Yesterday was a big day, and here at ITI update HQ, we’re pretty good at celebrating the big days. Meanwhile Thomas has been quietly making his way north, under the radar but getting the job done. Thomas currently lives in Edmonton, Canada, but is from Salt Lake City, Utah. When asked by his father what he’d like for his 50th birthday, Thomas pondered it for a few months and set his sights on the Fat Pursuit (FP). 

“The Fat Pursuit is a 60k or 200k human-powered winter race on a network of groomed snowmobile trails in Island Park, Idaho.” Sound a little tame to you? It did to me, groomed trails, bah, easy peasy right? That was where I, and many others attempting the FP, tend to go wrong. It’s actually a difficult race, on trails that aren’t always freshly groomed, with heaps of climbing, surprisingly cold temperatures and few checkpoints. Locals tag the ITI as a qualifier for FP. They’re not wrong, I watched a lot of former ITI finishers, including myself, scratch from FP this year.

Thomas went to Fat Camp - a winter camp put on by the Fat Pursuit - in January 2020. Camp went well so he started the 200 mile race just a few days later. There was a huge snow storm and 12 of 13 starters did not finish. Do you need to guess who did finish? With a time of 65 hours Thomas was the only 200 mile finisher that year. This began a love affair with a difficult race in which he has never scratched. This year he was one of only five finishers in the 200k FP, another year with an unusually high scratch rate. Sound familiar? It should, he’s also never scratched from the ITI. Thomas completed the 350 in 2022 and 2023, this year is his first time to Nome. After riding with him a little bit at FP I’m not surprised that 22 days after the start he's now just a few miles from Nome. 

We reached out to Janice Tower, Thomas’s coach, and she had this to say. “...his nickname is Thomas the Tank. He’s not fast, but nothing stops him. He relentlessly keeps moving forward and doesn’t let bad weather get to him.” As I’m writing this he’s left Safety and will be in Nome in just a few hours.

The trail has been busy today between Koyuk and Golovin. Leah, Ryan, Asbjoern and Gavan have all spent the day along the Norton Bay coast. From what we can tell the going hasn’t been easy for this group, Leah’s description of the ice crossing was “Day 1 the only work I have is apocalyptic. Super windy and cold, almost all walking. Little Mountain cabin was a welcome respite but not anywhere you’d want to stay long…” She describes heating up the cabin to freezing temperatures using white gas stoves and by burning trash in the woodstove. 

Jan, Beat and Christof have been traversing the shoreline of Kwiniuk Inlet, Moses Point cabin is not too far ahead of them. Jan reported that when “he got back to the shore, the wind came so strong that he cried with happiness when he got to the checkpoint”. According to Jill Homer, beyond Shaktoolik, the cabins are all privately owned by native villages. They are not as well maintained as the BLM cabins, but she believes most have working stoves now (not the case in 2016). In these cabins there’s often no wood, which comes only if a previous visitor leaves some, or if lucky enough to find driftwood from along the coast.

Faye and Jeff made the crossing from Shaktoolik today and now sit safely in Koyuk, while Brandon is more than ½ way across. Thanks to staying at Foothills cabin, which was just okay, they’ve missed some of the poor weather others have encountered. We received some messages from both of them, and understand that they had the “best crossing weather”. Faye had some things to say about Little Mountain that were similar to Leah, not great but better than outside. 

Approaching Shaktoolik are Hendra, Mark and Joshua. Mark reports that the trail and weather are getting harder now, “almost too perilous to describe”, he’s concerned about 30 day time cutoff. Joshua was waiting in Unalakleet for a replacement pair of boots to arrive, but alas they did not make in time. He described his existing boots as “duct taped/damaged”. 

Petr is having pizza (we hope) in Unalakleet, and Sunny should be joining him soon, she’s nine miles out. Sunny reported that the Tripod Flats cabin, where she stayed last night, had been freshly stocked with wood!

Author: Amber Crawford

Photo Credit Thomas Miller

The excitement continues on the 21’st day of the Iditarod Trail Invitational. Kinsey Loan is the 2024 Women’s Bike Champion! She and her fiance, third place Men’s finisher Mark Moeller, pushed hard for the finish. At 5am they were more than 50 miles from the finish, reporting mixed conditions with a tailwind and other times a “wicked cross and headwind.” 

Foregoing White Mountain, they did stop shortly after to eat and plan next steps. Their plan to stop at the Topcock Cabin last night abruptly changed when snow machiners provided intel about a closer cabin that was still warm, which was an easy enough decision. Steady as they went the rest of the day and that is a podium finish for the couple, congratulations!  

The finish line was busy today with two more bike finishers. Tiziano and Ben had been closing the gap on Kinsey and Mark all day, beginning the day with a 9 mile gap, you could really feel the excitement and pull of the finish for these four. The pair did stop at White Mountain, and when Tiziano reached White Mountain he reported when the wind was favorable, it blew the trail out, and when it was a headwind he had “no break, with 70 km of suffering (over) 11 hours.” No stranger to the finish, this is Tiziano’s third time under the burled arch. His advice to anyone that is ITI curious: “Calm reigns supreme” Congratulations Tiziano and Ben! 

Thomas Miller is steadily making his way to White Mountain. After a solo push across Norton Sound, men’s foot leader Gavan made it to Koyuk, rested for several hours, and amazingly is on the move again. 

Across Norton Sound, Leah and Ryan were at the Little Mountain cabin for 10 hours waiting for weather to improve. Leah reported “brutal conditions, super windy right in the face, too windy for riding.” The wait seems to have paid off as they are 13 miles out of Koyuk. Asbjoern took a longer rest but has now passed them both on the ice, conditions must be great for skiing. There has never been a finish on skis for the 1,000, keep your eyes on him, he looks strong. 

After a 6 hour rest in Shaktoolik, Beat and Christof have also started the sea ice crossing, making their push to Koyuk, steady at around 3 mph. At the time of this writing Jan is just about to step onto the ice as well. Earlier he wrote: "I am the happiest person in the world, it was a massacre.”  It sounds like he is enjoying it, we might have more than one ski finisher this year. 

Lone women’s foot athlete Faye Norby and her partner had a solid push from Unalakleet, it must have been the pizza, and they made it to Foothills without a hitch. They rested for 6 hours and left around 7:30am. They have been resting for more than three hours in Shaktoolik. Brandon Lott is also on his way to Shaktoolik after a four hour rest in Unalakleet. Further down the trail, Hendra, Joshua, and Mark rested at the Old Woman cabin earlier today. They are achingly close to a pizza party reprieve in Unalakleet and the COAST. 

Sunny made it to Kaltag at abut 7pm, and spent several hours recovering and warming up. This morning around 7am she left Kaltag for the Tripod flats cabin 25 miles away. She is now just a few miles out, for Sunny, the most important thing is to be able to keep her thumb from refreezing and potentially causing permanent damage. An upcoming cabin may seem like a warm and safe space, however there is no guarantee that there will be wood for her to burn, and if there isn’t, she would need to gather firewood or cut some. There are options to gather wood, but most of the easy-pickings have been scoured. If you don't have a saw, it can be extremely difficult. 

From 1,000 mile finisher Jill Homer, “Typically, the Iditarod trailbreakers and sometimes the BLM  (Bureau of Land Management, around the same time) take the time to stock the cabins before Unalakleet. This wood pile is usually diminished during the sled dog race and the first part of the ITI. Although it's the usual ethic, racers don't typically take the time to restock the wood. My experience in 2016 was no wood at most of the cabins. I often just slept in the cold cabin.”

Hopefully for Sunny and her hands she will have good luck in the next couple hours. If you remember in previous days, Faye had reported little to no wood at the Old Woman cabin. She will continue to have a cold night or two, but warmer temps are coming, and with that, some more comfortable miles and a little less risk. 

Author: Kari Gibbons

Photo credit: Kyle Durand

Ben Pysto and Tiziano Mulonia finish the ITI 1000 in 21 days and 41 minutes. This is Ben’s first finish in the 1000 and Tiziano’s 3rd consecutive successful trip to Nome.

Congratulations to Kinsey Loan and Mark Moeller for finishing the ITI 1000 in 20 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes!

Kinsey clinched the title of the ITI 1000 Women's Bike Champion this year, following her impressive victory in the 350-mile category last year. Her back-to-back victories in the ITI signify not just personal achievement but also an inspiring story of determination and perseverance. As she continues to push the boundaries of what's possible, her journey encourages others to pursue their dreams, no matter the obstacles.

The ITI will soon have its first female finisher in the race to Nome, Kinsey Loan is currently about 71 miles from the finish. Kinsey’s racing career began early, competing in nordic skiing and bike races since elementary school. As a youth she trained with Alaska Nordic Racing, medaling in Junior Nationals and racing at Junior Worlds, winning the coveted Skimeister award in 2009 and sharing the podium with Jessie Diggins at the Junior Olympic Sprint Competition in 2011. Later she skied with Alaska Pacific University for 5 years. 

