Iron Dog 2017 Thread

Stunned Iron Dog leaders disqualified on verge of winning second straight

Author: Dermot Cole

FAIRBANKS — Defending Iron Dog champions Tyler Aklestad and Tyson Johnson were disqualified early Saturday because on a fuel stop between Ruby and Tanana, a volunteer mistakenly pushed down on each sled to help add a half-gallon of fuel.

But Aklestad and Johnson, dubbed “TNT,” are continuing along the course, headed toward the finish line in Fairbanks, traveling alongside the new leaders — Cory Davis and Ryan Simons.

Race officials said that Rule 13.2 prohibits anyone except the racers from even touching the machines when refueling in this section. But after seeing a photo that shows a volunteer pushing on each sled, the race officials said the rules required disqualification.

The run between Ruby and Tanana is the longest distance between checkpoints and the rules allow teams to stage fuel and oil along that section, but they are not allowed to be assisted in any way.

“The crew providing fuel between Ruby and Tanana made physical contact with the racer’s snowmobiles. Rule 13.2.1 is one of the only penalties that is explicitly specified within the rules. The Marshals have determined that Team 8 violated Rule 13.2.1 and 13.2.2. The penalty for those violations is disqualification as specified in Rule 13.2.3,” an Iron Dog press release said.

The rule says that no “physical contact with the pit crew will be permitted” and that “participants will be disqualified if any part of this fueling procedure is neglected.”

Johnson told KTUU-TV that they didn’t know the spectators had touched their sleds and asked them to stop as soon as they saw what was happening.

“We only needed about 5 gallons, pushing on the back helps get an extra half-gallon but we didn’t even need that fuel,” KTUU quoted Johnson as saying.

He said the disqualification “makes us look like cheaters” and that teams get 15-minute penalties for worse infractions

Race officials said the exact wording of the rule about “physical contact” left them with no choice but disqualification.

A Facebook posting on the team’s page at mid-morning Saturday said, “Tyson and Tyler are on the move. Currently riding alongside team 41. I encourage everyone to come forward in Fairbanks and cheer on TNT at they cross the finish line in 1st place.”

https://www.adn.com/outdoors-adventure/2017/02/25/stunned-iron-dog-leaders-disqualified-on-verge-of-winning-second-straight/

**Day 7 Update**
(scroll down at the link to see ‘update’ & associated videos: https://www.thealaskalife.com/blog/2017-iron-dog-day-7-coverage/ )

Iron Dog race officials have released a statement as to help clarify the decision making process after Team 8 had been disqualified, and from their perspective, it is fairly cut and dried. Our Iron Dog Oracle was at the finish line in Fairbanks and has reported that “Most of the people that I spoke to at the finish line understand why the decision to DQ Team 8 was made. They don’t like it, but the do agree with it. ” The online community of spectators and individuals following the race do seem divided on the issue, with some calling the ruling a disgrace and on the other end acknowledge that if a rule was broken, and that a disqualification is the penalty, then the ruling must be followed.

What do the racers think? I spoke with Kyle Conner, who has raced in the Pro-Class of the Iron Dog four times and he said that ‘The cool thing about Tanana is that all the racers are in one big room at the checkpoint, so you know everyone is talking about this, and discussing the decision’. A photo on social media has cropped up which is a petition written and signed by all the racers stating their disapproval of the disqualification, which could speak volumes as to future rulebook changes, tweaks, or clarification. A video from Rebecca Charles, below, at the finish line is the interview with Tyson Johnson regarding this petition

VIDEO

With Team 8 officially out of the running, Team 41 was scheduled to leave Tanana at 8am. In what seems to have been a declaration of rider unity, the two teams left Tanana and rode nearly the entire last portion of the race as a group.

Team 41 and Team 8 raced toward Fairbanks from Tanana until roughly 10 miles from the finish line. The first three sleds went across an ice shelf in the river and the third sled broke through the ice, which was ridden by Tyson Johnson of Team 8. His Ski-Doo slammed into the ice shelf and ripped the right front side of his sled off. Team 41 stopped and helped them get the sled out of the river and back on the trail. With Team 17 gaining on them rapidly, Cory David and Ryan Simons jumped back on their sleds and raced toward the finish to ensure that they didn’t lose their lead position in the race.

VIDEO

Team 41 crossed the finish line in Fairbanks at 1:56:25pm. Ryan Simons has become the first person to claim the Iron Dog Championship that was not an Alaska resident.

