Safety By: Michael Rogers The 2019 Iditarod is quickly coming to an end and it is coming down to what amounts to a drag race, well, at least as far as drag races go in the world of long distance sled dog racing. The leaders left Koyuk last night just an hour apart and arrived […]
2019 Iditarod Coverage — Day 9.5
Scratch By: Michael Rogers At this writing, it has been confirmed that Nicolas Petit has scratched in Shaktoolik checkpoint at 7:00p and is officially out of the race. His team stalled out on the sea ice in Norton Sound and wouldn’t budge. While many fans of the race wonder why what happened, happened; the simple […]
2019 Iditarod Coverage — Day 9
White Mountain By: Michael Rogers This year is an example of just how quickly the Iditarod can change. At 10:00p last night, then leader Nic Petit’s team ran into difficulty on the ice and simply quit moving. At the time he had a commanding lead of a couple of hours over his pursuers and looked […]
Joar Leifseth Ulsom – Mushing Profile
Name: Joar Leifseth Ulsom Birth Date: February 21, 1987 Birth Place: Mo i Rana, Norway Residence: Willow, Alaska Joar kneeling with his leaders in Nome in 2016 Iditarod. Photo by: KNOM Radio Mission By The Numbers Number of Iditarod Finishes: 6 out of 6 attempts (2013-2018) Best Finish: 1st place (2018) Best Time: 8d 11h 0m 40s (2017) […]
2019 Iditarod Coverage — Day 8
Shaktoolik By: Michael Rogers After checking in to Unalakleet, Nic Petit rested his team for 5 hours and departed with his remaining ten dogs for Shaktoolik just before 3:00p. At the time of this writing he is expected to hit Shaktoolik shortly after 8:00p. His main pursuers, Joar Ulsom and Jessie Royer gave chase just […]
2019 Iditarod Coverage — Day 7.5
The Bering Coast By: Michael Rogers This morning, race leader Nic Petit is checking in at Unalakleet and the Bering Sea. Unalakleet is the largest town on the Iditarod trail between the start and finish lines and is an annual stop for mushers on both northern and southern routes. The first out of Kaltag, Petit […]
2019 Iditarod Coverage — Day 7
The Race Starts Here By: Michael Rogers The final push up the Yukon is now over for about half the front pack with the rest expected by midnight. Pete Kaiser was first into Kaltag at 4:48p, netting himself the Fish First Award from Bristol Bay Native Corporation. The prize is a certificate for 25 pounds […]
2019 Iditarod Coverage — Day 6.5
Kaltag By: Michael Rogers The pulse of the Iditarod is picking up as the teams close in on the end of the Yukon portion of the course in Kaltag. Dallas Seavey once remarked several years ago, “The real race starts in Kaltag” and the front pack will be there by early evening. Overnight, the teams […]
2019 Iditarod Coverage — Day 6
Shageluk to Grayling and Weather on the “8’s” By: Michael Rogers Mushing continued on Day 6 of the Iditarod and it played out, more or less, as expected from this morning. Nic Petit was the first into Grayling and surprised everyone by staying there for his Yukon 8. His time in was 11:48 and out […]
2019 Iditarod Coverage — Day 5.5
The Yukon By: Michael Rogers Overnight, Nic Petit pushed through Shageluk and was the first musher to arrive in Anvik on the mighty Yukon. As a result he netted the “First to the Yukon” prize, a five-course meal from the Lakefront Hotel in Anchorage and a cash prize. He rested there for four and a […]
2019 Iditarod Coverage — Day 5
TWENTY FOURS By: Michael Rogers On Day 5 of the Iditarod, most of the field is finishing their twenty-four hour rest, as a result there just aren’t many changes to talk about. The teams got some rest and some food. The mushers got some rest and some food. Aliy Zirkle pulled into Iditarod at 1:38 […]
2019 Iditarod Update — Day 4
Iditarod Midpoint- Ghosts, Gambles, Snow, and Madness By: Michael Rogers It’s the 4th day of racing for the Iditarod at 9:00p and Aliy Zirkle is out in front, pushing through a storm bound for the race’s official midpoint, the Gold Rush era ghost town of Iditarod. Iditarod used to be a bustling gold mining town […]