She participated in a local Anchorage youth mountain biking program called Mighty Bikes, local bike races, a few national bike competitions, and Sea Otter Classic in California. She hasn’t started to knock off her mother’s Arctic Bicycle Club bike records just yet, but she’s got plenty of time! More recently she has competed in longer local races like the Soggy Bottom 100, Kenai 250 and the Frosty Bottom, holding the course record in the Soggy Bottom 100 for several years. In 2022 she won both the Gold Nugget Triathlon and Bike for Women.

Fun fact about Kinsey, she likes her furred and feathered friends. Kinsey has four dogs, three cats, nine parakeets, and two tarantulas. Adding her own canines and felines to the mix, Kinsey’s mother Sheryl Loan is currently watching seven dogs and six cats, along with the parakeets and tarantulas. 

Kinsey’s first ITI was fraught with a few more hiccups than this year. Perhaps you’ll remember last year when she walked for 10 hours to reach Yentna Station with two flat tires. In a year where 44/96 starters scratched, Kinsey came back from the flat tire fiasco to finish the race as the first woman and 12th overall, all with a broken metacarpal bone in her hand from a fall in the Farewell burn.

This morning found Kinsey and Mark at McKinley Creek cabin. They put in an enormous day yesterday, leaving Koyuk at 5:30am, taking a 3 hour stop in Elim and pushing on all the way to the cabin for a total mileage of 69 miles over 18 hours. They started  today at 9:45am and are currently on their way across Golovin Bay, followed by Tiziano and Ben. Thomas is traveling solo today, after leaving Koyuk at 7am, he is now between the Moses Point cabin and Elim.

Gavan left Shaktoolik at 4:30am this morning, and arrived at the Little Mountain cabin just after 10am. He’s been there for about 3 hours now, perhaps contemplating strong winds and certainly hoping for a good weather window to make the Norton Sound crossing. Gavan will soon be joined by Leah and Ryan.

Leah arrived in Shaktoolik last night at 11pm and stayed there until 9:30 this morning. She has steadily made her way across the peninsula between Shaktoolik and Little Mountain Cabin. Ryan Wanless is in the same area and both of them are traveling at a walking pace of 1.5 to 2.5 miles per hour, which doesn’t suggest good trail conditions. They’ll soon need to decide whether to cross Norton Sound today or wait for morning. Asbjoern appears to be taking a rest day in Unalakleet. 

Christof and Beat took a rest at Foothills cabin, after making the trek from Unalakleet starting just after 4am this morning. They left the cabin recently and are now headed towards Shaktoolik. Jan is approaching Foothills after leaving Unalakleet at 7:30am. Typical of foot athletes, Jeff and Faye have been traveling quite a bit at night and odd hours, likely in an effort to rest in cabins or communities as much as possible. They left the Old Woman cabin yesterday at 11am, took few breaks and pushed steadily throughout the day. They arrived in Unalakleet just after midnight. 

Thanks to Allison Carolan in WWW for noticing that Faye’s pace is as steady as a metronome. If you look at her speed plot in TrackLeaders you’ll see that she’s been averaging about 2.5 - 3.5 mph the whole race, and since about mile 150 her speed has been incredibly consistent 2.5 - 3 mph. They departed Unalakleet at noon today and may be planning to spend tonight at the Foothills cabin, but it will depend on whether there’s any wood to be found, a cold cabin doesn’t sound very enjoyable.

Brandon arrived in Unalakleet this morning at 5am. He’s reportedly been struggling, hopefully he’ll take a good long rest before heading north. It doesn’t look like he’ll be joined by other racers anytime soon, next racers Hendra, Joshua and Mark are on the Kaltag portage approaching Tripod Flats cabin, still 55 miles from pizza. Petr rested in Kaltag from 6am today till 2:30, and is now headed onto the portage trail.

Sunny made a 19 hour push to arrive in Nulato at 8:30pm Saturday night. She is trying not to bivy to protect her hands, it can be quite difficult to keep hands warm when setting up for a bivy and packing it up again. Her next push will be 34 miles to Kaltag, a more reasonable distance after several 50 mile days. She left Nulato at 7:15 am this morning and is now 13 miles from Kaltag. Several racers have had favorable winds in this section and the wind layer in Track Leaders predicts a tailwind of around 10 mph.

Snow and significantly warmer weather are in the forecast starting Monday night, with highs up to 30 degrees predicted for Kaltag. There’s a special weather statement in effect for the lower Yukon and coastal areas which predicts cold wind chills through this weekend followed by a significant warm up and storminess next week. Northeast winds of 15-30 mph are expected to continue into Sunday with wind chills of 30-50 below zero. Stay warm out there everyone. 

Author: Amber Crawford

Photo credit: Mark or Kinsey of Mark or Kinsey!

Day 19!

We have another finisher for the 1,000 mile bike, Philip Hofstetter!  No stranger to the course, this is his 11th year attending the Iditarod Trail Invitational.  The knowledge and confidence from those years has shown up in the most remarkable way — Philip has been riding alone since Mcgrath, a little over mile 300 of the 1,000 miles to Nome.  There is a reason why athletes like to travel in groups or pairs.  The wrong pairing can add unnecessary stress and mental load, but the right pairing can add an extra set of eyes, affirmation you are on the right trail, and divvying up trail chores.  To go solo however, you are On the whole time.  There is no one watching your back, no room for mistakes, no miles of “tuning out” and he did it for 641 miles.  Probably a good thing that his favorite affirmation was “it’s all normal.”  The first thing Philip planned to do after he finished was “Hug the family” Congratulations Philip!  

Next up is Mark and Kinsey, they are currently out of Elim, after taking a (hopefully) warm break.  Ben and Tiziano are a little over two miles from Elim and appear to be bivying.  It is low wind at the moment and 0 degrees, still it is curious why they stopped there.  Earlier Tiziano reported experiencing a cold that  “breaks your bones in half”  this part of the race is truly relentless. 

Our lead 1,000 mile foot Gavan is on his way to Shaktoolik, and continues to be strong. He has been “listening to a lot of Jack London novels out here. He was a favorite of my Grandfather John Egan who was fascinated by the gold rush stories. This is the place to listen to these stories as I wander through this pristine wilderness.” 

“One of the themes is ‘true comradeship’ which is what I have found in droves with these friends who share the trail with me.”

Comradeship indeed!  

In the same pack, with full happy bellies, Ryan Wanless, Asbjorn, and Leah Gruhn are making their way to Shaktoolik.  Leah, at least on paper, looks to have recovered successfully from her impromptu swimming session the day before. 

Further down the trail, Beat, Christof, Jan on skis, Jeff and womens foot queen Faye are all trying to get to Unalakleet and the beloved pizza pit stop. Yesterday Faye and Jeff had arrived at Tripod Flats apparently just after Brandon and Jan left.  The duo had left the fire going and put snow on the stove so Faye and Jeff could make water, something that was probably a welcome treat.  They ate dinner at the cabin and moved on to Old Woman, where they experienced a brutal night, very cold at -30 with very little sleep.  Together, Jan and Faye worked to get a fire going for warmth and to get water.  It doesn’t matter how little sleep, or how cold it is, these tasks need to be completed in order to stave off thirst, unnecessary hunger, frostbite, and to continue on to the next cabin.  

Another group of athletes further down the trail, including Mark Hines who says the Trail and weather are getting harder now (and almost too perilous to describe) are still working to Kaltag.  The temperature is a manageable -14 but tomorrow they will be battling -40 degrees with windchill.  

Red lantern Sunny is still moving.  She reported today that she is pushing for another 50 mile day, hoping to finish at Nulato sometime early tomorrow morning, at the time of this writing she is a little over 12 miles out.  She is tired and her feet hurt, but most crucial for her is to keep her thumb warm and not refreeze it.  With so many athletes moving with each other or leapfrogging, Sunny too has been moving mostly by herself.  30 days to finish seems like enough time to cross this bit of the planet, but everyone now is feeling these weeks stack up.  Having allotted rest days can be helpful, however some of those rest days are forced by the body or the weather, as Sunny has experienced in the last few days.  We need some solid trail and good weather, think warm thoughts! 

Written by Kari Gibbons

Photo credit Mark Moeller of Kinsey Loan being very serious on the sea ice crossing because this is a race and it’s very serious.

Congratulations to Phil Hofstetter for finishing the ITI 1000 in 18 days, 3 hours and 16 minutes! This is Phil’s 6th finish in the ITI 1000 and 11th ITI finish overall. Phil rode the entire way from McGrath (nearly 650 miles) by himself, illustrating his resilience and self sufficiency.

