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Here are five things to know on Sunday, Day 8 of the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race: 1. Race Outlook: Weather & checkpoint changes present new obstacles Weather and checkpoint changes are obstacles facing mushers on the trail. Snow and warm temperatures are slowing every team down, while changes in checkpoint availability due to concerns over the novel coronavirus are forcing some mushers to deviate from their race plans. As for leaders, the coast is still between their teams and Nome. It's not time for bold moves yet. Front-runners just want to stay within striking distance. 2. Race Forecast:...

Under steady snowfall at the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race restart in Willow last Sunday, veteran musher Matthew Failor's dog, Cool Cat, snuggled inside his warm trailer. "She's kind of my spirit animal," Failor said, before giving her a pre-race kiss. He said he was excited about racing to Nome with Cool Cat this year. He wanted to bring her last year, but she was pregnant with a litter of puppies during the 2019 Iditarod. At 9 years old, Failor said Cool Cat is the "matriarch" of his kennel. She's a good lead dog, but she's also like a pet...

Two Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race mushers have scratched at the Galena checkpoint. Veteran musher Linwood Fiedler, of Willow, scratched at 1 p.m. Saturday. Rookie musher Martin Massicotte, of Canada, scratched at 5:58 p.m. A release from the Iditarod said both mushers chose to scratch in the best interest of their race teams. At the checkpoint, Fiedler told KTVA's Heather Hintze that there were cascading issues with his team's health. Massicotte said the weather was too warm. Fiedler had 14 dogs in harness when he decided to scratch, while Massicotte had nine. As of Saturday evening, six mushers have scratched...

When mushers arrive in Ruby, it marks the beginning of the journey on the Yukon River. The first musher to reach that milestone is treated to a five-course meal and other prizes. Jessie Royer won that award and shared her meal with other front-runners.

CRIPPLE — As the world grapples with whatever new reality the coronavirus is bringing, a few dozen people racing through Alaska’s Interior find themselves insulated from the chaos. They’re the mushers competing in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. As they mushed along, watching for moose and changing out dog booties, professional sports leagues suspended seasons, gatherings of even a few hundred people were banned in some of the country’s most populated cities. The stock market took a historic dive. Yet, on the Iditarod Trail, you’d have no idea. In Takotna on Wednesday night, people weren’t huddled around a TV...

NIKOLAI — Most mushers plan for a year, at least, to run the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. John Schandelmeier had an hour. Schandelmeier said Wednesday morning in the frigid cold at the Nikolai checkpoint that he no longer has the burning desire to race sled dogs. To him, there would be no difference in finishing or winning the Red Lantern, the prize for the last musher to cross the finish line in Nome. Schandelmeier was a last-minute substitute for his wife, Zoya DeNure, who withdrew from the race just before the restart in Willow because of a heart condition....

UNALAKLEET — The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is continuing as of Friday night despite growing concerns about the potential spread of the novel coronavirus. Events surrounding the finish in Nome have been canceled, and the race is taking additional steps to protect racers and communities along the trail as mushers progress through the second half of the race. “We have been taking the normal precautions that everyone should be taking,” race marshal Mark Nordman said Friday at the Unalakleet airport. Nordman said the race has been in communication with Dr. Anne Zink, the state’s chief medical officer. The first...

An Iditarod sled dog that crossed the finish line Thursday night in Nome died two days later at an Anchorage animal hospital, race officials reported Saturday night. The dog, a 5-year-old female named Oshi, was a member of rookie musher Richie Beattie’s team, which was the 21st team to finish. Beattie was the first rookie to reach Nome, but he has been withdrawn from the race and his finish is no longer reflected in the Iditarod standings. The death is the first of this year’s Iditarod, which started March 3 with 52 teams. Nine teams remained on the trail as...

Jessie Royer, the 42-year-old veteran musher from Idaho, checked in to Nome at 9:34 a.m. Wednesday, taking third place in the 2019 Iditarod. Royer arrived at the burled arch with 11 dogs in harness. She finished the race in 9 days, 18 hours and 34 minutes. Her average speed was 4.21 miles per hour, according to standings on Iditarod.com. Coming in first was another veteran musher, Peter Kaiser, who crossed the finish line six hours earlier, outrunning defending champion Joar Leifseth Ulsom by just 12 minutes. At the finish line, Royer said for the last 50 miles of the race...

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - As of 10 a.m. this morning, 32 mushers have completed their 2019 Iditarod runs. At this time, only nine mushers remain on the course, all sitting within the final three check points. Leading those teams is Sarah Stokey of Seward. She left the White Mountain checkpoint at 4:27 a.m. this morning.

