2025 Iron Dog - Day 3 Update

Bright and fast!  Running the Western coast of Alaska along the Norton Sound and up through the Seward Peninsula was a welcome departure from the grueling first half of the race for the remaining Pro-Class teams in this years Iron Dog.  Team 5 was first to the coast last night looking clean and solid.

The typical coastal winds welcomed riders as they added a considerable amount of windchill to the -35F ambient air temperatures that were being reported in Unalakleet this morning.

Prior racer Ryan Sottosanti sent a message along the trail to Team 29 that they should keep pushing from Ruby all the way through to Unalakleet as word was that a storm was coming.  Team 29 received the high-tech message, heeded the veteran advice, and pushed onward.  While not making it all the way to the coast last night, they settled into Kaltag at 10:54pm before running into issues shortly thereafter.

Just outside of Kaltag Reggie’s sled broke down and had to be towed.  This sparked an internet search statewide for a top-end for a 600 c-tech Arctic Cat motor.  Compounding the issue, Hayden's sled then had clutch issues which needed to be addressed before he could return to complete the tow job.  Parts were secured and much effort was put into getting back on the trail but ultimately the duo made the tough decision to scratch in Unalakleet.

Teams made what seemed like an uneventful ~170 mile trip northward from Unalakleet along the coast, across much of the Seward Peninsula toward the Buckland checkpoint.  A few miles outside of Buckland teams hit the 'Y' where they are supposed to go right toward Selawik, around through Kotzebue, and eventually back to that same location where they will meet the Buckland checkpoint a second time.

It appears that this route was not very well communicated to the teams, poorly marked, or possibly both as it seems 3 teams (8, 18, and 42) were at least partially foiled by hanging a left and not a right. The loop direction isn't always the same every year and due to this discrepancy the worst affected was Team 8, including prior champion Tyson Johnson who raced all the way to Kotzebue before they realized they'd gone the wrong way. 

Normal distance from Buckland to Selawik is 63.8 miles.  My rough estimate using satellite imagery has them traveling between 170-175 miles to Selawik by way of Kotzebue.  Adding an additional ~110 miles to your racing day isn't terribly conducive to keeping your standing in the leader pack.  

Racers also noted that Team 8, after fueling up and leaving Kotzebue to backtrack, were running across the frozen sea ice rather than backtrack along the trail.  Due to the extreme remote nature of this race, it's often a best practice for both safety and speed to follow the marked trail but no rule inhibits teams from blazing their own way.  In the photo below, Team 8 is getting to Selawik (red arrow) as quickly as they can after the huge setback in time going the wrong way around the Red Dog Loop.  They had already checked out of the Buckland checkpoint, where they took the wrong turn at the 'Y', so Selawik was next, no matter how they got there.

Battling up through the Red Dog Loop, Teams 20 and 5 were neck and neck as they made their final push toward Kotzebue where they made layover.  A little competition and visual sight of other teams certainly helped spur Robby Schachle to 90+mph.

Kris Kaltenbacher of Team 18 racing out of Sparks, Nevada, captured an incredible image of the Day 1 struggle across the frozen but barren Iron Dog trail.