What an exciting day we had yesterday, watching Miron and Tyson epitomize trail camaraderie as they approached the finish line with hands held and in a true gentleman’s finish. And such an opposite experience Phillip is having on his solo push to Nome. Whereas Miron and Tyson enjoyed the experience of close friends for hundreds of miles, Phillip hasn’t seen another ITI racer since leaving McGrath. Phillip is making great time, he’s  through Safety and should pass under the burled arch sometime early this evening. 

Four racers, currently led by Kinsey Loan, are nearly across the sea ice of Norton Bay and to Koyuk. They are currently all traveling at what appears to be riding pace so hopefully the winds aren’t too formidable and they are soaking in that surreal experience. Thomas is making good progress toward Shaktoolik and beyond, possibly aiming to make his crossing of the ice tomorrow morning.

After yesterday morning’s plunge and return to Kaltag, Leah regrouped and made good time, passing several athletes before settling in for the night at the Tripod Flats cabin. She is now on the descent to Unalakleet, and about 20 miles behind Ryan, Asbjoern and Gavan. Who will stay for pizza and the well-known hospitality of the people of Unalakleet and who will press on? It sure would be hard to pass through such a welcoming place, but weather windows and rest schedules don’t always align with the comforts of civilization. Hopefully everyone will at least enjoy some warm, delicious food, and we’ll soon know who spends the evening. 

While temperatures in Unalakleet are still cold, conditions appear to be moderating a bit. Highs for the next few days are above zero fahrenheit with lows creeping up to above zero by early next week. A weather statement issued this morning for Eastern Norton Sound and the Nulato Hills calls for a “significant warmup with the possibility of increased storminess next week”. It suggests a moist Pacific flow will return, and “this is a classic late winter/early spring pattern with a myriad of weather impacts including temps above freezing, strong south winds, locally heavy snow, mixed precipitation and blowing snow”. Racers have until about Tuesday before they see the full impacts of this change, which no doubt will be on all their minds. 

Ten athletes are currently on the Kaltag Portage, between Kaltag and Unalakleet. Many people claim that this stretch of trail is one of the most beautiful and ITI 1000 finisher Jill Homer agrees: “...it is my absolute favorite section of the entire trail. The trail undulates across these roller-coaster hills, goes over a pass, then drops into the wide-open Unalakleet River Valley, which is surrounded by gorgeous low mountains.”  According to Jill this is also Beat’s favorite section of trail. He’s well in the midst of it today and hopefully soaking in some trail love! This portion of the trail trail is an historic portage route connecting the Bering Sea coast with the interior and has long been a trading route between the coastal Inupiat and interior Athabascan people. The name “Unalakleet” means “from the southern side,” and the village was given this name because it is the most southern Inupiat community (nativevillageofunalakleet.org).

Yesterday, Race Director and pilot Kyle Durand checked on athletes on the Yukon River from the air. This must have been a fun moment for Faye, Jeff, Sunny and the rest of the crew to have a glimpse of a friend, fan and supporter passing overhead and spreading some good cheer!  

This morning, Sunny shared her intentions of leaving Galena for another long push through day and night to the village of Nulato, 50 miles away. Sunny is feeling the pressure of time – the race to Nome officially has a 30 day cutoff – she can’t afford many rest days and still make the cutoff in Nome. She headed out of town but quickly decided to give her mind and body additional rest, and is taking another day to recharge. We respect her decision and hope that tomorrow brings sunny skies, moderate temps and calm winds for her push to Nulato.

Written by Kori Marchowsky

Photo credits: Sunny Stroeer with race director Kyle Durand doing a fly over.

“After what was hands down the most difficult physical challenge of my life, it was amazing to have some easy riding trail and beautiful weather as we rolled into Nome! To have shared this experience with Tyson meant the world.” - Miron shared this sentiment after putting forth an impressive effort to cross beneath the ceremonial Iditarod arch. We can’t help but get a little emotional while watching footage of their finish. Both in red jackets, holding hands, and pedaling in together - it’s a true image of the friendship and the strong bonds that form while spending time out on the trail. 16 days, 5 hours, 10 minutes, and 30 seconds after the race start, we’ve got our Iditarod Trail Invitational champions decompressing and enjoying their rest over 950 miles into the adventure of a lifetime.
After a short rest in Elim, Philip Hofstetter will have less than 100 miles left before he finds himself finishing in Nome behind Tyson and Miron. Let that sink in a little bit. Miron and Tyson have held onto a 100+ mile lead for several days.
Kinsey Loan spent the morning at the Foothills cabin and began working towards Shaktoolik after a nice 9 hour rest. She continues to ride strong, steadily making her way towards crossing the Norton Bay. She and Mark Moeller will be able to experience the sea ice together and we are hoping that the weather holds as they make their way across to Koyuk. Weather looks clear for this area of Alaska, with temps hovering around 0 for the next few days and dropping down to -12 at night with light winds.

Tiziano and Ben stayed in Unalakleet for over 9 hours, likely spending half of that time filling themselves with pizza that Tiziano “waited 40 miles to see” - hopefully it lived up to its reputation! We are quite confident that it did, Bret does an amazing job slinging pizza at all hours of the day for all of the ITI athletes as well as the Iditarod mushers, teams, and volunteers! Thomas is still at Peace on Earth Pizza, after having underestimated the calorie load he would need in the cold, he has been supplementing liberally with food from scratched racers drop boxes. 

He plans to take a day to recover and hopes the wind forecasts are correct that it won't be too brutal crossing the sea ice to Koyuk by the end of day on Friday. Now, it's carbs, sugars, AND protein with each snack, as well as breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Leah and Gavin left the Yukon this morning! If you were following trackleaders, you may have seen Leah turn around and head back towards Kaltag. By 3pm AK time, Gavin and Ryan have made it to the Tripod Flats and Leah is now making her way back along the Kaltag portage, a relatively straight valley angling southwest through the coastal mountains. This area marks the transition from the inland river environment to the Bering Sea coast. Conditions can be incredibly different from one end of this corridor to the next, and wind can be a constant companion as you make your way closer to the Sea. The distance from Kaltag to Unalakleet is roughly 82 miles, and if the weather is nice athletes can make this stretch in one go. If the weather isn’t cooperating, there are two cabins within this stretch, the Tripod Flats cabin (35 miles from Kaltag) and the Old Woman cabin (35 miles to Unalakleet), approximately spaced 15 miles apart from one another. These two cabins are in beautiful places and they can provide much needed shelter if wind and storms accompany the journey. Asbjoern is just a few miles behind Gavin and Ryan, making his way steadily on skis.

So why did Leah abruptly turn and head back to Kaltag? Our WWW Queen experienced something incredibly challenging which is something that we all know can happen out on the trail - but which we all wish never happens! Leah fell through ice up to her waist while crossing a stream roughly 8 miles out from Kaltag and was faced with making a quick decision to get herself out of danger: should she continue onwards towards the Tripod Flats cabin to dry herself and her gear, or should she backtrack towards the school in Kaltag? With quick thinking in -20 degree temps, she made the smart decision to backtrack downhill rather than to continue traveling uphill towards a safety cabin. She made her way back to the school and was able to use the dryer to get all of her stuff dried out. Wow. We are so thankful that she was able to make the smart decision to keep herself out of danger!! We love you Leah! What an incredible display of self-rescuing out on the trail. 

This is Leah’s second time to Nome, and she’s no beginner to winter ultras. With 10 finishes at the Arrowhead 135 winter ultra in International Falls, Minnesota, Leah prioritizes the unique discipline and focus required to accomplish the feat of multi-day cold-weather riding! One of her biggest priorities is avoiding permanent damage, which she showcased today by making her health the utmost priority after getting wet in the deep cold. She has noted that the most interesting stories focus on overcoming obstacles and she definitely did that today! We cannot wait to hear about this experience in more detail! If you’d like to hear more about the Arrowhead 135 or to get to know Leah a little better, be sure to check out the film 40 Below: The Toughest Race in the World. (Okay, okay, that film’s title is up for debate after dot-stalking on Trackleaders the last 16+ days!) Link for the film’s trailer here:

https://youtu.be/guLGd1nUw18?feature=shared

Nearing Kaltag, Beat Jegerlehner and Brandon Lott left Nulato around 5am AK time. They’ve been steadily traveling on foot, and will find themselves safe and warm in the school before temperatures drop to -20 tonight. Behind them, we’ll see Christof, Jan, Jeff, and our friend Faye Norby will all make their way along the Yukon before finding refuge at the school in Kaltag. Faye and Jeff are loving the night schedule, traveling in the dark steadily along.
Mark Hines stopped briefly in Galena after bivying along the river for a few hours and is going to keep trekking along, while Hendra on bike and Joshua on ski rest up. Petr, approximately 10 miles out from Galena, will be happy for company if they’re both still there by the time he gets to the village.

