The world’s longest, toughest snowmobile race starts Saturday, Feb. 17. It’s the 40th running of the Iron Dog Race, with as many as 60 teams of two riding their snow machines from Big Lake to Nome and back.
This year the race is 2,503 miles long, following the northern route of the traditional Iditarod trail through Kotzebue to Nome and back to Big Lake.
“The Pro Class racers travel over the Alaska Range to the Yukon River, then cut overland toward the Bering Sea coast. Once on the coast, they travel to Koyuk then to Kotzebue via the ‘Red Dog Loop.’ From Kotzebue, racers head south, reaching the halfway point in Nome. After leaving Nome, Pro Class Racers will reverse course to finish back in Big Lake,” according to the race website. The Pro Class has 24 teams, including six past champions: Nick Olstad (six- time champion), Chirs Olds, Todd Palin, Marc McKenna, Tyler Aklestad (four-time champions) and Mike Morgan (two-time champion). See the full roster at this link.
The Pro Class, which starts at 10 am, is followed by the noncompetitive Expedition Class. The Expedition Class travels 1,049 miles on the northern route of the Iditarod Trail to Nome. There are 38 riders in the 2024 Expedition Class field. See the full roster at this link.