Team 17 finished 1 minute 4 seconds later

Team 8 physically crossed the finish line in third, position, but were still officially disqualified

Team of Huss/Sottosanti have officially rounded out the podium of the 2017 Iron Dog crossing the finish line in Fairbanks at 3:09:02pm

Cory Davis is seen below in a post-race interview. You can clearly tell that Davis is hesitant to discuss the decision for multiple reasons, and gives his take on how they ran the race.

VIDEO

The feeling at the finish line was that, ultimately, the racers and fans alike are now just glad that the race is over. Team 41 has been declared the winner. KTUU has reported that “Galena resident and longtime Iron Dog fan Peter Aloysius tells KTUU that he and his father have gone up and staged fuel for riders for many years, but it was the first time for the two spectators who pushed on the sleds. Aloysius continues, “Tyson and Tyler both noticed and asked them to stop. Which they did. Now the picture doesn’t do it justice for what all happened. A picture is a split second. These guys are professionals at this sport and are where they are by knowing and following the rules. They had no intentions of cheating as this gave them no possible benefit.”

Rebecca Charles released a video shown below of Tyler Aklestad of Team 8 at the finish line. See his response to the disqualification and what he hopes comes after the race has ended.

VIDEO

Tyson Johnson also gives further explanation of what had happened and gives expanded clarification surrounding the photo in question

VIDEO

The feeling of the racers and many of the spectators discussing the situation are firmly in the camp that there was some predisposed feeling that Team 8 was not running a clean race. Tyson Johnson gives us a bit more information on the history with the current race marshal and the feelings of what they may do if something doesn’t happen o change the outcome of the 2017 Iron Dog.

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2017 Injured Racers

Link: http://www.irondog.org/2017-injured-racers/

Iron Dog 2017 will go down in history as a challenging and rough race for all involved. Injuries where sustained from day one until day six and every day in between. The perseverance, desire to overcome and all out stubbornness to complete their goal is clear in each racer.

This 2,000+ mile race takes endurance, preparation, skill, training and a fair amount of luck. The men who where injured in 2017 pushed through tough odds. Some finally having to stop because of physical limitations, others where able to continue on to the finish line. All are successful and men to be admired.

Sunday morning February 19, 2017 35 Pro Class Race teams left the starting line. Shortly after leaving the line Team 12, Jason Moore and Robert Strick, where back in Big Lake repairing their sled after Jason cartwheeled multiple times on the trail near Flat Lake. He came away with just a few bruises and they where out on the trail again as soon as repairs where made.

Unfortunately for Team 12 their journey came to a close shortly after returning to the trail when Robert came off his sled at Big Swamp and landed on his shoulder. After catching his breath, they proceeded on down the trail, but due to severe pain and having to drive with one hand they made the hard decision to scratch.

Racers continued moving on down the trail and challenges where seen by all. Team 27 Tyler Drake and Shannon Jenkins came into Shell Lake in full race mode, and caught a ski sending Shannon into a tree. His left shoulder caught the force of the collision and resulted in ripped muscles and deep bruising. They continued on through McGrath and on into Ophir but the pain became too great and they where forced to scratch in Ophir.

Team 16 began the Iron Dog with previous injuries and didn’t make it far down the trail before more injuries were added to the list. Nick Olstad was riding into Puntilla when he hit a log. His crash caused a dislocated shoulder and broken shoulder cap on his left arm. With over 1800 miles to go in the race Team 16 kept on racing.

Sometimes it is of no human error that causes a team to be forced to scratch. Unfortunately for Team 18 Andrew Zwink, he caught a nasty case of the flu and couldn’t continue on down the trail. Andrew did not want to stop, but the effort of racing down the trail sick to your stomach pushed him and team mate Eric Watson to make the tough decision to scratch.
Team 5 Jerrod Vaughns Sled after the accident: Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Vaughn

Just 72 miles from when the trail turns and heads towards the coast near the Poorman checkpoint two teams met each other in a head on collision. This is the one section of the trail where there is two way traffic. Team 5 passed Team 39 right outside of Poorman and continued on to fuel in Poorman then turned around to leave the checkpoint.

All the racers knew the dangers of this portion of the trail and were alert to their surroundings, when Team 5 came around the corner and saw Team 39 approaching them both teams attempted to swerve and avoid each other. Unfortunately the attempt was not successful. Jerrod Vaughn was leading Team 5 and his sled was completely totaled. He came away with an injured wrist and ligament damage.

Team 39 was mostly unscathed from the accident. Chad Dow did not even realize he was injured. “I made sure the ski’s where pointed straight down the trail and away we went.” It was not until the next day when Team 39 was forced to scratch.

Team 22 Dieter Strobel and Kurt Steiner came from North Dakota and Minnesota just to reach the start line. On the way to McGrath a hole was blown in their cooler. They continued into McGrath towing in. Due to working on their sled in temperatures -35 F and colder Kurt Steiner received severe frostbite on his thumbs.