Back in Ruby, roughly 30 miles behind Petr, Sunny Stroeer on ski is in good spirits after resting. She traded pizza she brought all the way from McGrath to other trail users (dog teams and snowmachines) for other snacks and she’s soaking up the camaraderie on the trail. Craving warmth after several cold days, she resourcefully made a bonfire out of dog straw at her bivy site last night. Sunny is managing the cold injury on her thumb well and has also been dealing with a crown that came off of a tooth. You got this, Sunny! We are all rooting for you! 

Written by Jill Martindale
Photo of Miron and Tyson’s finish

Congratulation to this year’s ITI 1000 Men’s Bike Co-Champions Tyson Flaharty and Miron Golfman! They crossed under the burled arch in Nome together after 16 days, 5 hours and 10 minutes on the Iditarod Trail.

Excitement reached a fever pitch on the Iditarod Trail today as the leaders of both the Iditarod Sled Dog Race and the Iditarod Trail Invitational left White Mountain almost neck-in-neck for the final sprint to Nome. Dallas arrived at the race finish just after 5 p.m. Tuesday to become the Iditarod’s “winningest musher ever” with six first-place finishes. He completed the sled dog race in 9 days, 2 hours and 16 minutes. 

Tyson Flaharty and Miron Golfman have been on their own nonstop tear into day 16 of the ITI, hardly pausing to rest as they fought their way up the coast. With winds topping 25 mph and temperatures registering below minus 20 (which translates to a -51F windchill) at the Shaktoolik airport, the two pedaled across the barren, featureless sea ice during a nine-hour grind that must have been otherworldly in its savagery. Taking on the sea ice in a whiteout is hard enough without dealing with the mechanics of a bicycle. Tyson and Miron managed not only to cross the ice safely, but they were able to pedal their bikes into the fierce headwind wind nearly the entire way.

This year’s 350 bike co-champion Kevin Breitenbach commented, “The push that Tyson and Miron have made since Shaktoolik has been super impressive. Their speeds across the sea ice to Koyuk showed them mostly riding in conditions most of us would have been pushing.”

Just over 150 miles lie between Koyuk and Nome. It’s unforgiving terrain, treeless and exposed to Arctic winds as the trail undulates over steep hills, sastrugi and sea ice. After leaving Koyuk around 8 a.m. Monday, Tyson and Miron rested for just six hours total: one hour in White Mountain, four hours in Golovin, and one hour in Elim. They left White Mountain at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday for their final push to Nome

They’ve been racing alongside the front-runners of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which must be a fun sight on the trail. Lead musher Dallas Seavy left White Mountain just minutes after them. Dallas’s team passed through Safety at 2:40 p.m. At that point, our dynamic duo was about 20 miles away and facing down the infamous Solomon Blowhole. 

A Blowhole is a stream of cold Arctic air funneled from the mountains toward the Bering Sea coast. Wind speeds can top 80 mph when the North Wind is cranking. As a weather station at Johnson’s Camp showed North Winds blowing at 25-35 mph, the guys flew through the gauntlet, passing between Topkok cabin and Safety in three hours and 10 minutes. Miron has had some luck with this section. Before last year’s win, it took him just 2.5 hours to pedal the 22 miles through the notorious Blowhole.

Meanwhile, other racers were reaching their own milestones. As Miron and Tyson cleared Safety, Phil Hofstetter completed the sea ice crossing to Koyuk, nearly 135 miles back in third position. Phil is nearly 100 miles in front of the next competitor and has been riding alone without encountering another racer since he left McGrath 12 days ago. If anyone is adept at solitude on the trail it’s Phil, who has been racing ITI since 2008 and has won the race to Nome twice. 

Back in Unalakleet, lead woman Kinsey Loan reached the famous Peace on Earth Pizza with Mark Moeller. Doubtlessly they’ll enjoy the extra cheese and warmth of the restaurant after a 30-hour trip across the Kaltag Portage in temperatures that reportedly dipped as low as minus 40. 

Seventy-seven miles back, second-position woman Leah Gruhn is resting in Kaltag. Hopefully she’s feeling stronger after taking a rest day in Galena on Sunday. Also near Kaltag is lead runner Gavan Hennigan. Gavan has been moving consistently down the Yukon River amid the constant cold and wind, although he says his steady pace is mainly a result of wearing most of his clothing and still being too cold to pause so he can eat or rest. However, as Gavan regularly declares on social media, “This man won’t be stopped.”

Just behind Gavan is the first skier, Asbjoern Bruun, who also took a day-long stopover in Galena. Apparently one of his Asbjoern’s boots broke and he had to await another to arrive by express mail. We’re glad he was able to solve that problem.

Nearing Nulato is the first woman runner, Faye Norby, amid a cluster of five runners and one skier who are about to hit mile 600 of the route. This is an unfathomable amount of distance to cover in just 16 days while dragging a heavy sled through snow drifts in temperatures that haven’t spent much time above zero. When Faye reaches Nome, she’ll be the first woman on foot to do so in a decade. 

At the back of the pack we have skiers Petr Ineman and Sunny Stroeer in Ruby. Both have been resting after an extremely difficult slog through the Interior. The Iditarod mushers came and went, and a deep cold settled in with the quiet trails. Petr reported temperatures down to 42 below. Sunny has been nursing some frost-nip on her thumb and is reportedly assessing before she goes on. The cold and wind is forecast to persist into Friday. 

As of this posting (6 p.m.. AKDT), Miron and Tyson are just 15 miles from Nome and appear as though they might be sprinting in out. This is action you won’t want to miss! (Link in comments.)

Written by Jill Homer 

The photo is a selfie from Miron and Tyson on the trail last week.

A 1000-mile or a 350-mile race, those are big numbers, awesome achievements. Often we focus on the miles that have been traveled or the speeds maintained (or not), but what are some of the small things that help each athlete achieve or at least attempt these awe-inspiring feats? Like motivations for doing the race, many small things are unique to individual racers, but there are some common practices that you learn through experience.

For example, food and water. We’ve shared about the various food motivations and calorie needs. Food becomes more important than almost anyone who hasn’t experienced food insecurity can imagine. People have different metrics for ensuring they eat and drink. Some calculate their expected caloric expenditure and then how much they’ll be able to take in throughout the day and will parse out exactly what they’ll consume and when. There are others (perhaps like myself) who are less methodical but will commit to drinking every hour or taking in calories every two hours. And those foods will be whatever sounds good at the time. Diversity is key because taste for many foods sour along the trail. Peanut butter pretzels taste good on day two but by day 10 they are sawdust in the mouth, and one is tempted to feed them to the ground squirrels. 

Everything must be done with intention. From the beginning, well before the race, you pack your gear carefully. You practice with it. Much like soldiers developing muscle memory for military exercises, athletes must do the same with their gear. When weariness and the cold take over, your body must almost act without thought. I know my extra-big puffy jacket and puffy pants are in the yellow bag. When I stop to bivy at night, I do some jumping jacks to get the body warm. I put on that puffy jacket and pants and then I stomp down the snow, lay down the ground tarp, set out my bivy sack with my sleeping bag already in it. Everyone has their own routine or ritual, the small things that ensure gear doesn’t get lost, skin doesn’t freeze, rest can be had. 

Mental games are constantly played along the trail. Assessing is this a good bivy spot? Is it protected from the wind? Off any type of trail? Are spruce boughs nearby? Is it off a cold spot like a river or lake? If the winds are high and it’s cold, where can I go to the bathroom?  Is there any place that’s protected? Do I have a good sight line for snowmachines or dog teams? 

For our athletes now, they are constantly assessing how to move and operate in high winds and frigid temperatures. The National Weather Service issued another Severe Weather Alert today. A wind chill advisory is in effect until 1pm AKDT on Wednesday with dangerously cold wind chills that could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes. North winds of 15 to 30 mph are expected along the West Coast with the strongest winds and lowest visibility from the north at Shaktoolik and between White Mountain and Safety. Each racer will have to determine how to deal with this cold and wind within their own boundaries of safety and feelings of preparedness. Does it mean foregoing eating and drinking and just pushing through as fast as one can, or waiting out the cold until the afternoon when it’s less severe?

We already know that Miron and Tyson faced a harrowing journey to Koyuk late last night. They pushed through a serious headwind and brutal temperatures. This stretch has been described as some of the most intense experiences on the Iditarod Trail. The winds can be so strong as to snatch bikes right out of the hands of riders, and any loose gear, forget about it! Lost to the wind and the sea ice without another thought.

