the banquet in just 11 days. 

Musher Roster

Bib	Musher	Kennel	Link	Link	Link	Link
2	Jason Mackey	Mackey's Top Notch Racing Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook
3	Samantha LaLonde	Dallas Seavey Racing Kennel	Bio		Facebook	Instagram
4	Matt Hall	Silver Ace Sled Dogs	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
5	Ebbe Pedersen	Turning Heads Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
6	Travis Beals	Turning Heads Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
7	Nicolas Petit	Nic Petit Racing	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
8	Sydnie Bahl	Dream a Dream Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook
9	Brenda Mackey	Mackey's Alaskan Distance Dogs	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
10	Jenny Roddewig	Sage Mountain Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
11	Mike Parker	Northern Whites Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
12	Anna Berington	Seeing Double Racing	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
13	Keaton Loebrich	Star Gazer Racing	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
14	Michelle Phillips	Tagish Lake Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
15	Jessie Holmes	Team Can't Stop	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
16	Ryan Redington	Redington Mushing	Bio	Website	Facebook
17	Riley Dyche	Dark Horse Kennel	Bio	Website
18	Mille Porsild	Mille & Co	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
19	Daniel Klein	Redington Mushing	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
20	Gabe Dunham	Evermore Adventures	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
21	Dane Baker	Alaskan Husky Adventures	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
22	Bailey Vitello	Team Bailey	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
23	Lauro Eklund	Skookum Expeditions	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
24	Bryce Mumford	Mushing Mumfords	Bio	Website		Instagram
25	Calvin Daugherty	Seavey's Ididaride	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
26	Paige Drobny	Squid Acres	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
27	Quince Mountain	BraverMountain Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	BlueSky
28	Connor McMahon	Feral Racing	Bio		Facebook	Instagram
29	Justin Olnes	ReRun Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
30	Charmayne Morrison	Morrison Racing Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
31	Matthew Failor	17th Dog/Alaskan Husky Adventures	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
32	Mitch Seavey	Seavey's Ididaride	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
33	Jeff Deeter	Black Spruce Kennel	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram
34	Emily Ford	Shameless Huskies	Bio	Website	Facebook	Instagram

*Bold indicates past Iditarod Champion
**Roster as of February 16 @ 12pm AKST. 

Who are YOU cheering for? Do you think Ryan or Mitch will run away with another win? Do you have a story about Dr. Stu Nelson? Comment below with your thoughts and stories!

If you like what you see and want to support my addiction (I mean HOBBY) of following these races and stalking (I mean cheering on) the mushers, you can buy me a slice of pizza (that really goes to paying for my internet/web expenses).

Personal Note

 Hello loyal readers!

I apologize for not getting the musher rosters and race previews up ahead of this weekend's races. My dad (aka Moose Guy aka Grandpa Moose aka Toni's Dad aka Alan) had knee replacement surgery on Monday and I've been helping Mom take care of him and being HIS chauffer for a change. 

I will hopefully get some info up tonight or tomorrow. Late, but at least you will have the info on the teams and how to find them online to send support.

Thank you for understanding!

Pete Kaiser wins his 9th Kusko

Photo courtesy of Kuskokwim 300 facebook page.

At 1:57am Sunday Pete Kaiser and his exhuberant team of Alaskan Huskies crossed the finish line in bethel tying Jeff King for the most wins on the Kusko. The Bethel local was greeted by many excited fans, friends, and family as well as a little rain. The trail was said to be fast and even with the changes to the trail and the start time it felt like just another Kusko for the champion musher. The musher will take home at least $30,000.

"I'm pretty proud of our efforts after the challenge of our training this year," Pete told the local media.

It wasn't easy for Kaiser to get to the starting line this year. With the warm winter most of Alaska has seen, Kaiser wasn't even sure he would make it to the race this year. "We managed to do it," Kaiser said, "and I was just really happy we were able to get the dogs to the starting line." He said while the weather wasn't anything they weren't used to in the area, it just went on forever. "Just not ideal training conditions."

Kaiser noted that the fast trail meant that he'd have to run fast early in the race and stick with the front runners if he wanted to manage a chance to win. He was very proud of his team and his race. "It played out almost perfectly," he stated. 

When asked about the trail Pete had nothing but good things to say. It was a fast trail, not a lot of snow drift, no slogging through overflow or open water. "Overall one of the best trails I've ever been on in the Kusko." The musher, who didn't wear his traditional orange parka and fur ruff - he didn't need it when it was 32 degrees overnight on the trail - commented on the beauty of this year's trail. "One of the most beautiful trails we've ever mushed on," he said, "we're going to be spoiled for next year."

Riley Dyche who battled with Kaiser for most of the race came in second place 18 minutes behind the champion. Riley said he had to carry a dog for most of the way from Kalskag to Tuluksak on the inbound trail and he believed that was what sealed Pete's lead for the finishing run. When asked if he planned to be back for future races Riley didn't hesitate to say yes, "this is my new favorite race," he said.

Third place Cody Strathe, who caught a bug on the trail and had very little voice at the finish line. Strathe managed to say that most of the dogs on his team had not run the Kusko before. 

