2025 Iron Dog - Day 4 Update
Everyday the racers are up against almost any possible obstacle as they keep pushing multiple hundred miles per day. Team 45 had a great recap of yesterdays racing which included traversing semi-truck sized ice chunks, extreme cold, very little food, an incredible sunrise, and the thrill of holding their machines wide-open throttle for as long as possible, all over 382 miles! Click 'see more' on the Facebook post below!
Husband and wife Pro-Class racers Hillarie and Tim Gossett of Team 26 arrived in Unalakleet last night after a long day of racing in the bitter cold. Tim was quoted as saying 'The best thing about racing with the wife? You are not cold when you go to sleep!” after crossing the cold Norton Bay today. I suppose that's a great perk of racing alongside your wife!
Team 26 posted a very lengthy update to their day yesterday which is well worth reading. Click 'see more' below on the post to pull it up
Arriving into Unalakleet for a second time after a roughly 110 mile scenic detour, Tyson Johnson of Team 8 shares what is likely some good ribbing from fellow veteran racer Brad George of Team 20.
Team 5 towed into Unalakleet yesterday. No firm word on what the issue was but comments on a Facebook post indicate that they were potentially having motor issues as they were having trouble keeping one of the sleds running. This appears to be a huge issue for them as of 3pm today they still haven't left Unalakleeet (though they've officially checked out) despite arriving in 3rd physical position yesterday evening. Losing a whole day of racing could mean the hope of a top 10 finish possibly due to attrition. One issue can make or break the entire race for these teams.
Leaving Kotzebue meant a 342 mile trip to Nome which is generally a fairly easy lift for these racers. Keeping things in tip-top shape, Team 20 was captured being just as fast with their wrenching as they are with their riding putting in 12 minutes worth of maintenance and repairs before heading 'Nomeward Bound'.
Leaving Kotzebue today there will be extra attention to make sure the fuel tanks, including all auxiliary tanks are full to the absolute limit. A couple teams reported running short on (or out of) gas as they approached Buckland yesterday which equated to an 87 mile run. Today racers need to span the 105 mile distance from Kotzebue to Buckland. Mike Morgan of Team 6 indicated they lost a lot of trail time from what appears to be limping a machine into Buckland on very low fuel.
Most of todays race updates were just pings on a screen as the GPS transponders updated throughout the day showing fast and steady progress. Andy Gocke of Team 2, racing with Ashley Wood was seen limping in the Koyuk checkpoint as he was grabbing oil to fill up his tank. It's not 100% clear that he wasn't injured but the video caption indicates cramping.
The Nome Nugget caught up with Team 20 as they arrived into Nome where they shared their trail report from White Mountain, which is a 72 mile run.
Team 14, champion contenders this year, were seen towing one of their machines into Nome with reports of a pipe sensor going bad. The team's parts plane was able to land in Nome today and has that part onboard, so after tomorrows wrenching session, they should be back in business.
All the 'typical names' seem to be establishing themselves as front-runners as the teams enter Nome covering 1469 miles out of a total 2503, a little over halfway to the checkered flag! Teams will begin a 24 hour mandatory layover which will include a halfway banquet for the racers and an opportunity for the teams to perform repairs and maintenance in a heated garage. Wrenching Wednesday up next!