Iron Dog racers head for Nome

BIG LAKE — Spectators jammed the orange-fence-lined pit area of the 2012 Iron Dog Sunday morning as racers strapped on their helmets, covered their faces in duct tape and fired up their sleds to begin the grueling 2,031 mile trek to Nome, then on to Fairbanks.

Marc McKenna and Dusty VanMeter lead a field of rookie and veteran Iron Dog racers off the ice of Big Lake at 11:10 a.m. headed for the first checkpoint in Skwentna, 89 miles to the north. Within a few miles of good trail the No. 39 team of Tyler Aklestad and Aaron Loyer and the No. 2 team of Andrew Zwink and Ryan Sottosanti were within minutes of the two leaders.

The No.11 team — seven-time champion Scott Davis and four-time champion Todd Palin — was in fourth place with an average speed of 80 mph. But Akelstad and Loyer had the top speed over the first 89 miles, covering the span at an average of 90 mph.

In first place out of Skwentna and through the Shell Lake checkpoint Akelsted and Loyer headed for Puntilla Lake. Followed closely by Zwink and Sottosanti in second. Only a minute or two off the leaders pace were VanMeter and McKenna. Sliding into fourth place and pushing the team of Palin and Davis into fifth is the 2009 championship team of Todd Minnick and Nick Olstad.

That it only took those top five teams a little more than an hour to travel the first 106 miles points to good fast trail conditions for Sunday’s start. Iron Dog race marshal Chris Graeber said the trail looks great.

“This colder weather right now is firming it up,” Graeber said Sunday morning from pit row on Big Lake. “I think it’s going to be very fast. It’s pretty bumpy by the Finger Lake area. There is a lot of snow up there but the Steps look good and the Gorge looks good.”

The Steps are a series of three nearly vertical drops between Finger Lake and Puntilla Lake. They have a reputation of being a trouble spot especially in bad weather, but unlike the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race that choose to bypass that portion of the trail, the Iron Dog racers will travel this part of the trail.

“We are making them take the Steps this year,” said Graeber. “We are not taking the bypass trail at all. A lot of the racers said the Steps are a part of this race and they want to keep them.”

Graeber said they may look at that next year, but given the short notice about the Iditarod’s plan to bypass the Steps, race organizers opted to maintain the race’s usual route.

“We have to stick with what our rules state and our rules state we’re taking the Steps.”

By 3 p.m., eight teams had made it through the Steps to Puntilla Lake and departed for Rohn Roadhouse. The team of Akelsted and Loyer declared a layover while the team of Zwink and Sottosanti was first to leave, followed by McKenna and VanMeter, and Minnick and Olstad. By 3:30 p.m. another six teams hit Puntilla Lake on their way to the roadhouse.

Zwink and Sottosanti, last year’s fifth place team, reached the Rohn Roadhouse two minutes after McKenna and VanMeter, but left three minutes to maintain their heading into Nikolai.

Sitting in last place is the team of Carl Swenson and Jana Peterson-Pevan. The rookie duo had trouble as they left the lake and headed into the woods causing them to have to turn back and make some minor repairs.

Scratched from the race due to mechanical issues is the team of Race Price and Eric Watson.

Sitting right in the middle of the 30 remaining racers is this year’s youngest team of Iron Dog competitors, 18-year-old Cody Barber and Brad George. Sons of Iron Dog racers, the young team was averaging around 50 mph, compared to the leaders speed in the 80 mph range.

This year’s Iron Dog started a little rough for organizers after a couple ice fishing holes flooded the start area and some parking areas the week before. Then a few days of warm weather and thin ice began to worry Mat-Su Borough officials. But by Sunday morning a new starting chute had been plowed out, temperatures dropped enough to freeze most of the overflow, and 30 races roared down the lake on their way to the checkered flag.

Contact reporter and photographer Robert DeBerry at Robert.DeBerry@frontiersman.com.