Iditarod issues statement on Brenda Mackey's scratch

Brenda Mackey posted on Facebook early Friday with an update on her scratch from Iditarod 53. The musher stated that she did not scratch with 14 healthy dogs as Iditarod's press release stated, and said that Jett was showing signs of a health crisis when she returned to the checkpoint of Tanana. 

Brenda stated that she had the dog checked in Tanana ahead of her departure but vets could find no indication that the dog could not safely continue in the race. Brenda said she should have gone with her gut and sent the dog home, but she chose to take Jett with her as they headed to Galena. About thirty miles in Jett was clearly not doing well, and Brenda stopped the team. The dog collapsed and Brenda tried to call for help but her phone had no service in the area and she does not carry an inreach (sattelite phone). 

Mackey thought she had pressed the SOS button several times, but after no help came she started thinking about having to run back to Tanana. Musher Emily Ford came up on the team and helped assess the dog, taking Jett's temerature. Brenda then chose to turn back around and head back the way she came.

In reaching the checkpoint Brenda found out that the ITC had not received the distress call. It is unclear as to why the race handed Brenda the scratch form - she did hit the SOS button but as she did not recieve outside assistance it remains unclear if it was a miscommunication or misunderstanding in the checkpoint that believed the musher was scratching. Nonetheless, Brenda signed the paper and ended her race.

The Iditarod released their original press release stating that Brenda had 14 *healthy* dogs on the line when she *chose* to scratch. Brenda wanted to make it clear Friday that one dog was not healthy, and that she didn't really CHOOSE to scratch. Words matter.

The Iditarod released a new statement Friday afternoon retracting their earlier statement giving more information and an apology for their original release.

"ITC Statement Regarding the Team of Iditarod Rookie, Brenda Mackey

Anchorage, Alaska – Rookie Iditarod musher, Brenda Mackey (bib #9), of Fairbanks, Alaska, scratched on March 5 at 4:35 p.m. at the Tanana checkpoint in the best interest of her team.   The original press release stated that Mackey had 14 dogs in harness when she arrived in Tanana, all in good health. 

As more information has come from the checkpoint since that time, it is now understood that Mackey had 13 dogs in harness and one dog, Jett, resting in her sled due to health concerns that emerged approximately three hours after departing Tanana.  Upon recognizing the issue, Mackey did make an attempt to activate her SOS button on her tracker, but unfortunately did not activate it correctly.  Mackey made the decision to return to the checkpoint where Jett was promptly examined by Trail Veterinarians and flown to Anchorage. We are happy to report that Jett is seemingly in good condition and appears to be healthy and in high spirits.   

The ITC apologizes for the miscommunication and any angst we may have caused Brenda, her team and her followers."

Mushers are given instruction in the musher meeting on which buttons on the tracker are the SOS button, it's given as a warning (so as not to accidently hit it) but also as a way to let mushers know it is there and able to use. There's another button that does not go directly to the race but to the company call center according to Brenda's facebook statement. 

Whether or not it was a mistake on Brenda's part or a glitch in the system, no one can argue Brenda made anything but the right call. 

Holmes out of Nulato, Phillips stays

Jessie Holmes was first into the checkpoint of Nulato Thursday night. The musher chose to grab a bale of straw and a couple of items before heading back down the trail. The assumption is the musher will take his 24 in Kaltag, which is next up for the musher. It's puzzling if he's taking straw and planning to 24 in Kaltag if the straw is just a ruse for those following behind, or if he's actually planning to go further into the race before 24ing.

This year the race is requiring teams to take a mandatory 8 rest on the "loop" part of the trail from Kaltag to Kaltag. If Holmes decides to not stay in Kaltag outbound checkpoint he could go to the very remote Eagle Island or Grayling to 24, and then he would most likely do his 8 on Kaltag inbound. This is all conjecture and it's no doubt what the mushers jockeying for position are trying to figure out. (there are other checkpoints, too, but if we try to stay with more tradition strategy of second leg racing...)

