Wasilla duo wins Iron Dog for the second time

Iron Dog 2025 champions Robby Schachle and Brad George raced across Big Lake this sunny Saturday to the finish line, where a crowd of friends and family were there to greet them.

Schachle and George took an early lead on Day One of the race and were able to hold their position all the way to the finish. With a total course time of 53:32:56, Team 20 riding Skidoo reached the Iron Dog arch nearly an hour ahead of second place.

“I feel like we won the race on the first day,” George said. “Once we got that lead, all we had to do was cruise and we could make it happen. It felt awesome.”

The most challenging section of the race was the Farewell Burn, a roughly 50 mile section of trail between the checkpoints of Tatina and Nikolai that this year had no snow. George said they were the only team that ran the trail to McGrath prior to the race and were able to come up with a game plan and prepare their sleds to deal with what racers this year would consider the most challenging section of trail.

“We prepared the sleds for that and it paid off,” George said.

And when they pulled into McGrath an hour ahead of second place, George said he was feeling confident and content with the buffer they had made for themselves.

“From there we were able to just hold the lead,” George said. “That is what won us the race because we never had to push again. Other teams put time on us, but they had to push to put time on us and then they would mess up and fall back. I think if we didn’t have that hour lead in the beginning we could have definitely had more problems. But after the first day, we never pushed again. We literally just rode ‘Our race, Our Pace,’ and held on strong. It didn’t matter.”

Schachle said their natural pace is a race pace - fast, but comfortable and with the ability to minimize costly mistakes. He believed that helped them stay ahead of the pack and maintain their lead.

“Brad and I always say, ‘Our race, Our pace,’” Schachle said, missing a piece of his nose. “Every time we ride, we ride it at a race pace. We just go go go go go never stop.”

Schachle said he never tapes his face to prevent frostbite, but decided he needed to with temperatures down to -35 degrees. He explained and gestured with his hands in a ripping motion that the tape froze to his nose and when he went to take it off, it took part of his nose with it.

Their largest mishap was when George hit a guardrail coming into the halfway point at Nome, a mistake that cost them 30 minutes of work.

“I saw it for the last hundred feet coming up to it and I hit the brakes and could not stop and I knew when I hit it, I thought, this is going to be bad,” George explained.

The impact threw George 25 feet in the air before he came down on a soft pile of snow. He then watched as his machine kept coming at him and flew over the top of him before landing upside down. They were able to recover and regroup and make it to Nome for a layover and wrench day.

Both George and Schachle also attributed their fitness as a major component to winning this year’s race. Their commitment and discipline to hitting the gym every morning at 5 a.m. for six days per week prepared their bodies for the abuse of the trail.

Schachle and George both agreed that discipline, tedious preparation, knowledge of the trail and extensive riding knowledge are the ingredients for becoming Iron Dog Champions. And they would know, generally placing in the Top Five in past Iron Dog races and a championship finish in 2021. Given the trail conditions this year, both believed they made the best they could with what they were given.

“This was definitely a tough year,” George said. “One of the more challenging years for sure. To be able to pull off a win feels awesome.”

“I think we did great,” Schachle said. “For what we had and what we did, I think we did great.”

Out of the 30 teams that started the race in pro class last Saturday, only 16 crossed the finish line. Weather, mechanical issues, injuries and less-than-ideal trail conditions made this year’s race a challenging one for all teams.

Team 14 Casey Boylan and Bryan Leslie, riding Polaris, pulled into the finish, Boylan towing Leslie on a sled with a mostly destroyed track. They were greeted with family and friends, who all sang happy birthday to Boylan under the arch. This is the fourth time that Boylan and Leslie have achieved a second place finish in Iron Dog and their ninth year racing together.

“We’ve done this before, second place isn’t where we want to be, but with all the problems that occurred during the race, you have to respect it,” Leslie said. “And second place at the end of the day is on the podium and getting Polaris on the podium. All in all, you have to take it away as a good thing.”

One of the challenges that Team 14 faced were mechanical issues along the coast, both before and after leaving Nome. This year’s notorious “Burn” was also difficult, forcing northbound Team 14 to stop roughly 25 times to let their machines cool down. Leslie believed that attributed to some of his future mechanical issues.

“The sleds aren’t meant to ride over 50-70 miles of zero snow at high speeds,” Leslie said.

They made up a lot of time on their southbound trip across the Burn, only having to stop twice. They returned with a vengeance, getting through it faster than any other team. Boylan said that was his favorite part of the race, coming up with a good plan and executing it.

“I mean, it’s miserable, but to be able to be 20 minutes faster than anyone else is something to be proud of,” Boylan said.

