Riders ready for Iron Dog

WASILLA — For riders and fans of the Iron Dog, two words should serve as good advice for this year’s 25th running of the world’s longest snowmachine race: dress warm.

Temperatures in Interior Alaska recently have plunged to as cold as minus-65 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning the iconic duct tape face guards worn by riders will be out in full force Sunday on Big Lake.

“They can’t forget to plan accordingly,” race executive director Laura Bedard said Friday.

Although cold, Bedard said the trail is in reasonably good shape, although there are some rough patches throughout due to the recent clear, cold and windy conditions that have persisted over most of the state for the past two weeks.

Bedard said this year’s pro class field of 40 two-man teams is the largest in the race’s history. Of those 80 riders, a quarter hail from the Mat-Su Valley, including defending champion Todd Palin, who’ll once again team up with Soldotna’s Scott Davis for another run at the title.

Team Davis/Palin isn’t the only crew with experience at the front of the pack. Eight riders in the field are the eight previous winners, including three from Wasilla — Palin (’95, ‘00, ‘02, ‘07), Nick Olstad (’05) and Andy George (’06). George will again ride with Fairbanks’ Dwayne Drake, a two-time winner and former Palin teammate.

The other former champions in the race are Nome’s Evan Booth, who’ll ride with Willow’s Shane Barber, Anchorage’s Marc McKenna, Soldotna’s Dusty VanMeter and Drake (riding with Andy George).

The checkered flag is set to drop at 11 a.m. today on the frozen surface of Big Lake. First out of the gate will be the all-Mat-Su team of Rick Fleming of Palmer and Wasilla’s Tim Bruns, to be followed by the rest of the field at two-minute intervals.

As in past years, there will be plenty of pre-race festivities, including vendor booths, music, an emcee, and speeches from prominent politicians — none bigger than Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Todd Palin’s wife and a longtime Iron Dog supporter.

Also, plenty of hot cocoa and food, as well.

“There’s going to be some good food out there,” Bedard said.

Bedard said that there will also be events following the race start, including a classic race featuring sleds dating from 1979 and earlier sponsored by the Alaska Motor Mushers Club.

The Iron Dog pro class race features a first place prize of $25,000, with an overall race purse totaling more than $165,000, including special sponsorship bonuses.

The race begins on the ice of Big Lake and heads north from there, traveling through checkpoints in Skwentna, Puntilla, Rohn, Nikolai, McGrath, Ophir, Poorman and Ruby before turning west on the Yukon River through Galena, Kaltag, Unalakleet, Koyuk, White Mountain and into Nome, the halfway point. After a layover in Nome, riders will follow the course back to Ruby, then continue east through Tanana, Manley Hot Springs, Nenana and to the finish line at Pike’s Waterfront Lodge in Fairbanks — a grand total of 1,971 miles.

Last year’s winners, Palin and Davis, completed the course in 38 hours, 7 minutes and 57 seconds.

Bedard said the best way to follow the race is online, where for the second year the Iron Dog will be using global positioning system (GPS) technology to track riders as they move along the trail. Other cross country distance races, such as the Baja 1000 truck race in Mexico, use similar technology, and Bedard said the high-tech program was a big hit with race fans last year.

“As people begin to understand the technology, they become more interest in following it that way,” she said.

For more information on the race, visit www.irondog.org.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com

Pro class starting order

1. Team 7, Rick Fleming, Palmer and Tim Bruns, Wasilla

2. Team 16, Todd Minnick, Wasilla and Nick Olstad, Wasilla*

3. Team 10, Chris Olds, Eagle River and Matthew Spernak, Anchorage

4. Team 1, Lahka Peacock, Nome and Dan Paajanen, Eagle River/Kotzebue

5. Team 5, Wayne Wold, Wasilla and Steve Spence, Anchorage

6. Team 25, Troy Wilbur, Wasilla and Tyler Brown, Anchorage

7. Team 22, Todd Palin, Wasilla* and Scott Davis, Soldotna*

8. Team 8, Tyler Aklestad, Palmer and Tyson Johnson, Eagle River

9. Team 9, Darrick Johnson, Coeur d’Alene, ID and Kurt Steiner, Bismarck, ND

10. Team 14, Eric Quam, Eagle River and Marc McKenna, Anchroage*

11. Team 21, David Branholm, Big Lake and Randy Hunter, Jr., Big Lake

12. Team 23, Mark Niver, Wasilla and Jeff Whitstine, Palmer

13. Team 3, Shane Barber, Willow and Evan Booth, Nome*

14. Team 19, Daanan Mahn, Rathdrum, ID and Todd Stam, Coeur d’Alene, ID

15. Team 4, Pete Demoski, Koyukuk and Tyler Huntington, Galena

16. Team 15, Bryce Benson, Fairbanks and Kane Richardson, Fairbanks

17. Team 6, Tim Jauhola, Fairbanks and Bob Jauhola, Fairbanks

18. Team 11, Brad Reich, Kiana and John Bahnke III, Nome

19. Team 17, Jimmer Dick, Seward and Dusty VanMeter, Soldotna*

20. Team 18, Dwayne Drake, Fairbanks* and Andy George, Wasilla*

21. Team 38, Charles Distel, Montrose, Colo. and Terry Hawkins, Montrose, Colo.

22. Team 33, Calvin Gooden, Nome and Jason Peterson, Golovin

23. Team 30, Ray Richards, North Pole and Ron Soule, Wasilla

24. Team 12, Robbie Muir, Anchorage and Don Seidler, Anchorage

25. Team 31, Daniel O’Connor, Healy and Jacob Hannon, Koyuk

26. Team 39, Rod Downey, Montrose, Colo. and Joey Hamilton, Montrose, Colo.

27. Team 34, Stewart Pitka, Anchorage and Ashley Wallace, Tanana

28. Team 2, Will Burton, Anchorage and Jeremy Neeser, Anchorage

29. Team 36, Howard Farley, Nome and Harvey Farley, Nome

30. Team 42, James Hastings, Wasilla and Charles Potter, Big Lake

31. Team 27, Vernon Albert, Ruby and Richard Frerichs, Jr., Ruby

32. Team 26, Clinton Huntington, Fairbanks and Jeff Pelkola, Galena

33. Team 32, Chris Downs, Ninilchik and Ryan Swanson, Kenai

34. Team 13, Jade Greene, Kotzebue and Unch Schuerch, Kiana

35. Team 28, James ‘Tre’ West III, Nome and Jim West, Jr., Nome

36. Team 20, James Spikes, Wasilla and Andrew Zwink, Wasilla

37. Team 35, Gary Higdon, Anchorage and Calvin Monroe, Anchorage

38. Team 29, Fred Otton, Anchorage and Peter Reich, Sr., Palmer

39. Team 41, Forest Fryberg, Shelburne, NH and Mark Paaso, Bethel, ME

40. Team 37, Louie Carlo, Fairbanks and Tom Kriska, Fairbanks

Trail Class teams

(Big Lake to Nome only)

Team 40: Danie Ryznar, Anchorage and Mike Tope, Anchorage

Team 50: Ben Charles, Anchorage and Patrick Cummins, Anchorage

Team 51: Andrew Boomershine, Anchorage; Skip Boomershine, Anchorage; Brian Boomershine, Hamilton, OH; Michael Fuller, Chugiak; and Jack Stoebner, Eagle River

Team 55: Joe Baggette, Wasilla and Chris Maynard, Anchorage

Team 60: Emily Brassard, Anchorage; Tracey Brassard, Anchorage; Kari Lee, Eagle River; and Ken Lee, Eagle River

* Denotes former champion