Frontrunning teams in the 2026 Iditarod raced across the sea ice of Norton Sound early Monday, as defending champion Jessie Holmes held onto a solid lead and the hopes of joining a handful of mushers with consecutive wins.
Only five others have repeated as champs in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, and the last was a decade ago.
Holmes’ team was the first to reach Koyuk, arriving at the village checkpoint a little after 7:30 a.m. Monday. It’s another 90 miles or so to White Mountain, where teams take a mandatory eight-hour rest. With enough of a gap on the rest of the pack, the leader out of White Mountain often wins the race…