Editor’s note: This story will be updated as the mushers advance in the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Check back for more details.
Richard Arlin Walker
Special to ICT
Final Update: March 14
Ryan Redington has won the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, setting off an Indigenous sweep of the top three positions. Read the full story here in ICT.
For a day-by-day account of the race, keep reading.
Update: March 14
Redington within 75 miles of winning Iditarod
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is Ryan Redington’s to lose.
Redington, Inupiaq, was the first to arrive at White Mountain, Alaska, (mile 921) — the second-to-last checkpoint before the finish line in Nome — at 8:12 p.m. ET on Monday, March 13. Mushers and teams are required to rest there for eight hours before proceeding on to Safety (mile 976) and then Nome, at mile 998.
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And he was able to leave White Mountain at 4:12 a.m. ET on Tuesday, March 14, still holding on to the lead in the fast-paced Iditarod.
The nearest competitors, Peter Kaiser, Yup’ik, and Richie Diehl, Dena’ina Athabascan, will be able to proceed eight hours after their arrival. Kaiser and Diehl arrived at White Mountain at 12:29 a.m. and 12:37 a.m. EST, respectively, on March 14, for their 8-hour layover.
Meanwhile, past Iditarod top-10 finisher Mike Williams Jr., Yup’ik, the only other Indigenous musher in the race, was three checkpoints back in Shaktoolik (mile 777) and in 21st place.
By Tuesday morning, Redington was less than 75 miles away from becoming the sixth Alaska Native and second Inupiaq musher to win the Iditarod.
Redington’s grandfather, Joe Redington Sr., co-founded the Iditarod in 1973 to celebrate the heritage of the Alaska sled dog and to keep interest in mushing alive. Six Redingtons are Iditarod veterans; four are multiple top 10 finishers and three are in the Mushers Hall of Fame, but Ryan Redington would be the first in his family to win the championship. He would also be the 25th individual to win the Iditarod (several mushers have won the race more than once).
A Redington-Kaiser-Diehl finish, in whatever order, would put an Indigenous stamp on an event that, for many Alaska Natives, spotlights an important aspect of their culture: the relationship between the sled dog and Alaska Native peoples.
According to Akiak Native Community Chief Mike Williams Sr., father of Iditarod musher Mike Williams Jr., the sled dog has been part of Indigenous Alaskan lives for about 10,000 years, a time frame that is supported by genetics and archeological evidence.
In addition, a Redington-Kaiser-Diehl finish would be the first Indigenous one-two-three finish since 1974. Carl Huntington, Athabascan, won the race that year, followed by Warner Vent, Athabascan, and Herbie Nayokpuk, Inupiaq. Rudy Demoski, Athabascan, finished fourth.
Redington was in the top five for much of the race. He fed and rested his dogs for a few hours at just about every other checkpoint, in addition to the eight-hour and a 24-hour layovers required of all mushers and teams.
Redington took the lead in Kaltag (mile 652), changed to a lighter sled in Unalakleet (mile 737), and picked up the pace to build some distance between his team and Kaiser’s.
Kaiser chipped away at Redington’s lead, leaving one checkpoint while Redington napped and outpacing him to Shaktoolik and Koyuk. But Redington’s dog team was energized. They stopped at the Elim checkpoint for five minutes; Kaiser and his team stopped for five hours, presumably to make up for rests that were abbreviated to keep Redington from gaining an insurmountable lead.
Kaiser and his team slowly closed the gap. He averaged 7.82 mph to Shaktoolik (mile 777) to Redington’s 7.67 mph; and 8.62 mph to Koyuk (mile 827) to Redington’s 8.38 mph. But it wasn’t enough to erase Redington’s lead.
But the race is not over. Standing between Redington and the finish line are 22 miles of Bering Sea coast and a formidable opponent: the weather. The National Weather Service forecasts 15-25 mph winds, gusting to 40 mph, with reduced visibility in blowing snow.
Musher Jeff King had been within 20 miles of the finish line and his fifth Iditarod title in 2014 when he and his team were forced to drop out of the race after they lost the trail in a whiteout and had to call for help. That opened the door for Dallas Seavey to win his second of five Iditarod championships. That history is not lost on Kaiser.
The 2023 Iditarod is the 51st running of the event. The race, featuring 33 mushers and dog teams, got underway March 5 in Willow, Alaska.
