Free Republic

The Iron Dog 2020 Race (Pro Class) begins Sunday, February 16th at 11:00 AM AK time. The Recreation Class started yesterday, Thursday the 13th, so they are already on the trail. The Iron Dog is the World’s Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race and covers more than 2,400 miles as it traverses the Alaskan backcountry. NEW COURSE FOR 2020: Starting in Fairbanks, racers speed down the Yukon River and cut overland toward the Bering Sea coast, then make a roughly 375-mile loop through Kotzebue, before reaching the halfway point in Nome. Racers then turn their sleds south, where the route follows the...

Congratulations to every racer, thank you to every volunteer, and biggest kudos to the wonderful towns and villages along the 2000-mile course that make the world’s longest and toughest snowmachine race happen! Extremely tough conditions causing mechanical hardships forced more teams out of the race than reached the checkered flag this year, so total admiration is due all finishers. Team #41 ran brilliantly and reached Fairbanks first, but the race may not be over. Not by a long shot. https://www.adn.com/outdoors-adventure/2017/02/25/stunned-iron-dog-leaders-disqualified-on-verge-of-winning-second-straight/ While a controversial ruling affecting the victory is challenged and officials sort it all out, I conclude with a more...

Let’s face it: when it comes to modern cars, no model is as maligned as the diminutive two-seat Smart Fortwo. Well, maybe the Mitsubishi Mirage. Measuring just 8-feet-10-inches in length, the rear-engined Smart looks less like a car than a rolling phone booth, or perhaps the bubble that would take Patrick McGoohan back to The Village in the TV show “The Prisoner.” Jokes and instances of car-tipping aside, the Smart harbors a secret ability that sets it apart from its larger peers — and it took an Ontario mechanic to find it. A regular day will find Tod Anderson working...

Greta interviewed Todd Palin tonight. Second interview up tomorrow night. Todd Palin talked about himself, how he met Sarah and his love of snowmachine racing.

FAIRBANKS - Not only is he the First Dude, but Todd Palin is one tough dude. The husband of Gov. Sarah Palin, or First Dude, as Alaskans have come to call him, survived a high-speed crash on Friday in which he broke his arm and had to be towed across the Chena River finish line in Fairbanks on Saturday after his snowmachine died, but he still finished the world's longest, toughest snowmachine race in fourth place.

Defending champ flies about 70 feet when snowmachine hits barrel . . .Tesoro Iron Dog snowmobile racers Todd Palin of Wasilla and Scott Davis of Soldotna were back on the trail Friday night after a crash that rattled the duo and sent a minor tremor across the state. The crash itself was somewhat the norm for Alaska snowmobile accidents. Palin hit a solid object -- in this case a barrel hidden beneath the snow. The obstruction stopped his snowmachine, and he went flying over it.

<p>ARCTIC MAN: Veteran McClurg, rookie Horton hope for perfect match.</p> <p>Missy McClurg tows her partner Suki Horton during an Arctic Man training run on Prator Lake near Houston last week. Though it was Horton's first time being pulled behind a snowmachine, she's comfortable with fast runs. Horton was the top female Alaskan at the U.S. Alpine Championships at Alyeska last month.</p>