They kept moving forward into their layover in McGrath. They came off layover and raced on to Galena. Only in Galena, after blowing another belt on the ice did they decide for the safety of Kurt, to scratch.

Team 31 Tim and Remington Lessard where running a phenomenal race until they hit a rough spot outside of Unalakleet and Tim was thrown from his sled. He doesn’t remember much from around that time, but his helmet shows signs of impact. The concussion he sustained forced them to scratch in Unalakleet.

One of the few teams from rural Alaska in 2017, Team 19, raced a phenomenal race all the way into and through Kaltag. As Harold Attla was following Archie Beetus out of Nulato he hit an “iceberg” and cartwheeled on his sled for three full 360 degree turns. He was able to hang on to the machine for the first two turns, but came off on the third turn.

As the machine came over the third time it pancaked him and smashed him into the snow and ice. Because his studded track was still spinning, at close to 70-80 mph, it ripped his Klim gear completely off. His track dug into his back, punctured both his helmet and safety vest and only because of the quality of the mandatory safety gear, no tracks entered his body on his back or head.

He was very grateful for his great gear, that is required for all racers, for protecting him from the studs on his tracks. The studs did rip his backside and legs up pretty severely. There was a large amount of blood and the people of Nulato where very concerned when they came upon the accident.

Harold said he did not remember much from Friday or Saturday, but that he was told he kept asking when he could get out and keep racing. He is in severe pain, but thankful it was not more serious. “I am grateful for everyone at Iron Dog, all the calls, visits, and well wishes. I appreciate the race marshals and staff reaching out and Chris Olds coming to visit me. I know there were challenges, but sometimes that’s racing. Sometimes theres controversy, but thats racing.”

Even just a few hundred miles from the finish line accidents happen, even in your own backyard. Team 28 from Fairbanks, Jason Gundersen and Josh Norum can attest to the fact it’s not over until you cross the finish line. Josh hit an ice shelf outside of Ruby and had a fractured Tibia Plateau (near the knee). While he did not realize that was what occurred until after meeting with a doctor, when he reached Fairbanks, he knew he had overcome great pain to finish the race.

From start to finish racers pushed on, persevered and went farther than expected. Sometimes the race just catches up to you.

As is true for all Iron Doggers Team 12 got right back up and in just over a week, Robert is back at work and has recovered nearly his full range of motion.

Team 27 is at home recovering and getting ready for the next race after scratching in Ophir.

Working together as racing partners allowed Team 16 to be the first team into Nome. Claiming the Donlin Gold, Gold Rush Prize as well as the Bering Sea Lions Club fastest team from White Mountain to Nome Prize. At the finish line Team 16 came in 5th place just, 3:29:57 behind the 2017 Champions.

Team 18 scratched in Puntilla, due to the flu, but they are already preparing for what will come next.

Jerrod Vaughn from Team 5 was on his way to recovering when playing with his kids over the weekend added strain to his injured wrist. He is in therapy and a brace patiently, or not so patiently, waiting to race again.

Team 39 kept on moving into Galena when they made the decision to scratch. Seven days and 4 Doctor appointments later Chad discovered how bad his injuries truly were. He has multiple fractures, and had to have surgery to put pins in his left hand. Even after having pulled out of the race the toughness of the racers stands out. They persevered and did the best they could, having come all the way from Maine to race.

Kurt and Dieter, Team 22 are both previous racers and came from the lower 48 to race. Kurt is recovering and going through therapy to get completely back to a healthy state.

After being stuck in Unalakleet for a few days due to weather Team 31 is on their way home to Maine. The team is grateful for the support they received in Alaska and all the way back to Maine.

Team 19 flew into Fairbanks on a medevac flight out of Nulato Friday evening. Saturday Harold Attla was flown to Anchorage for treatment at the Alaska Native Medical Center. Thursday March 2, he was released from the hospital to return to Fairbanks to finish healing through home health visits. He is looking forward to getting his sled out of Nulato, “as there is not a scratch on it.”

Because of Josh Norum, Team 28s, accident and mechanical problems Jason took over riding his sled, even though he had cracked ribs. The desire to make it home, and finish in Fairbanks kept them going as they raced all the way into Fairbanks, finally taking eighth place.

Iron Dog is a challenge, one many do not accomplish. Out of 35 teams who entered only 14 finished. Everyone who enters is to be admired. Those who finish are to be celebrated. What place you cross the finish line in matters less than you finished. Iron Doggers are a rare breed, all are hard working, successful, and to be admired for overcoming much adversity to reach the finish line.

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