Miron and Tyson have made the wise pledge to travel together. It’s not always about winning. It is simply just surviving. That’s not hyperbole. It’s a fact. Miron and Tyson are on a mission but with a solid plan they are executing. They have each other’s experience and support. They left Koyuk this morning after probably only a few hours of sleep. They’ve now pushed through Elim. They have less than 150 miles before they reach Nome. Nothing is a foregone conclusion. But they have proven that they are paying attention to the small things, taking care of one another, and with intention relentlessly moving towards Nome. (As an aside and an acknowledgement to Miron’s intentions, Miron rides not just for himself but also to raise awareness for the importance of wild landscapes and the people who live on and respect them. Here’s a link to the Defend the West Su Instagram page, a group pledged to protect the historic Iditarod Trail from those who would make it into an industrial access road for foreign mining interests.)

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4YVCiCpZEr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4Y2XbLSHe5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Our lead female athlete, Kinsey Loan, along with her partner, Mark, saw some amazing speeds yesterday. They reported more than 14mph. That’s enough to make a foot athlete jealous, or at least this one! They’re about 39 miles out of Unalakleet as of this writing. Will they push on through or stop at Old Woman Cabin for a rest? I guess it’ll depend on that tailwind. We’re wishing them some fair winds to take them all the way to Unalakleet and some of that delicious Peace on Earth pizza and a well-deserved rest before pushing on to Shaktoolik.

Leah took a nice long rest in Galena along with Asbjoern. She hopefully was able to catch up on sleep and replenish those tens of thousands of spent calories. (Rumor has it Leah ate nine eggs for breakfast in Ruby, protein deficiency is real, especially as a vegetarian!) She’s pushing on to Nulato today, with about 11 miles remaining until she can get another rest and find some respite from the cold and wind. Us Wild Winter Women are sending her all our hopes for a wonderful rest and a huge dinner this evening that is everything satiating.

For Faye and the others on foot, it’s been a slog (like a 20-hour one from Ruby to Galena).  With the onset of calorie deficit and the concomitant “hungries” along with the sheer exhaustion, muscle memory is even more important than ever. But by now even if Faye hadn’t trained beforehand (which she obviously had from her stunning performance to date), she’ll have gotten her training on the trail. She’s been resting in Galena now for over four hours at the Bed and Breakfast in town.  A good shower and the ability to do laundry can make all the difference.  We’re rooting for Faye as she gathers the resources she needs for the next 50 mile stretch to Nulato.

Sunny is hopefully bringing all the sun and warmer weather with her as she makes her way up the trail. She’s gaining on Petr, less than 10 miles separate them now. And she’s only 25 miles away from Ruby and (optimistically), a nice, warm, comfortable bed. Sunny’s average moving speed is 2.9mph and she’s averaging 31.2 miles per day. She has traveled over 474 miles (nearly half the distance of Miron and Tyson at 840 miles), largely alone, dependent only on herself and her immense knowledge of how to survive in this harsh environment. If/when she crosses the sea ice, she will be the only one responsible for deciding whether it’s safe to stop to eat or drink or even go to the bathroom, all the small things. We have no doubt that she can manage it all. Keep on relentlessly moving forward you Wild Winter Women!  

Author: Carole Holley

Photo credit: Miron Golfman, Mark Moeller

Ever wonder how racers feed themselves during the ITI? Food drops are a critical part of the event, some racers take more chances and forego drops, but most racers are packing as many calories as possible into food and supply drops.

Let’s start with the race rules, drop bags can include consumable items like food, batteries, hand warmers and medication. Drops may not include items like fuel, survival gear, or replacement equipment like bike tubes. All survival gear must be carried from the start. The ITI provides two drops at Finger Lake and Rohn (weight limit 5 pounds) for all racers, and an additional drop at Cripple (weight limit 10 pounds) for Nome racers. 

Beyond Cripple, Nome racers mail additional drops to villages along the route. The ITI provides a few guidelines for mailing, usually boxes are sent for general delivery to a specific village, but sometimes they can be sent directly to a specified lodging location like a school or bed and breakfast. These longer distance racers are more likely to add personal care items to their drops, think toilet paper, lotion, chafing prevention (the struggle is real), etc.

I frequently hear the question, do you get your drop back if you scratch? The answer is no, once that box or bag is shipped off you only get it back if you get to the checkpoint. Supplies in drops from scratched racers are usually available to other racers and can be much coveted! Nome racers must plan for drops to get lost as well, not an ideal situation and it seems to happen with some regularity. Sunny’s drop for McGrath didn’t show up, for example.

I’m sure you’re wondering what kind of food racers like to eat, and how much? I can’t tell you much about caloric needs, but imagine athletes are burning  in the range of 5 - 8,000 calories per day. Unfortunately the body can only digest so many calories per hour, and ultimately athletes will be in a deficit. Most athletes lose weight on the trail, not losing weight is a real accomplishment! Losing at least 10 pounds in the race to Nome is typical, and more than 25 pounds is not unheard of. 

So what kind of food do racers put in their drops? Anything they will eat! It’s so important to get calories on board that making sure they’re healthy - for example - is less important. Often the food that’s in someone else's drop is the best thing out there. McGrath racers tend to go lighter on dehydrated foods, with so many lodges and checkpoints along the route they don’t need to cook very many meals. After McGrath drops will include more dehydrated meals, and always loads of snacks. Candy, chocolate, cheese, meat sticks or jerky, trail mix, and bars are all common.

Favorite race foods from your WWW ITI update crew include vegan BBQ jerky, applesauce (!), Doritos, gummy bears or similar, homemade cookie bars, Whisps, Pop Tarts (flavor matters), pizza, cinnamon bears, and tasty hot beverages like apple and cinnamon Skratch, chai tea mix, black tea and hot chocolate. 

Out on the trail today ITI racers are all getting close to or have passed Ruby. Sunny Stroeer still pulls up the rear but is moving steadily along. She spent last night at the North Fork Innoko River cabin, headed north to Cripple late this morning, and had been at Cripple for about an hour as of this writing. 

Mark, Joshua and Petr appear to have bivied just outside of Cripple last night.  The Iditarod checkpoint has probably been removed at this point since all racers have passed that point. Last night was likely a cold one, the forecast for Ruby, for example, was a low of -19F. These three appear likely to be traveling together, though it’s hard to tell from dots! They’re currently about 60 miles from Ruby.

Hendra appears to have been traveling solo and is currently about 50 miles from Ruby. He bivied outside of Poorman for about 9 hours last night. Is there something going on with Hendra or with his bike? His pace indicates that he’s likely walking. This could be due to soft trail conditions, a tired Hendra or some mechanical issue with his bike.

Jan has fallen a bit behind the group of runners that he’s been leapfrogging with, but is making good time on the approach to Ruby and is currently just a few miles out. Jeff and Faye arrived in Ruby around 5am, after spending around an hour searching for the Wild Iris Bed and Breakfast. Thank goodness they did finally find it, and have been resting there for several hours.

Beat and Christof appear to be traveling together, with Brandon about five miles ahead. All three are enroute from Ruby to Galena. Gavan is just a few miles from Galena after bivvying on the Yukon for about 6 hours early this morning.

Ryan Wanless bivied for about three hours 10 miles from Galena, and is now in Galena with Asbjoern and Leah. Asbjoern and Leah have been there since 1am. The next checkpoint of Nulato is about 50 miles from Galena.  Perhaps they are resting up to make one long push. Both Leah and Asbjoern pushed straight through from Ruby to Galena, which took Leah roughly 12 and Asbjoern roughly 16 hours.

Between Galena and Nulato, Thomas, Tiziano, Ben, Kinsey and Mark are all cruising along, having left Galena this morning between 7-8am. All are traveling around 4-8mph, indicating possibly excellent trail conditions. It must be a relief to be riding regularly after so many days of slogging through soft conditions.

Phil stayed in Kaltag last night and was moving by 6:30 this morning. He’s on the portage between Kaltag and Unalakleet, and stopped for about ½ hour at the Tripod Flats cabin. He’s about 50 miles from Peace on Earth Pizza in Unalakleet, and less than half that from Old Woman Cabin. Will he stop and rest at the cabin, or push through for pizza? Check out TrackLeaders in a few hours to find out!

Tyson and Miron remain at the front of the pack. They got pizza last night in Unalakleet before pushing on to the Foothills cabin. They’re now making the crossing from Shaktoolik to Little Mountain cabin where they’ll have a choice. Push on approximately 40 miles across the sea ice of Norton Sound, or rest up and make the crossing tomorrow. Windy.com indicates a north wind of 10-20mph. I imagine them being anxious to get this crossing completed, and have heard if the conditions are good one should go right away, as they can go bad very quickly with unfavorable wind conditions.

