Valley team wins 2020 Iron Dog

BIG LAKE— Nick Olstad and Tyler Aklestad of Team 7 were the first racers to cross the 2020 Iron Dog finish line.

After several days of braving the elements and nearly 1,800 miles of wild terrain, the Valley team was clearly relieved to make it back home.

“It was great. It was definitely brutal,” Aklestad said.

The start and finish locations were reversed this year, starting out of Fairbanks and concluding at Big Lake. Hundreds of people gathered on the ice to welcome the 2020 racers.

Team 7 led the way the entire race and crossed the Big Lake finish line at 1:18 p.m. The remaining racers flowed in throughout the day. Winning the Iron Dog takes countless hours of practice, corporate sponsorship and plenty of support at home.

“All of our friends and family is the biggest thing,” Aklestad said.

Trail conditions were particularly intense this year. Out of 29 original teams, only 11 finished. Four of the remaining teams were rookies, according to a recent press release.

The extreme weather and an additional 375-mile loop that passes through Kotzebue prompted many people to call this one of the toughest races in Iron Dog history.

“We got a good shock because the weather was so bad this year,” Aklestad said at the finish line. “It’s by far the worst Iron Dog I’ve ever been in, as far as visibility navigating. It was pretty bad.”

Team 10, two-time defending Iron Dog champions Chris Olds and Mike Morgan took second place, and Team 5, Brett Lapham and Zack Weisz, placed third.

Aklestad and Olstad kept more than a two-hour lead over Olds and Morgan with Lapham and Weisz nearly two hours behind them.

When Morgan reached the finish line, he said the large time gaps illustrate just how different this year’s race has been compared to past years, where the time between first and second place can be mere minutes apart.

Aklestad and Olstad have numerous Iron Dog victories under their belts, four for Olstad and two for Aklestad. This was their first time racing together. They set a new course record of 50 hours, 8 minutes and 3 seconds.

“It was a little challenging this year; we had the weather against us and a ground storm challenging the racers,” Iron Dog board member Doug Dixon stated in the press release. “But it turned out well – we had a lot of volunteers in Kotzebue and the other communities and we thank them.”

Roommates Zoie Holland and Lacey Forster were part of a large turnout of enthusiastic Iron Dog spectators.

“We loved it. It was amazing,” Forster said. “You get to witness them accomplish something big. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Holland said the atmosphere was lIke one big, family friendly tailgater with the whole community coming together.

“I think it’s a family event. You can bring anybody here...The community is great,” Holland said. “It will make memories that last forever.”

To learn more about the 2020 Iron Dog race results, visit irondog.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com