Three mushers scratched – rookie Jennifer LaBar, because of a hand injury; defending champion Brent Sass, because of three aching teeth; and rookie Gregg Vitello because he felt it was “in the best interest of his team.” Vitello’s team was in good health, race officials reported.
Update: March 13
Kaiser closes in on Redington
The 2023 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is shaping up to be one of the most historic in 50 years.
With only about a day left in the 998-mile race, 2019 Iditarod champion Peter Kaiser was closing in on leader Ryan Redington early on Monday, March 13. Richie Diehl was in third, with a three-hour lead ahead of musher Matt Hall in fourth.
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While the winner won’t cross the finish line in Nome, Alaska, until early March 14, Alaska time, the mushers still must go through Elim (mile 875), White Mountain (mile 921) and Safety (mile 976) before reaching Nome at mile 998.
Should Redington, Kaiser and Diehl finish in the top three positions, it would be the first time Indigenous Alaskans swept the top spots since 1974.
Carl Huntington, Athabascan, won the race that year, followed by Warner Vent, Athabascan, and Herbie Nayokpuk, Inupiaq. Rudy Demoski, Athabascan, finished fourth.
An Alaska Native top 3 finish would put an Indigenous cultural stamp on an event that was created to celebrate the heritage of the Alaska sled dog, which has been part of Indigenous Alaska life for at least a millennium.
Four Indigenous mushers are in this year’s race: Redington, Inupiaq; Kaiser, Yup’ik; Diehl, Dena’ina Athabascan; and Mike Williams Jr., Yup’ik.
Redington’s grandfather, Joe Redington Sr., co-founded the Iditarod in 1973 to celebrate the sled dog and to keep interest in mushing alive. The strength and endurance of the Alaska sled dog became known to the outside world in 1925 when 20 mushers and 150 sled dogs carried serum across 674 miles to Nome to fend off a diphtheria epidemic. But by the mid-20th century, the sled dog began to be supplanted by the snowmachine and the widespread practice of mushing waned.
A win by Redington would be significant on several personal and professional levels. He would be the sixth Alaska Native and the second Inupiaq to win the Iditarod. Six Redingtons are Iditarod veterans. Four are multiple top-10 finishers, and three are in the Mushers Hall of Fame. Redington would be the 25th individual to win the Iditarod (several mushers have won the race more than once).
Kaiser would win his second Iditarod championship if he can pass Redington. Kaiser is the only Yup’ik musher to win the Iditarod.
Back to the present: Redington has managed his dog team well, with a rest-run strategy that has kept his team energized and enabled them to slowly build distance ahead of the field. Redington and his team averaged 8.43 mph to Unalakleet (mile 737) March 12, and had enough time to rest his team for four hours, switch to a lighter sled and return to the trail before Kaiser arrived. Kaiser, who had averaged 6.06 mph to Unalakleet, was compelled to continue on lest Redington gain an insurmountable lead.
As he changed sleds while his dogs napped, Redington talked about Kaiser and Diehl closing in on him.
“Those two are the best there is at hunting people down,” he said. “But I’m enjoying being the hunted here. I’m aware they’re coming. It’s going to be fun to try to fight them off.”
Kaiser and his team slowly closed the gap. He averaged 7.82 mph to Shaktoolik (mile 777) to Redington’s 7.67 mph; and 8.62 mph to Koyuk (mile 827) to Redington’s 8.38 mph. Redington and Kaiser rested their teams for about three and a half hours before heading out, with Redington 26 minutes ahead of Kaiser.
Diehl and his team departed Koyuk at 5:49 a.m. March 13 local time, after a four-hour rest. The fourth Indigenous musher in the race, Williams, and his team were resting at mile 696, with a good shot at finishing in the top 20.
Williams, son of noted Iditarod veteran Mike Williams Sr., has finished seven Iditarods and placed eighth in 2012 and 11th in 2014.
“I plan to run this mostly to enjoy the trip across Alaska,” he wrote in his Iditarod bio. “I have a nice group of young, talented dogs and we will use this run as part of a training run possibly for next year’s Kusko 300. Dogs that make Iditarod, no matter how long it takes, go home with a new toughness and a certain pride in their eyes. They accomplished a tough race.”
Trail conditions have been good, both on the sea ice and on land, and Redington and Kaiser have been able to pick up the pace.