There’s a wind chill advisory in effect till 1pm Monday, for the coast and some inland areas, predicting wind chills as low as -55. Currently it’s -12 with 6 mph winds, with lows of -20 and highs around -2. The forecast for Ruby is similar without the wind advisory. Stay warm out there athletes! We’re thinking of you and wishing you warm thoughts.

Author: Amber Crawford

Photo credit: Christof Teuscher

Tyson and Miron have completed their Yukon River push and made it to Unalakleet and Peace on Earth PIZZA ( the pizza is speculation, but come on really…).  After multiple bivys on the river with questionable trail, miles of pushing and riding, (but also staying really positive) they were rewarded with a nice trail into town as their speeds indicate some swift riding.  Miron says it’s been “hard and soft”…. hard as in difficult and soft as in SNOW.  They are now on their way to Shaktoolik, and in the next day or so, Norton Bay.

Further down the trail, the convoy that took a break in Ruby (the Wild Iris BnB must have been busy) is now on the Yukon; they may be experiencing a slightly better trail than their predecessors.  Our first women's bike, Kinsey is traveling well.  She left Ruby around 8am and is already almost to Galena!  Our first men's ski division, Asbjoern is about 20 miles from Galena after a nice stop in Ruby, ahead of the next skier Jan Francke 30 miles from Ruby.  Interestingly, Jan plays in a punk band, and in 2019 finished the 350 on foot, and came back in 2022 for his first 1000 attempt on skis but dropped in Galena “due to mental injury.” I think we all want that story.   

The mental toll is a serious factor for all of our athletes, and unlike training their bodies, training the mind is a lot harder to pin down.  The tools they use to cope are as varied as they are.  Even though the days can take their toll, these athletes are also adapting to the life on the trail. At over 500 miles in, our first men's foot division athlete, Gavin Hennigan, noted “I’m out here giving this everything I got. The days are relentless, up to 20 hours on my feet. But I’ve  adapted to the routine now and I want more of this iconic trail.

“These moments aren’t lost on me, it’s really only a handful of times in my life I’m going to get to experience this feeling of going this deep, I’ve been to the brink before and I’m ready to go again.”  Gavin left Ruby a little after noon, AK time, forgot something, and is now on the Yukon. 

In addition to the mental strain, the body still needs to “stay happy” out there.  Food is a hot commodity on the trail, sometimes a drop bag does not make it to town,  sometimes the miles are slower and the athletes burn through calories at a higher than expected rate.  Multiple 1,000 mile finisher Ryan Wanless ran out of snacks earlier, and a strategic plan needs to be in place in order to get to food.  Without calories or water, the body is much more susceptible to cold, including frostbite.  The feeling of being a tiny dot on this planet and days away from food is acute. 

Just ahead of Jan is our Leading Lady in foot division, Faye Norby.  Faye and partner Jeff stopped for about an hour at Midnight Creek last night.  They were hoping to find a protected spot to bivy, but the only spot that quite a few racers have stopped at this year, is the abandoned ruins at Long.  They stopped for about 5 hours at Sulatna River crossing, which may have a protected spot, but being on a river was likely quite cold. 

Further back, Mark Hines, foot, and Joshua Brown, ski are at N Fork Innoko River cabin, Petr also on skis just joined them for a reprieve.  

Our Red Lantern, Sunny, continues to move steadily.  She is about 20 miles from N Fork Innoko River cabin, and about 26 miles from Cripple where racers often mail themselves a drop bag.  Sunny has no drop, but raiding the leftovers is one of the benefits of bringing up the rear.  Hopefully she will get some goodies.  She was at Carlson Crossing cabin last night and we hear the hilarious Iditarod sweep crew might have been there as well.  All of our athletes are settling into life on the trail and everything Alaska has to offer.  Settling in does not equal comfort however, and weather reports are saying another dangerous and deep cold is coming.  

Written by Kari Gibbons

Photo credit:Gavan John Paul Hennigan, taking time for a little comfort and food on the trail.

Today is International Women’s day, variously described to draw attention to women's achievements and the fight for gender equality, or as a global day celebrating the historical, cultural, and political achievements of women. If you’d like to learn more about women in sports, check out this article on 50 Years of Title IX, or this report by Asics on the gender exercise gap. However you define International Women’s Day, this seems like an appropriate time to highlight the women that pioneered human powered racing on the Iditarod Trail.   

One of the original bike races on the Iditarod trail took place in 1987 and was dreamed up by Joe Redington Sr. and the Mountain Bike Club of Alaska. That 210 mile race drew 20 men and 6 women, 13 of those racers finished and Martha Kennedy led the women’s field. We learned this and more from A Brief History of Iditabike [http://halfpastdone.com/.../20/a-brief-history-of-iditabike/] by Jill Homer.

The multisport ITI was formed in 2002, and since that time participation by women has slowly increased. In the first decade an average of 4 women finished each year, with a low of 1 and a high of 7. The second decade saw an average of 8 women finish per year, maxing out at 14 women in 2016. These accomplished women have set records out there. In the 350 the bike record set by Heather Best in 2014 is just 2 days 14 hours; Anne Ver Hoef set the foot record in 2013 in 6 days 12 hours; and the new ski record of 6 days 23 hours was set this year by Christy Marvin and Robin Beebee.

Record times in the 1000 mile event range from Jill Homer’s bike record of 17 days 3 hours set in 2016, to Loreen Hewitt’s foot record of 26 days 6 hours set in 2014. Think about this for a minute, that means walking (most foot racers walk most of the time, albeit quickly) something like 35-38 miles per day, for 26 days straight. Since we all know things like weather, illness and other less than ideal conditions happen, several of those days are likely much longer to make up for necessary rest and slow days.

Today finds our four remaining women along the trail between Ophir and Ruby. Sunny spent about 10 hours in Ophir, hopefully she was able to enjoy the hospitality of the Iditarod Kyle Forsgren’s cabin, his cabin has hosted this checkpoint for many years. As the last racer Sunny must be feeling pretty alone right now, and hopefully she had a warm welcome at Ophir. She’s currently less than 10 miles from the Carlson Crossing cabin.

Faye Norby rested at the North Fork Innoko River cabin for about 9 hours, after arriving around 2am. She and Jeff pushed straight through from Carlson Crossing to the Innoko cabin, a 42 mile, 19 hour trip. They left the North Fork cabin at about 11am, made a brief stop in Cripple to pick up their drops, and have about 67 miles remaining to reach Ruby. 

Leah Gruhn bivied last night for about 6 hours near Poorman Creek, and is about 22 miles from Ruby. Her pace has ranged from 1-6 miles per hour, indicating she’s probably found a mix of somewhat rideable but often not rideable conditions. Racers have generally been moving slowly through this section, there has been quite a bit of snow and hopefully the trail will firm up soon. 

Leading lady Kinsey Loan made good time this morning after sleeping last night before Long. Kinsey and Mark brought a tent and have been sleeping outside of checkpoints fairly regularly. Based solely on their social media posts, Kinsey and Mark seem to be having a great time out there. Fun fact, they are recently engaged, congratulations! Kinsey is resting in Ruby as of Friday afternoon.

Author: Amber Crawford

Photo credit: Selfies!

Somewhere between Bentalit and Skwentna, I came upon a message etched in the snow: “Follow your dreams.”  For those who dreamed of completing the ITI 350, those dreams are over, either fulfilled or not. And now we are left to dot-watch those remaining ITI athletes’ dreams which are still playing out. 

The Nome-bound athletes are spread across a stretch of nearly 260 miles, from Miron Golfman and Tyson Flaherty at approximately mile 598 (as of 7:49 AKT) leading the field on bike and Sunny Stroeer rounding out the remaining 23 competitors at mile 338 on skis.  It takes a special level of strength and determination to simply start a race like the ITI, especially the 1000-mile race. Increase that by several degrees for those who are willing to head out on untrodden trails and for those who know that they are the last ones on the course with no one behind to proverbially catch them if they fall. 

I’ve contemplated why some folks toe the line of a “race” like the ITI.  And I imagine there are many reasons.  For some, it’s the adventure where you can almost imagine what it was like to be an early explorer (without all the Colonialist underpinnings), reliant primarily on yourself and your physical and most especially mental stamina. For others, it may be the need to prove to yourself (and maybe others) that you have what it takes to push yourself to previously unknown limits. Maybe it’s an escape or a mental reset, the ability to spend protracted periods amongst the beauty of wintry landscapes and away from all the noise of our modern world…or maybe for others it’s just plain ego. There are as many reasons or combinations of reasons as there are competitors.  But I think they can all be summed up with one common theme … the one I saw on the trail … following a dream. Will some let that dream go because of gear issues or maybe physical ailments, or because at some point the dream just doesn’t seem all that “dreamy” anymore? For my part, I’m rooting for each and every one who continues on the trail, though with a special place for the Wild Winter Women.  There are four who remain and, even if unintentionally, they serve as inspiration for many of us. 