Michelle Phillips was close behind Holmes, coming into the checkpoint before Jessie had fully left. The livefeed went down as Phillips was coming in and it was speculated that she had also blown through the checkpoint, but her GPS tracker still has her INTO Nulato. It could be Phillips plans to take her 24 here before continuing on to the "second leg".

Further back is the chase pack of Mitch Seavey who spent 3.5 hours in Galena contemplating if he would 24 earlier than planned or if he would continue with his "plan A". Seavey told Insider in a rare interview for Iditarod 53 that plan A has him 24ing in Nulato. After assessing his team, the three-time Iditarod champion took off down the trail.

Travis Beals followed close behind, with Insider's Sean Underwood reporting that Travis had told him he was going to 24 here, but changed his plans. It's anyone's guess if Beals is feeling the pressure to not let Holmes, Phillips, and Seavey get too far ahead of him, or if he - like Seavey - reevaluated his team during his break. Beals spent a much longer time resting in the checkpoint and may overtake Mitch before reaching Nulato.

Nicolas Petit rounds out the top five currently on the GPS tracker. No one ever knows to expect from Nic except to expect nothing. So... not much commentary here (other than every time his team is on camera fans comment on how leggy his team is).

Matt Hall is still in Galena and at this point we can safely assume he is taking his 24.

At the back of the Pack, Deeter has picked off a few more teams after resting through the heat of the day on the trail. Quince Mountain, current Red Lantern, is also on the move again and closing in on the resting Mike Parker with the Northern Whites. Matt Failor is also resting on the trail just a little further up from Parker. 

Current top Rookie (which for Iditarod only "true"/first year rookies are eligible for rookie of the year) is still Emily Ford running with the Shameless Huskies kennel. The team is currently running in 13th place. 

Tomorrow may be the day for fans to nap, we seem to be headed into the 24 hour resting period for the race. It's all up in the air, but at somepoint teams will run out of trail where it makes sense to take the "reset" rest.

Rookie Charmayne Morrison second to scratch

In an announcement that is never easy to read, but not very surprising to those watching the trackers - Iditarod Rookie Charmayne Morrison has scratched from Iditarod 53.

Not much was given in the press release Thursday, just to say that the musher chose to scratch at 10am with 14 dogs in harness all in good health. 

The race also stated they hoped she would return to the Iditarod in the future.

The rookie musher out of Montana has dreamt of running the Iditarod since childhood, and has worked hard to build her kennel to train and race to qualify. Morrison is well known and liked in many of the lower 48 races and the early scrach is surprising to many.

It is speculated the unseasonably warm temperatures, silt storms, and unexpectedly difficult trail played huge factors. Top teams like Jeff Deeter and Matthew Failor have also seemed to struggle in the first leg of the 53rd running. 

With Morrison's scratch the new Red Lantern is second year Iditarod rookie Quince Mountain who is running about fourteen miles behind the back of the pack.

Drobny, Hall declare their 24 - Holmes first out of Galena

Another busy night on the Iditarod trail as the front runners of Iditarod 53 made their way to the checkpoint of Galena. Paige Drobny was first in around 6:40am Thursday, followed by Matt Hall about two and a half hours later. Both teams declared their 24 with fans and analysts alike hedging bets on if one or both decided to cut and run after a few hours.

About 20-30mins later Jessie Holmes and Michelle Phillips made their way into Galena with Jessie Holmes deciding to grab some gear and straw and head down the trail. With the straw bale firmly secure to the back of his sled suggesting the musher will camp somewhere on the run from Ruby to Nulato. According to Insider Bruce Lee, Jessie Holmes has hinted that he plans to take his 24 in Kaltag.

It should be noted that unlike a normal Iditarod year, this year's race will not see the first Mandatory 8 taken until Kaltag as the 8 hours must be taken on the Kaltag loop. Right now teams are jockeying for placement for making it to where they hope to take their 24s.