Next up for the Bethel area and Pete specifically will be the Bogus Creek 150. It was another race that had to be postponed, and Kaiser told media this morning his plan was to race in that one. With the warm up starting Sunday it's anyone's guess what the rest of his season will be. His social media team noted that beccause of the poor training season that Pete made the decision not to sign up for Iditarod, so the Kusko will be his "big" race of the year.

Pete gave credit to his dogs for doing so well, surprising their musher. "I'm pretty proud of our efforts after the challenge of our training this year," he said. He mentioned that he asked them for speed for the whole of the race to keep the pace with the front runners and they delivered, as he looked down the line of his happy and alert team in the finish line - tails wagging, "they're just incredible."

Four teams are now into the finish, with thirteen teams still on the trail. 

Top ten are into Tuluksak

As of 7:10pm AKST on Saturday, the top ten are into the final checkpoint of Tuluksak and are on their final four hour mandatory rest. From Tuluksak it's roughly a fifty mile sprint to the finish line back in Bethel. There are several bunches within the top ten of teams close together. The final placement is anything but certain for just about any team.

First into Tuluksak Saturday was eight-time Kusko champion Pete Kaiser. The veteran musher arrived at 5:15pm and had the checkpoint all to themselves for just twenty minutes before Riley Dyche and his team of Dark Horse dogs charged in. Dyche is a dark horse in more ways than one, the musher chose last year to leave social media entirely and so no one really knew what to expect as there was almost nothing in the way of training reports on the musher. He ran a couple of races, but it was anyone's guess would Dyche would be doing ahead of Iditarod. Riley bought many of Brent Sass's main team last year when Sass decided to get out of dogs (in Alaska, he's been in Europe running dogs). Riley brought 8 of the Wild and Free dogs with him to the Kusko.

Fifteen minutes after Riley checked in, Cody Strathe was next into the checkpoint. The Squids ate up some time on Dyche. At 6:09pm Mike Williams Jr. made it to Tuluksak. Williams is having a fantastic race and has many fans and mushers statewide cheering him on. One of the local heroes of sorts, Mike is a favorite in any race he enters. Williams' best finish was 2nd in 2011 according to the K300 archives, and he last ran the race in 2019. Hunter Keefe rounds out the top five, coming in just eight minutes behind Willliams. 

At 6:26pm, teen phenom Emily Robinson rode into the checkpoint. Saturday afternoon Robinson crossed the 200 mile mark - the furthest she's ever raced. Sitting now at roughly 226 miles, the junior musher is now in unfamiliar territory. Last year Robinson nervously laughed when reporters asked her if she was ready for Iditarod, she mentioned that 300 miles intimidated her. The teen who didn't seem to be intimidated by Iditarod champions as she ran them down in 100 and 200 mile races was intimidated by 300 miles. Well, this weekend she took that challenge on and she's minutes from cracking the top five. The only teen, only female, and only rookie in this race looks anything but intimidated.

Lev Shvarts is ten minutes behind Robinson to hold the seventh slot. Behind Shvarts came Matt Failor, giving Shvarts a seventeen minute cushion. Sitting in 9th and 10th place are Cim Smyth and Bailey Vitello who came in at the same time. There should be some very close finishes Sunday morning.

First and fifth are separated by just over an hour. Right now Peter Kaiser has the lead, but it's not a fully comfortable one. We've seen the Kusko throw a curveball for the leaders in the final stretch (Failor's win was helped by such curveballs). The top three are not set in stone. And then there are the chase pack just waiting in the wings. Hunter Keefe will have to pull out the stops to keep Emily Robinson behind him. Several teams could easily end up leap frogging in this last sprint.

At the back, Isaac Underwood and Ebbe Pederson are both resting in Kalskag. 

Top 10

Pete Kaiser at 5:15pm - can leave at 9:15pm Saturday
Riley Dyche at 5:35pm - can leave at 9:35pm 
Cody Strathe at 5:50pm - can leave at 9:50pm
Mike Williams Jr at 6:09pm - can leave at 10:08pm
Hunter Keefe at 6:17pm - can leave at 10:16pm
Emily Robinson at 6:26pm - can leave at 10:26pm
Lev Shvarts at 6:36pm - can leave at 10:36pm
Matthew Failor at 6:53pm - can leave at 10:53pm
Cim Smyth at 7:10pm - can leave at 11:10pm
Bailey Vitello at 7:10pm - can leave at 11:10pm

With roughly fifty miles to the finish and Peter Kaiser leaving at 9:15pm Saturday, expect a finish around 2am AKST on Sunday. 

Do you think we're going to see another re-PETE? Do you think we'll see any surprise placements? Who do you think will end up winning the Red Lantern? Comment below with your thoughts!

Kaiser takes the lead!

Saturday afternoon saw a new leader on the Kusko. Somewhere between Kalskag and Tuluksak on the inbound trail, eight-time Kusko Champion Peter Kaiser passed race leader Riley Dyche to take the lead. With just 18 miles to go until the last checkpoint, Kaiser should be tucking his team in for their final mandatory four hour rest around 5:30pm AKST.