Kinsey Loan is leading the pack. She’s well on her way to Ruby with a mix of riding and bike pushing.  No dream comes easy.  She’ll hopefully arrive in the early morning hours to a nice warm space either in the local school or at a Bed and Breakfast that has catered to racers in the past. 

Leah Gruhn similarly faced some challenging bike pushing this afternoon with speeds varying between 1.1mph and 4.4mph.  In particularly rough conditions like what Leah and Kinsey must be facing where it’s a windblown, trail-obscured section similar to the miles between Shell Lake and Finger Lake this year, I wonder why folks don’t just ditch those really, really expensive hunks of metal (or whatever bikes are made of these days) and choose the pure, simple joy of pulling a much, cheaper piece of luggage, like a sled. And then I remember how those lead bikes normally arrive in Nome two weeks before the first foot person and check myself. (Not to mention how when pushing through a strong wind, that cheaper piece of baggage (mine may have earned the moniker “Fu%*ing Flippy” as I headed up toward Rainy Pass) tends to turn over repeatedly or get caught up on branches or hung up in the sastrugi.)

While I appreciate cyclists (some of my favorite people including my partner are avid cyclists), the foot division and our close kin, the skiers (they tend to walk a great deal too), have a special place in my heart. So, here’s a special shout out to Faye Norby, the only female foot athlete to make it to McGrath this year and who was then able to tear herself away from the warmth and comfort of the McGrath Outpost and proceed on to Nome, knowing that it would take her likely another 20 days at least to arrive at her final destination. Unlike the cyclists, those on foot or ski know only the same plodding pace of one footstep or one ski shuffle after another.  Faye’s 2.5mph pace is not much different than Sunny’s 2.7mph.  Faye is nearly 70 miles ahead of Sunny with about 20 miles before she arrives in Cripple, or eight hours of steady walking (eight hours!).

Sunny is 21 miles behind her closest competitor Petr Ineman, another skier who has also biked to Nome several times (and won once!).  Sunny is an experienced athlete who can ably take on this challenge.  Though part of me hopes that Sunny can catch up with Petr, a great traveling companion and someone who, if push comes to shove, could do what Sunny did for me at Rainy Pass, give a word of encouragement and a hug if needed.

I’m raising my proverbial glass to Sunny, Faye, Leah, Kinsey, and all the dreamers on the Trail. May your dreams come true.

Author: Carole Holley

Photo credit: Carole Holley with Sunny Stroeer in the distance on her way to pizza in Skwentna.

With Eric Thomason’s finish this morning around 2am, the 350 race is now completed. Eric scratched last year due to frostbite, but came back and got ‘er done this year despite a 10 mile detour on the Skwentna river. Doug Amidon and Brian Hamilton finished on Tuesday morning. As these final 350 racers enjoy the cozy confines of the McGrath Community Center, the 1,000 racers are dragging themselves away and striking out into the most isolated portion of the course. 

There are two routes for the Iditarod sled dog race, the Northern (even years) and Southern (odd years) Routes. Initially only the Northern Route was used, which could be difficult on small villages that had to manage large numbers of mushers, dogs, and other people. In 1977 the Southern Route was established, allowing additional villages to participate in the race and alleviating some pressure from Northern Route villages.

The Northern Route gets more local traffic than the Southern Route, such as local residents traveling from village to village. This means that racers on the Southern Route may experience more difficult trail conditions and be more isolated between villages or Iditarod checkpoints. ITI racers will typically follow the established Iditarod route as much as possible because increased traffic and resources associated with the Iditarod sled dog race makes the route passable.

On the Northern Route between McGrath and Ruby, racers have few resources other than what they carry. ITI provides a drop at Cripple that will include the racers drop bag as well as fuel for their camp stoves. The North Fork Innoko and Carlson Crossing (called Collins Crossing on Trackleaders map) shelter cabins are both located between Ophir and Cripple. 

There are approximately 12 shelter cabins along the Iditarod Trail west of Rohn. The cabins vary in construction and amenities, typically including a wood burning stove, wooden bunks, and hopefully a door that will shut. These cabins are not reservable, and are available for all trail users. Most of these are at least loosely maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, who is the designated administrator of the Iditarod National Historic Trail. 

If lucky, racers will find a warm place to rest at the Iditarod checkpoints of Ophir and Cripple. Checkpoints are set up for mushers and ITI racers can’t count on using those resources, especially if mushers are present. As of this writing, Iditarod leader Dallas Seavey (if you haven’t heard, go read about his moose encounter, yikes!) has left Ophir and many mushers are between McGrath and Ophir. This means most of our foot and ski athletes, and soon the rest of the athletes, will be in the mix of some 38 dog teams. 

Sunny Stroeer arrived in McGrath late yesterday evening and is currently resting and enjoying the company of her husband, undoubtedly a welcome respite from miles of skiing which is very hard on the feet. Her race is going slower than she hoped, and like many racers that crossed Rainy Pass Friday night is plagued by cold injuries. Sunny does an excellent job of taking care of herself and hopefully they are relatively minor injuries.

Petr Ineman, Joshua Brown and Mark Hines are all just a few miles outside of McGrath. Jeff Luewerke, Faye Norby, Christof Teuscher are all approaching the Carlson Crossing cabin, while Beat Jegerlehner is already there. It’s tough to guess whether they’ll rest at the cabin or push on, as they may arrive during daylight. 

Leah Gruhn, Ryan Wanless, Brandon Lott and Gavin Hennigan, Asbjoern Skjoeth Bruun, Kinsey Loan, Mark Moeller and Thomas Miller are between Carlson Crossing and North Fork Innoko River cabins. Tiziano Mulonia and Ben Pysto are just a few miles from their drop in Cripple. Phillip Hofstetter has been in Ruby for several hours. Leaders Tyson Flaherty and Miron Golfman took about 26 hours to travel ~50 miles from Ruby to Galena. It does look like they were able to ride a bit, but must have been a slog with all the new snow the area has received. 

Temperatures are currently forecasted in the teens during the day and a little above zero at night, with snow showers predicted through Thursday. There is a special weather statement from the National Weather Service for the coast and Yukon River included below: 

A deep arctic trough will move south over the Western Interior and West Coast and bring well below normal temperatures beginning Friday night. High pressure over the Chukchi Sea will bring strong north winds starting Friday night as well. Low temperatures by Saturday morning will be in the teens and 20s below zero and remain that way through Wednesday morning. Highs will range from near zero to 10 below. North winds of 10 to 30 mph with higher gusts will bring wind chills as low as the 40s to near 50 below zero.

Author: Amber Crawford

Photo credit: Miron Golfman 

The cut off to reach McGrath is 10 days from the start of ITI to Mcgrath, meaning that the 350 mile race will officially be over by 2pm AKST tomorrow. Brian Hamilton on foot, Eric Thomason also on foot, and Doug Amidon on ski are the remaining 350 mile ITI athletes still making their way towards the chicken pasta in McGrath. They’ll be there soon! 

In the 1000 mile event, we’ll see Joshua Brown on ski finish before the evening, taking the river trail rather than haul road to the village. Behind him on the river trail is Hendra Wijaya on bike, and Petr Ineman on ski. These three slept on the Kuskokwim River last night. 

Opting to take the haul road are Mark Hines on foot followed by 350 mile Brian Hamilton, and our other 350 mile footer Eric Thomason. 

Why take one way to get to McGrath over the other? The haul road route consists of meadows and forest, meadows and forest, and sometimes moose post-holes. This segment is a simple snowmachine trail, although closer to McGrath it begins to feel like a road that isn’t very well plowed until closer to the village. There are some hills, though not too many, and eventually the trail drops into town. A red flashing light on a tower in town flashes as progress is made towards the racer's destination, though they beware because it can be seen from miles away which sometimes makes advancing feel slow. The river trail follows the Kuskokwim River and occasionally through sloughs and wooded parts. There are several small steep climbs on or off the riverbank, which can make those traveling with rolling suitcases (aka bikes) work a little harder than if they were on the haul road. Do racers prefer the river trail or the haul road to get to McGrath? It’s tough to say, and each person may have their own opinion! It truthfully comes down to the weather and which route athletes think will get them to the next checkpoint swiftly and safely. 