“There’s not a breath of wind out there and the snow is packed hard,” Iditarod Insider commentator Bruce Lee said March 12 in Koyuk. “[Ryan and Pete] are looking at their dogs and seeing how they are mentally. They’re thinking about calories in and calories out, they’re looking at the weather. It’s stable right now. You could drop a feather out there on the sea ice and it would land on your boots, which is unusual on the bay.”
The weather can be a formidable opponent, more formidable than a well-rested team that is closing in. Jeff King was within 20 miles from the finish line and his fifth Iditarod title in 2014 when he and his team were forced to drop out of the race after they lost the trail in a whiteout and had to call for help. That opened the door for Dallas Seavey to win his second of five Iditarod championships.
Update: March 11
Redington, Diehl, Kaiser vie for lead in Iditarod
The unexpected often occurs in the 998-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, whether it’s a moose encounter or sudden whiteout conditions or a trail mogul that breaks a sled runner.
On March 11, the unexpected took the form of three aching teeth that compelled defending champion Brent Sass to drop out of the race.
Sass, who was in the lead for part of the race and was among the first five to reach all checkpoints thus far, dropped out of the race at Eagle Island (mile 592).
“At that rest earlier today, I was just wasted,” Sass said. “I slept the whole time and didn’t do all the things I needed to do with the dogs and they noticed that. They’ve been noticing it the whole time. I put on a pretty good façade, but they’re picking up on the fact that I’m not feeling great.”
Sass had arrived at Eagle Island roughly three and a half hours ahead of the pack. His departure slingshot Alaska Native mushers Richie Diehl, Pete Kaiser and Ryan Redington into the lead.
The three arrived at Eagle Island within minutes of each other, followed by Iditarod veteran and “Life Below Zero” star Jessie Holmes.
Redington, Inupiaq, the grandson of Iditarod co-founder Joe Redington Sr., was in the lead by midday. He arrived at Kaltag (mile 652) at 12:47 p.m. local time, averaging 7.91 mph enroute.
Diehl, Dena’ina Athabaskan, arrived at 1:03 p.m., averaging 7.58 mph. Kaiser, Yup’ik, the 2019 champion, arrived at 1:19 p.m., averaging 7.52 mph.
The three rested their team for about four and a half hours before departing for Unalakleet (mile 737), the gateway to the Bering Sea. Holmes, meanwhile, arrived at Kaltag at 2:28 p.m., running his team at a slower pace and resting for five and half hours before departing.
Holmes may have been building his team’s energy reserves for the 85-mile run to Unalakleet River, which can be fraught with sudden storms and strong winds. But he has strong challengers in Redington, Diehl and Kaiser, with whom he’s leapfrogged for the lead through much of the race.
Bruce Lee, an Iditarod veteran and commentator for Iditarod Insider, said Team Redington looks well-rested and energized.
“I just spent some time talking to Ryan and he’s really alert,” Lee said at 5 p.m. March 11. “Mushers cycle up and down in their sleep cycles, but he’s high on this — leading the Iditarod. Not over exuberant, just taking care of himself. He’s well rested and he likes being where he is. He realizes he has speed on a few of these teams and a lot of speed on others. So he’s really positive right now.”
The run from Kaltag to Unalakleet “is often a run that separates the lead pack from [the others],” said Greg Heiser, another Iditarod Insider commentator.
Lee agreed. “You’re looking for minutes here,” he said. “Just getting in 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there, it starts adding up. This will be kind of a power run.”
From Unalakleet, mushers and teams will continue on to Shaktoolik (mile 777), Koyuk (mile 827), Elim (mile 875), White Mountain (mile 921), Safety (mile 976); and Nome (mile 998). A winner could cross the finish line on March 13.
Update: March 10
Diehl, Kaiser, Redington in top six
Veteran Iditarod musher Jessie Holmes of “Life Below Zero” fame arrived at the Shageluk checkpoint (mile 487) at 2:11 a.m. local time March 10, aware that fellow Iditarod veteran Richie Diehl, Dena’ina Athabaskan, was just minutes behind him in the 998-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
“I’m Jessie Holmes,” he told a checkpoint volunteer. “I’m not the Real Diehl.”