After yesterday's news that Jeff Deeter was contemplating scratching, the musher did take his 24 hour mandatory rest to reassess. In an interview with Insider the musher said that in talking with Dallas Seavey who was visiting the checkpoint Seavey asked him why was [Jeff] out there running Iditarod, Jeff answered "to be challenged" - well, Seavey said, here's your challenge. What are you going to do with it? Deeter left Tanana around 5am Thursday and is currently on his way to Ruby.

The back of the pack currently has Charmayne Morrison resting in Tanana, Quince Mountain is resting on the trail as the next to last team. Morrison may be on her 24 or we may be seeing another team in "trouble" and contemplating scratching. Mountain had planned to take the first couple of days a little slower to get the team into rhythm, however with the trail conditions of sugar snow - the further back the teams are, the worse the trail conditions are... which means even slower going and more potential for sore muscles and joints for the teams.

We're getting to the heat of the day in Alaska so look for teams to start shutting down for their 4-5 hour rests while it's warm to give the dogs a chance to cool down and stretch out.

Paige Drobny and The Squids are first to Ruby

Wednesday night Paige Drobny and her team of 15 dogs were welcomed as the first team into Ruby. Bells rang, a lively crowd of villagers and volunteers cheered them in. The chase pack led by Jessie Holmes are about an hour and a half behind Drobny.

Currently it looks as if Drobny is bedding her team down for a rest, no word yet on what her plans are from here. 

Brenda Mackey scratches in Tanana

According to a press release put out by officials, Iditarod 53 has its first scratch of the race. Second year rookie Brenda Mackey made the difficult decision to end her race prematurely once again, this time in Tanana. 

Mackey seemed to be doing well until Wednesday afternoon when fans realized that Brenda's tracker was traveling backwards. The musher was several miles away from Tanana when she began to backtrack. There was no word as to why the musher was seemingly returning to the checkpoint she'd left hours before.

On return to the checkpoint Mackey asked for a vet check on a dog she said was showing behaviors she had not previously seen in the dog. Insider reported at the time that they were unsure if the musher had gotten assistance by use of her SOS button - and if she had, her race would be over.

The press release Wednesday evening makes no mention of hitting the button. 

Brenda Mackey scratched in the best interest of her team, she had 14 dogs on the line when she chose to scratch.

Sugar snow and silt storm sideline one of the favorites

Jeff Deeter spoke with Iditarod Insider on Wednesday explaining why he returned to the checkpoint of Tanana after leaving. Deeter left with fifteen dogs in harness but soon returned with two showing signs of injury. 

The Yukon 550 champion said that coming into the checkpoint there was a lot of sugar snow and glare ice and that the trail was "punchy" which can often lead to soreness and slower runs for sled dogs. Deeter did not want to run with two dogs in his sled bag the entire distance to the next checkpoint so he turned around and came back to Tanana to send two more dogs home and reevaluate.

During his interview with the Insider the musher confessed he wasn't sure that his Iditarod race wasn't over already. He said that he let them go a little faster than he had trained for believing that the trail would allow for it and he just was not sure if his team could continue.

Deeter isn't the only team staying in Tanana, after a whirlwind night for many of the teams, mushers have chosen to take a long break in the checkpoint. Ahead of the first teams coming through, Junior Iditarod Champion Emily Robinson's facebook page reported that there was a ground storm on the Tanana River. The video looked like grey snow was blowing all over, but it was silt. Mushers reported to Insider that it felt otherworldly (Paige Drobny said she felt like she was on another planet, Gabe Dunham said it was like being on Mars). Anna Berington said her headlamp couldn't find anything but the sand (think like going into hyperspace in Star Wars).

Teams are continuing to struggle to get into Tanana, and the wind is still strong in the checkpoint. Other mushers seem to be having some issues out of Tanana with several showing GPS trackers turning back.

What was supposed to be the "easiest" and "most boring" part of the 2025 route has turned out to be anything but.