Out in front on the adventure to Nome, Tyson and Miron took off down the Yukon at 10am AKST, after a nice rest in Ruby. In that amount of time they’ve made it about 11 miles on bikes, and we do hope they keep pushing towards Galena this evening - with Philip Hofstetter 30 miles behind them on the trail they’d likely prefer to keep moving forward! Kinsey Loan, on bike, left Ophir this morning and is making her way towards Cripple, currently resting at the first shelter cabin along the way, traveling with Mark Moeller. Speeds along the Innoko River looked like racers were working through tough conditions, though as soon as the trail heads north it appears that the trail firms up. Tiziano Mulonia and Thomas Miller have been holding promising speeds on bikes today (nearly 5mph!) There are two cabins along the way to the Iditarod checkpoint, the Carlson Crossing Cabin, where Ben Pysto took a nice rest, and the N Fork Innoko Cabin not too far from Cripple. *Carlson Crossing is called Collins Crossing on the Trackleader’s map, FYI!

Asbjoern Skjoeth Bruun on ski is trudging on, followed by Gavan Hennigan on foot. Brandon Lott on foot is moving past Ophir. Ryan Wanless has caught up to Leah Gruhn, 2023’s 1000 mile women’s bike champion, and she now has a tracker for us to check in on. PHEW! We were starting to get nervous. “Do what brings you joy, and help others to find joy. … and don’t be afraid to dig deep and bury yourself from time to time.” Leah posted an update early this morning with some beautiful photos rolling into McGrath. Beat Jegerlehner on foot is steadily making his way towards Ophir.

Faye Norby and Jeff Leuwerke left McGrath this morning towards Nome. Faye admitted to us that she loved sitting in McGrath for a bit to see the excitement and exhausted faces of some of the 350 finishers. Julie is doing an amazing job taking care of everyone and the outpost is looking great since she was there last in 2022. She expects to be on snowshoes for the next few days and is hoping that the trail firms up when it cools down at night. As put by Jan Francke who is in the 1000 mile ski and chose to travel the river route, “this is just Alaska and these are decisions you have to make and fight with.”

In McGrath, new and old friends are sharing stories with warm food and comfortable accommodations. What we wouldn’t give to be in that vicinity sharing stories and feeling shelled with those athletes! Our red lantern racer has just about 21 miles to get to McGrath before the 2pm cut off, and we’re cheering them on with all of our hearts! 

Written by Jill Martindale

Photo of the haul road from Amber Crawford in 2020.

Day 9 of the ITI continues to bring in athletes to McGrath, either to celebrate their finish of the 350 distance or as a stopover on their way to Nome. Currently there are 13 bikers and one skier north of McGrath. Miron Golfman and Tyson Flaharty are further north, and have been traveling together since the start. 

Miron and Tyson arrived in Ruby around 1:00am. After resting, repacking, and a few bike adjustments, they set out on the mighty Yukon river towards the village of Galena, 50 miles away. Travel on the Yukon was difficult and they returned to Ruby to hunker down and wait for the weather to clear, not wanting to “get stuck on the river” overnight. Once they leave Ruby they are on the exposed Yukon river until Kaltag, which is almost 135 miles away. Even with opportunities for respite in the small villages along the way, they have to be smart about how they tackle this next section. As Miron pointed out, the energy output to battle the conditions might be greater now than if they were to wait and tackle it the next day, with conditions that would allow them to conserve energy, and find and stay on the trail. 

They have a significant lead and the next biker, Philip Hofstetter is 50 miles south. Skier Asbjoern Skjoeth Bruun is making his way to Ophir. Asbjoern is extremely systematic when executing this race, and he was part of the The Unalakleet Eight, several 1,000 mile athletes that were stopped in 2020 at Unalakleet due to a storm surge had made all routes over the Sound from Shaktoolik to Koyuk impassable due to open water or overflow.

The two 1,000 mile womens bikers, Kinsey Loan and Leah Gruhn are also making their way to Ophir. Leah’s tracker was left in McGrath, and is being brought to her by fellow racer Ryan Wanless, they should meet at Takotna and we will be able to track her then. Two foot division men have left McGrath, Gavan Hennigan and Brandon Lott. 

In McGrath several more athletes have finished, including Amanda Harvey (2nd start, first finish) and Jennifer McConnel (rookie and world's best aunt)! Amanda has had some pretty bad knee pain and was definitely relying on her inner and outer strength. She completed the ITI winter camp in 2022 and came back to race in 2023 but suffered “a catastrophic mechanical failure on the Yentna River. So I hiked my bike like a backpack for about 7 miles”. Her advice to rookies: Get used to taking care of yourself in a variety of conditions. Start strength training. 

There are several 1,000 mile foot athletes resting in McGrath. Lone foot woman Faye Norby was greeting the finishers and resting up for the long push to Ophir, along with cyclist Missy Schwarz, and fellow foot comrades Jeff Leuwerke and 7 time finisher Beat Jegerlehner.

Headed towards McGrath are the first four athletes taking the river route to town, 350 foot athlete Daniel Héon, 1,000 mile bike division Hendra Wijaya, 1,000 mile ski division Jan Francke, and 1,000 ski Joshua Brown. They appear to be moving well, which indicates the trail may have been groomed or set, and this route can be very pleasant when it is! I took that route in 2020 with Mark Hines, so I am curious which route he will take, his choice is coming up in a few hours. He slept and woke up to wolves howling yesterday after a bivy, maybe that is why he is making such good time? 

A few athletes remain in Nikolai, and red lantern Sunny is 3.5 miles out! I bet she is really looking forward to the warm and welcoming community. She slept on the trail past Bear Creek Cabin today, and was primed for a strong day today! 

The drama of the cold, wind, and Rainy pass seem far away. But lingering damage from the past days are plaguing those that scratched and those that are continuing on. Tales of frostbite and deep fatigue, knee pain, shin splints, edema/swelling, have been mentioned more than once. For those continuing on, their task is to find a way to keep the body happy while they attempt to cross an often unfathomable distance. 

Written by Kari Gibbons

Photo of the amazing Nikki Potter, who dropped at Nikolai, crossing Rainy Pass, by finisher Daniel Perry.

To borrow a sentiment from the 2024 Fat Pursuit, sometimes a scratch doesn’t tell the whole story. More than 30 athletes have scratched this year, not an exceptional number for the ITI. A scratch doesn’t tell you about the athletes who fought their way to exhaustion, through winds that could knock a person over, blowing snow, thigh-deep drifts, and trails that were completely blown in. 

Scratch doesn’t describe one anonymous skier giving a big hug to a sobbing runner who just couldn’t push into the wind any longer, all in the midst of screaming wind and snow. Nor does it  tell you about the incredibly difficult decision each one of these athletes had to make to give up on their ITI dream for this year. 

The forecast today for McGrath is cloudy and warm, with snow showers predicted. Warm weather can be a relief, but can also make trails soft and travel more difficult. Conditions seem relatively mild and racers perhaps are enjoying a respite from strong winds and cold temperatures.

Skier Sunny Stroeer left Rohn around 8am after about 18 hours of rest. She steadily made her way through Farewell Burn and seems likely to stop at Bear Creek cabin tonight. Sunny is fighting a few surprises including a cracked tooth crown. Racers have to get special permission for something like going to the dentist, which hopefully Sunny will be able to do in McGrath. Laura Rushfeldt has scratched. Asbjoern Skjoeth Bruun arrived in McGrath this evening, and the remaining skiers on the course are between Rohn and Nikolai.

Faye Norby is the sole remaining women’s foot athlete. Faye arrived at Nikolai around 2am and stayed for a modest 6 hours before pushing on towards McGrath. She continues to travel with partner Jeff Leuwerke. Gavin Hennigan and Brandon Lott are leading the men’s 1000 foot race and are about 20 miles from McGrath. Ryan Fox is leading the foot 350 and is about 33 miles from McGrath. Nome foot racer Herman Watson has scratched due to a stress fracture. 

Bikers Missy Schwarz and Kinsey Loan arrived in McGrath Saturday evening and are resting there today, Leah Gruhn arrived this afternoon. Stephanie Schmidt and Mayalla Krause finished during the day today. Amanda Harvey and Jennifer McConnel arrived in Nikolai before noon.

Nome racers are slowly starting to trickle out of McGrath; as of this writing, only five have departed. Tyson Flaherty and Miron Golfman are leading the race to Nome and are only 30 miles from Ruby.

Becca Moore finished her second 350 today; the first was in 2022. Few ITI racers can say they’ve also mushed the Iditarod trail to Nome, and Becca is one of them. Not only has she completed the Iditarod twice, but she’s also finished the Yukon Quest. 

Temperatures are predicted to remain above zero for the next few days, with light winds and chance of snow. This bodes well for trail conditions and racers, who we hope will be enjoying trail friends and the camaraderie only a shared ITI experience can bring. 

Author Amber Crawford

Photo credit Carole Holley

Photo caption: Carole Holley and Amber Crawford shortly after departing Puntilla Lake, heading into unknown weather conditions on Rainy Pass.