Diehl chose to rest his team for three hours at Shageluk while Holmes pushed on to Anvik, on the Yukon River (mile 512). By 6 a.m., Diehl was in fourth and closing in again, within 18 miles of Holmes, a three-time top 10 Iditarod finisher; Nic Petit, a six-time top 10 Iditarod finisher; and defending champion Brent Sass.
Pete Kaiser, Yup’ik, was close behind in fifth. Ryan Redington, Inupiaq, was in sixth. Michael Williams Jr., Yup’ik, was in 22nd and has been running a consistent race near the middle of the pack.
All mushers are required to take a 24-hour layover, an eight-hour layover no later than Ophir, and an additional layover at White Mountain (mile 921). Holmes took his required 24-hour layover at Ophir (mile 352). Diehl, Kaiser and Redington took theirs in Takotna (mile 329); Williams took his in Ophir.
In addition to their required layovers, all mushers rest and feed their teams as needed during the race.
Run-and-rest strategies become more important as the race progresses. Mushers and teams who take their required rests earlier can slingshot ahead of mushers who run longer and take their layovers later. Some may rest off the trail, out of sight of other mushers who may feel compelled to push on to keep up with other teams but may end up having to rest longer later.
Depending on weather conditions, a musher may choose to rest during the day when it’s warmer and race at night when cold evening temperatures firm up the trails and dogs can stay cool while running.
Pace, training and endurance, too, are tested on longer stretches of the race. Distances between checkpoints range from 30 to 55 miles, but the longest distances are from Rohn to Nikolai, 75 miles; Ophir to Iditarod, 80 miles; and Kaltag to Unalakleet, 85 miles.
Bruce Lee, a veteran of seven Iditarods and a former top 10 finisher, follows the race for Iditarod Insider, and commented on Diehl, Kaiser and Redington’s teams when they left Takotna.
“They roared out of here like at the start of a sprint race,” he said. “It was a really pretty thing to see, dogs with that much energy. A lot of the teams look good, but Richie’s team, holy mackerel, and Pete’s too — the power there. It’s going to be cool to see as things stretch out now how these stronger teams start to pull away.”
The 51st Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race began March 5 in Willow and concludes in Nome.
Update: March 8
Redington and team are first to reach McGrath
Indigenous mushers Ryan Redington and Richie Diehl were each in McGrath, Alaska, for two or three minutes March 7 before continuing on in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. But that was enough time for some very special, memorable moments.
Redington, Inupiaq, the grandson of Iditarod co-founder Joe Redington Sr., was the first musher to reach the McGrath checkpoint (mile 311), winning the Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award. He received a pair of musher’s mitts with beaver and beaded leather by Athabaskan artist Loretta Maillelle, of McGrath, as well as a beaver hat handmade by Rosalie Egrass, also of McGrath.
“I’m going to treasure this. Thank you,” Redington said, before he and his team continued on to Takotna, where they stopped for a rest.
He said he and his team had taken some 4-hour, 40-minute rests between checkpoints and planned on taking their mandatory 24-hour layover in the village of Iditarod.
“The team’s looking good,” he said.
Richie Diehl, Dena’ina Athabaskan, arrived in McGrath shortly after Redington to greetings from family members, including signs and hugs from two nieces.
McGrath is roughly the one-third mark of the Iditarod. The race began March 5 in Willow, with the finish line is in Nome. Redington arrived in McGrath nine minutes ahead of three-time top 10 Iditarod finisher Jessie Holmes.
Diehl was third to arrive in McGrath, just ahead of defending champion Brent Sass, and 2019 champion Peter Kaiser, Yup’ik.
Kaiser said the trail conditions have been good so far.
“This has might have been, the last couple of nights, some of the nicest full moon mushing I’ve ever seen,” Kaiser told Iditarod Insider at the Farewell Burn, so-called because of a massive wildfire that occurred there in 1977.
“You can almost see stuff I haven’t seen in 14 years. It’s really bright out. It’s fun to run with no headlight and see the mountains all around.”
Thirty-three mushers began the race and only one — rookie Iditarod musher Jennifer LaBar — has dropped out. She scratched on March 6 at the Rainy Pass checkpoint because of a hand injury sustained earlier that day.
The field includes four Alaska Native mushers: Redington, Diehl, Kaiser, and Michael Williams Jr., Yup’ik. Williams is a veteran of seven Iditarods and placed eighth in 2012. He is expected to arrive at McGrath from Nikolai today.
