2026 Iditarod Wraps Up: Holmes Takes Gold, Beattie Wins Red Lantern

With the arrival of rookie Richie Beattie in Nome on March 20 at 7:49 p.m., the 2026 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race came to a close. Beattie claimed the Red Lantern award, earning $1,000 and the honor of extinguishing the widow’s lamp on the burled arch, signaling that all teams have safely returned from the trail.

The 2026 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the 54th running of "The Last Great Race on Earth," saw Jessie Holmes win his second consecutive championship, finishing in Nome on March 17, 2026, with a time of 9 days, 7 hours, and 32 minutes. Veteran musher Travis Beals finished second, roughly four and a half hours behind Holmes.

Holmes dominated the race, winning all special awards on the trail and leading a competitive field of 34 teams on the route. During the course of his nine-day race, Holmes won the Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award, GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award, First Musher to the Yukon Award, Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award, Ryan Air Gold Coast Award and the Northrim Bank Achieve More Award.

The 2026 race used the northern route, starting ceremonially in Anchorage on March 7 and officially restarting in Willow on March 8, covering nearly 1,000 miles. The 2026 race had 37 teams at the start, one of the smaller fields in the race's history.

This year’s Iditarod saw the introduction of New "Expedition Class,” a new, non-competitive category that allowed participants to travel the trail alongside the competitive field of mushers under a different set of rules, including Norwegian billionaire Kjell Røkke, who became the first-ever Expedition winner. While he was ineligible for any trail awards or cash prizes, Røkke was awarded a special Expedition Class buckle upon completing the trail.

Four mushers scratched during the race, including rookie Jody Potts-Joseph, who withdrew Tripod Flats Cabin between Kaltag and Unalakleet on March 17, and veteran Mille Porsild, who withdrew at the Elim checkpoint following the death of her dog, Charley.

Canadian musher Jesse Terry earned the Rookie of the Year Award with a 14th place finish.

From the ceremonial start in Anchorage to the final dog's paw prints on Front Street in Nome, the 2026 Iditarod once again tested the limits of human and canine endurance and the 2026 race will go into the history books as a triumph for Holmes and his ‘Team Can't Stop’ and a memorable chapter in Alaska's most famous tradition.