Ruby

(8:59 a.m.) Team 17 is in Koyuk on layover. From race organizer: "Those guys are movin'" (8:05 a.m.) Man, these racers accomplished a lot while the rest of us slept. Eight teams left Ruby and Galena in the middle of the night and are now laying over in Unalakleet. They include: 11 - Palin/Quam 14 - McKenna/Van Meter 10 - Huntington/Olds 7 - Davis/Davis 21 - Branholm/Spernak 3 - Dixon/Wold 40 - Marks/Marks 5 - McAllen/Cherrier Six of those teams arrived between 4:30 and 5:30 a.m. and two more between 5:30 and 6:30, so they'll all be able to hit the trail between 2:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon, and I'm betting they'll then head all the way to Nome.

(12:41 p.m.) I spoke too soon -- phones have rang three times in the last five minutes or so. Team 25 - Watson/Price is through Unalakleet. (12:39 p.m.) Team 20 - Swenson/Peterson is laying over in Galena. (12:37 p.m.) Slow times here at HQ. Trail class Teams 54/51/52 are through Koyuk. (11:59) One of the organizers here says Marc McKenna lost some time this morning when he blew a belt on the Yukon. He was in the lead by a couple minutes and ended up coming in a few minutes behind Palin/Quam.

(8:13 p.m.) Team 18 Williamson/Hingsbergen have finished - even with just one cylinder on one of their sleds. (7:43 p.m.) Team 33 Bartel/Wichman have finished in Fairbanks. (7:26 p.m.) Team 2 Sottosanti/Zwink and Team 40 Marks/Marks have finished. (7:20 p.m.) Team 12 Willard/Goodell is through North Pole. (7:16 p.m.) Team 18 Williamson/Hingsbergen is through North Pole, running on one cylinder. (6:57 p.m.) Team 14 McKenna/Van Meter has finished. (6:52 p.m.)

by Kevin Wells Thursday, March 11, 2010 CRIPPLE, Alaska -- Dallas Seavey , just 23 years old, is one of the youngest mushers to win the halfway point award in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race , but at least one of his competitors could care less. Sometimes a musher will give themselves a better chance at winning the race by not running and keeping a low profile, at least in the early stages, and Jeff King may have found a big piece of the puzzle Thursday.

by Angela Blanchard Friday, July 4, 2008 SEWARD, Alaska -- Mount Marathon runs in the family for the Foldagers of Seward and this year two generations are competing against each other. Two-time women's champ Patti Foldager took on her twin daughters Denali and Rubeye. One was a junior champ, the other a runner-up. Friday's was a competition was 18 years in the making. The twins scaled the mountain in their first race in the women's category. Denali and Rubeye have lived in the shadow of the mountain almost all their lives.

Iron Dog officials set the schedule for the rest of the race Friday afternoon as most of the remaining racers made it to Unalakleet on their yellow caution-flag run from Nome that began Thursday afternoon. The race will be re-started at 5 p.m., with the top five teams being released on their race times, meaning, their time differences coming into Nome, with time added that they spent working on their snowmachines. The remaining nine teams will be released on five-minute intervals after that.

The Ambassador Team arrived in Nome during the early evening on Monday. They made it in record time, and they had many good things to report, including good trail and solid ice at Golovin Bay. But the 2012 Iron Dog trail is still fraught with danger, including stumps, water hazards, deep snow and rutted trails. Team 39, Aklestad and Loyer, led most of Monday, but busted A arms left them waiting for parts in Ruby. Several other teams faced tow-in situations last night and today, including Team 11, Palin and Davis.

During AFN week, when Alaska Natives from all over the state converge on downtown Anchorage for a weeklong conference, the contents of Laura Stepanoff and Jenny Sam's blue-and-white coolers draw a small crowd outside the doors of the Dena'ina Center. “Oh, I wish you took credit cards!” says one woman in a kuspuk, holding hands with her husband. “We don't, but there's an ATM machine right inside,” says Sam. She hurries in while her husband stays put, surveying ziplock baggies of ruby-red smoked salmon for sale.

In rural Alaska, a post office is more than a place to pick up mail. It can be the lifeline of a place, as well as its social core, says Cynthia Erickson, who runs the Tanana Community Store and grew up in Ruby. “The post office is the heart and soul of a village,” she said. The U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday that it is studying whether to close 36 mostly rural Alaska post offices, part of a national downsizing effort. The list, which includes places like Circle, Koyukuk, White Mountain and Bettles, immediately drew fire from Alaska's congressional delegation and rural residents.

When three teams of 10 racers left Nome around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, the directives were clear. Veterans were paired with rookies in order to make sure everyone arrived at Unalakleet safely under a yellow caution flag.  Upon reaching Golovin, Dusty Van Meter called race marshal Chris Graeber and told her the conditions were dangerous. Race officials interpreted the description as "life-threatening for some. "  But race officials never told everyone to hold up in Golovin, so a group of veteran racers decided to push out and head for points beyond.