March 7
Three Indigenous mushers in top 10
Ryan Redington, Inupiaq, and Richie Diehl, Dena’ina Athabascan, were in second and fourth place, respectively, at 7 a.m. local time on Tuesday, March 7, in the 51st Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
It’s Day 3 of the roughly 1,000-mile race, which began March 5 in Willow, Alaska. The leading mushers and dog teams have ascended the 3,500-foot Rainy Pass and descended into the flatlands of the Alaska interior.
At mile 253 into the race, Redington was 10 miles behind Nic Petit, a past top 10 Iditarod finisher who was holding onto first place. Redington and his team were averaging 8.6 mph. Diehl was at mile 249, averaging 8.0 mph, and was just ahead of defending champion Brent Sass.
2019 champion Peter Kaiser, Yup’ik, was in eighth. He and his team were at mile 240 and moving at an average 7.7 mph. Michael Williams Jr., Yup’ik, was in 26th and resting his team at the Rohn checkpoint, mile 188. Many mushers choose to take one of their mandatory rests here before continuing on into the interior.
Next for the leading mushers: Nikolai (mile 263), the first of many Alaska Native villages along the Iditarod Trail. At McGrath (mile 311), the first musher to arrive will receive the Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award: a pair of handmade musher’s mitts with beaver and beaded leather by Loretta Maillelle, Athabaskan, of McGrath.
Mushers rest and feed their dogs as needed during the course of the race. Endurance, pace, timing of rests, and accounting for trail and weather conditions are all part of the race strategy. In addition, they must take two eight-hour rests – one at any checkpoint along the Yukon River, another at White Mountain – and a 24-hour rest at any checkpoint before the midway point.
All finishers will join an elite club of 823 mushers who have completed the Iditarod — known as the Last Great Race on Earth — since the first event in 1973.
Day 1, March 5
Iditarod kicks off from Willow, Alaska
Thirty-three mushers and dog teams got underway on Sunday, March 5, in the 51st Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, leaving Willow, Alaska, at 2 p.m. local time.
In about nine days, one of them will be the first to cross the finish line in Nome some 998 miles away. By then, mushers and dogs will have traveled across a rugged landscape of forests, tundra, icy rivers, a steep mountain pass and deep gorge, and windswept coastlines. They might have had to navigate whiteout conditions, sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds.
They’ll also experience the hospitality of volunteers at checkpoints and the warm greetings in Alaska Native villages along the route.
The Iditarod race committee reported a good snowpack all the way to Nome. The daytime temperature is forecast to peak at 32, dropping to 6 at night, on the way to the checkpoints at Yentna (mile 53), Skwentna (mile 83), Finger Lake (mile 123), and Rainy Pass (mile 153).
Mushers and dogs are required to take two eight-hour rests and one 24-hour rest during the race. They are free to take other rests as needed, at checkpoints or off trail, though the length and timing of those rests are part of each musher’s strategy. The race will test each team’s training, fitness and endurance.
All finishers will join an elite club of 823 mushers who have completed the Iditarod — known as the Last Great Race on Earth — since the first event in 1973.
There are four Alaska Native competitors in this year’s race:
—Peter Kaiser, Yup’ik, of Bethel, winner of the 2019 Iditarod and seven-time winner of the Kuskokwim 300, a highly regarded mid-distance race
—Richie Diehl, Dena’ina Athabascan, a three-time top 10 Iditarod finisher and a past Kuskokwim 300 champion
—Ryan Redington, Inupiaq, of Knik, a three-time top 10 Iditarod finisher and two-time winner of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in Minnesota
—Mike Williams Jr., Yup’ik, of Akiak, a seven-time Iditarod finisher who placed a career-best eighth in 2012.
Five Indigenous mushers have won the Iditarod: Carl Huntington, Athabascan, 1974; Emmitt “The Yukon Fox” Peters, Athabascan, 1975; Jerry Riley, Athabascan, 1976; John Baker, Inupiaq, 2011; and Kaiser.
The Iditarod was founded by Joe Redington Sr. – Ryan Redington’s grandfather – and Dorothy Page to keep interest alive in dog mushing and to celebrate the heritage of the Alaska sled dog, which has been an important part of Alaska Native life for several millennia. Use of the sled dog for transport and travel began to wane in the mid-20th century after the introduction of the snowmobile.
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