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - Four-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey has reached the Burled Arch in Nome after sitting out two consecutive races, and scratching from his most recent attempt in 2016. Mackey’s 27th-place finish at 1:41:40 p.m. came just five seconds before Jessie Holmes, last year’s Rookie of the Year, at 1:41:45 p.m. KNOM radio station interviewed Mackey at the Burled Arch in Nome and has shared that audio with us. Hear Mackey address the crowd and respond to KNOM questions in particular at approximately 4 minutes and 10:30. Visit KNOM.org for the latest KNOM coverage. ***VIDEO ON LINK***

Share this story Growing up in California, I first fell in love with mushing through a picture book about Balto, the famous Siberian husky. The true story—which I turned to again and again—began in January 1925. Children in the village of Nome were dying of diphtheria, and with every attempt to deliver supplies of antitoxin in the thick of an Alaskan winter—by plane, by train—ending in failure, an epidemic seemed imminent. With the community growing increasingly desperate, the local trappers proposed a far-fetched solution: a sled dog relay to mush the medicine from camp to camp. And though many dogs—and...

NOME, Alaska (KTUU) — Bethel musher Peter Kaiser has won the 2019 Iditarod early Wednesday morning, making him the first Yup'ik Iditarod champion. Kaiser arrived in Nome at 3:39 a.m., driving his dogs under the burled arch to fanfare and applause. He finished in 9 days, 12 hours, 39 minutes and 6 seconds. According to Iditarod officials, Kaiser had eight dogs in harness when he crossed the finish line to win the Iditarod XLVII title. He will be awarded his prize money as well as a new 2019 Ram truck on March 17. Kaiser came in 12 minutes ahead of...

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - The Iditarod's first few rookies are among the finishers to reach Nome's Burled Arch Thursday night and Friday morning. Since yesterday's update, nine more mushers have finished The Last Great Race, including two rookies. Richie Beattie, the first rookie to cross the finish line, finished in 21st place at 10:01 p.m. Thursday evening. Ed Hopkins, an Iditarod rookie, but nine-time Yukon Quest finisher, was in 22nd place, finishing at 11:07 p.m. Here's who's crossed the finish line since our last update yesterday (updated at 10:44 a.m.): 18. Matthew Failor - Thursday 4:03 p.m. 19. Seth Barnes -...

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - Though a new champion has been crowned following Pete Kaiser's 3:39 a.m. Wednesday finish, more mushers are still running into Nome for their official finishing placement. According to the Iditarod website, 13 mushers have finished the 2019 Iditarod. Here are the top 10: 1. Peter Kaiser - Finished March 13 at 3:39 a.m. 2. Joar Leifseth Ulsom - March 13 - 3:51 a.m. 3. Jessie Royer - March 13 - 9:34 a.m. 4. Aliy Zirkle - March 13 - 5:26 p.m. 5. Travis Beals - March 13 - 6:37 p.m. 6. Matt Hall - March 13 -...

Share on Google PlusGoogle Plus Print articleReddit Increase Article Font Size Decrease Article Font Size Hundreds of sled dogs and their 52 mushers are readying for Sunday’s official start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Each musher has a story, and so do their huskies. On Saturday, the Daily News asked seven mushers to introduce us to one of the dogs on their teams. Meet Mustang, Apok, Cassette, Radar, Finn, Pam and Mud: Mustang Share on Google PlusGoogle Plus Print articleReddit Increase Article Font Size Decrease Article Font Size Hundreds of sled dogs and their 52 mushers are readying...

Iditarod LIVE STREAM

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - The long-awaited start of the 47th Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race is kicking off Saturday, March 2. Channel 2 will be LIVE in the heart of downtown Anchorage as the mushers get ready, and take off for the ceremonial start. KTUU Live coverage will begin at 9:30 a.m. You can watch that coverage online by clicking here or when this story updates. Snow was trucked out downtown to compensate for otherwise clear city streets, giving the dog teams something soft to run on until they complete the short ceremonial run down 4th Avenue. Dogs will run from...

Hold tight! Take a wild sled dog ride with 4-time Iditarod champ Jeff King The 2014 Iditarod trail includes some of the toughest mushing in the history of the race, veterans said. Especially early along the trail, mushers were battered and bruised on snowless ground. Four-time winner Jeff King shot this footage using a helmet cam between Rainy Pass, in the Alaska Range, and the Rohn checkpoint on Monday, March 3. The video was provided to the Anchorage Daily News (adn.com/Iditarod) by Iditarod Insider (www.iditarod.com.) The talk of the trail this year, it's one of the first-ever looks at what...

Share on Google PlusGoogle Plus Print articleReddit Increase Article Font Size Decrease Article Font Size The ceremonial start for the 47th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is Saturday, March 2. The first team will leave downtown Anchorage at 10 a.m., but the streets will come alive a couple of hours earlier with the sound of barking dogs as mushers prepare for their departure. The restart is Sunday, March 3, when teams will leave the Willow Community Center beginning at 2 p.m. That’s when the race clock starts ticking. The ceremonial start takes teams on a festive 11-mile journey through...