Leslie said his favorite part of the race was riding the Red Dog Loop to Kotzebue. He said this is only his second time running the loop with good weather and being able to see, both the beautiful country he was in and where he was going ahead of him.

Leslie said he appreciates the volunteers that help with the race every year and the fans that come out and follow Iron Dog. He said completing the race and getting back to Big Lake is a feat in itself.

“To cross that finish line and be a finisher, it’s something that you can’t beat really,” Leslie said.

Boylan emphasized how brutal Iron Dog is, especially when racers are putting on nearly 700 miles in one day.

“Everyone that did that is a warrior, deserves a lot of credit,” Boylan said.

Boylan and Leslie plan to be back next year. Boylan explained that they will reflect on their race this year and address any issues for next year’s strategy. He wants to carry their momentum forward to try for a first place finish.

“We have a lot of support and a lot of help,” Boylan said. “You can’t really stop the freight train, so to speak.”

Team 7 Tyler Aklestad and Aaron Loyer, riding Skidoo, raced into third place this year. Loyer said thinking about getting home and riding back to the finish on Big Lake kept him going each day.

“While you’re out there, that’s your focus,” Loyer said. “One day after another, one checkpoint after another and get home. It always feels great to be here in Big Lake and the race is done.”

Loyer went on to say that given the challenges they dealt with, the outcome of the race couldn’t have gone any better. Both self-induced and mechanical issues caused some problems, and Loyer said that Aklestad helped to keep him from getting overly frustrated and work to find solutions to problems as they came up.

Aklestad said his favorite part of the race was also racing along the coast towards Kotzebue on the Red Dog Loop. He said it was cold but they experienced blue skies and gorgeous scenery.

“It was just an awesome experience to be up there and running. Good snow, good speeds, good trail, it was awesome,” Aklestad said.

Both appreciate the help they received along the way in the villages they raced through and the volunteers and organizers along the course.

The highest placing rookie team was Team 4 Wilson Hoogendorn and Bubba McDaniel riding Skidoo, securing themselves a sixth place finish. Lifelong friends from Nome, Hoogendorn and McDaniel were on their own turf once they reached the coast.

“Running the coast was so much better than running down here,” Hoogendorn said with a smile. “It’s like bump after bump down here. But when you get to the coast and it’s just flat and you know how to ride it because you’ve just been riding it your whole life up there. You know what to expect.”

Hoogendorn said his favorite part of the race was the section from White Mountain to Nome.

“You just know every bump, you know what to expect and you can really rip it,” Hoogendorn said.

They worked as a team, with McDaniel keeping them on track and keeping them from getting too lost. He said they didn’t argue much and got along as good friends.

Hoogendorn said that he and McDaniel now know they can keep up with the leaders and how they compare to other racers on the course. Hoogendorn said he is thinking about coming back and racing next year, but did acknowledge how truly long and hard the race is.

“They said that this year was the worst year, so I feel like it can only get better from here,” Hoogendorn said.

Hillarie and Timothy Gossett made history for being the first husband and wife team to finish the Iron Dog including the Red Dog Loop in pro class. Riding Polaris for Team 26, the Gossetts came in 11th place this year. Their goal was to finish the race safely and enjoy the adventure along the way.

“You go through all that and it’s really hard, and you’re just really relieved to be through it and out of it and thankful that the machines are in one piece and we accomplished the goal,” Timothy said.

Hillarie explained that she shaved nearly 20 hours off of her previous time in 2023, a huge accomplishment she said she was working towards. Hillarie is also the only woman to finish this year. She said she had hoped to share the finish line among the other women who entered the race.

“I have a pretty specific way that I do this race, which is about the long game, so it’s good to know that that strategy still works,” Hillarie said.

Hillarie said her favorite part of the race was watching the sunrise over the coast as they left Nome on their return journey. They had minor issues to address on wrench day in Nome and had a good team to help them.

Hillarie recalled their time working in the garage in Nome. She said a class of students watched the wrenching, including three young women that approached her to tell her that they had built their engines faster than all the boys in the class.

“For them to be there, and have a woman in the paddock, and seeing a female out there is really cool,” Hillarie said.

Riding through the villages on the Red Dog Loop was also empowering and influential, Hillarie explained.

“Seeing kids on that upper Red Dog Loop, and this year with a pink snow machine, they don’t even have to think about who’s on it. They know that there’s a lady in the field and it feels really good knowing that little girls are going to be able to see that kind of stuff and hopefully one day another young lady can do Top 10,” Hillarie said.

The Gossetts plan to take next year off from the race to vacation and spend time with their family.