Riley Dyche has spent most of the Kusko leading the race (the only time he wasn't first into a checkpoint was when Mike Williams Jr. was first to hit Aniak). Dyche pulled the hook in Kalskag about a minute before Pete came into the checkpoint. His team was coming off a three hour rest and looked strong as they took off down the trail. Still, fans noticed the energy of Kaiser's team and the musher's calm as he signed in and out and followed Dyche out of the checkpoint.

Riley managed to keep a mile or so between he and Pete for several miles before the champion musher managed to overtake him. Teams are required to yield trail to the faster moving team if the musher calls for it (normally with just a loud bellow of "TRAIL!"). Mushers must then allow several miles to pass before they can yell to retake the lead if the teams are still "on top of" one another. One mile from the finishline, however, is considered "No Man's Land" and all bets are off. Yielding trail is not required and can make for an exciting finish (still hoping for a skipole joust into the finish some day).

The chase pack has seen a bit of shake up as some have slingshot ahead of others out of Kalskag. Junior musher Emily Robinson was running around near 8th or 9th Saturday morning coming into Kalskag and has now picked off a few teams and shows on the tracker as currently running with Lev Shvarts bringing her to 5th or 6th place. The teenager is a rooke in this race in more ways than one, it's not just her first Kusko - it's her first 300 mile race. For the Kusko it's the fact that a team hasn't done 300 miles that qualifies them as a rookie, and Emily is the only one who qualifies for that honor this year.

The back of the pack remains unchanged. Current red lantern Ebbe Pederson is into the checkpoint of Aniak at 3:30pm AKST and is currently resting. The musher has planned to take his time in the race, but it's unknown how long he plans to enjoy the hospitality of Aniak.

Kaiser Racing has been giving its usual fantasic updates on the race again this year and put out a quick but informative breakdown of the purse payout. This year everyone's in the money. Highly recommend you give them a read.

If Kaiser and Dyche make it in at the estimated 5:30pm mark they will be able to head for the finish at 9:30pm giving us a potential 2am finish for the winner. Gear up, fans, consider this good training for next month's Iditarod (less than a month away now!)

Who do you have coming into Tuluksak first? Think Emily will make a move and start picking off the leaders? Comment below with your thoughts on the race!

Riley Dyche leads the Kusko

The Dark Horse has dark horsed quite well so far on the Kuskokwim. Riley Dyche and his team blazed up the trail Friday night and into Saturday morning. Dyche currently sits in the checkpoint of Kalskag on the return/inbound trail. He is required to take three hours of rest here to complete his mandatory 6 hour rest for the loop. Dyche isn't alone as Cody Strathe of Squid Acres is also sitting in Kalskag finishing up his mandatory rest, but Dyche has about a half hour lead on Cody.

Dyche took an early lead Friday being the first into the first checkpoint of Tuluksak blowing through that checkpoint and on down the trail. He was then first into the Kalskag outbound checkpoint where he elected to take a three hour rest as part of his mandatory six hour. Dyche was not first out of Kalskag nor was he first into the halfway point of Aniak, but he took the lead when he elected to not stay in Aniak on his arrival and continued on the trail loop back to Kalskag.

Dyche's race plan is similar to the one Strathe chose to run. This is the first Kusko for Strathe, it's Dyche's second. As the two leaders rest, a wave of teams who are fully rested are on their way to the checkpoint. The chase pack include Pete Kaiser, Matt Failor, Hunter Keefe, Mike Williams Jr., Lev Shvarts, and Emily Robinson. Yes, that's right, the junior musher running her first 300 miler is comfortably in the top ten and is fully rested. The teen has done a fantastic job of maintaining her team and sticking with the big dogs.

Also in the chase pack are Cim Smyth and Nicolas Petit both of whom still need to complete their six hour mandatory rest. Smyth looks to need two hours of rest having elected to rest for two hours in Kalskag Outbound and Aniak - Petit looks to have one hour. They are currently running in third and fourth position with about a nine mile (one hour-ish) cushion of the chase pack. Well, at least Cim does. Nic's tracker isn't behaving.

Current red lantern is Ebbe Pederson who planned to run a slower race with a lot of extra rest according to a post by Turning Heads Kennel - who Pederson is running dogs from. He is the only team still on the outbound trail on his way to Aniak. Issac Underwood is the only team currently resting in Aniak.

Judging by the tracker, it looks like Pete Kaiser will hit Kalskag right around the time Riley Dyche should be able to pull the hook and take off from his rest (if the math is correct and we all know how often that happens for this blogger). Kaiser has taken all of his mandatory rest on the loop so he could continue on down the trail, but Dyche's team will have had a three hour break and it could be that Dyche has just timed everything perfectly to keep control of this race.

Don't count any of the chase pack out yet, and especially not Kaiser as these are his home trails. It's going to be an epic race to the finish.

What do you think will happen when the chase pack makes it to Kalskag? Can Dyche and Strathe hold them off? Comment below with your thoughts!