Yukon Quest

by Kevin Wells Wednesday, March 17, 2010 NOME, Alaska -- Top 10 finishes are routine for most of this year's elite in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race , but not Hugh Neff . The musher from Tok made his Top 10 debut in his seventh Iditarod appearance. Neff checked into Nome in ninth place at 1:52 Wednesday morning. Like some of his contemporaries, Neff has made racing the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod back-to-back an annual occurrence. He has 15 finishes in 1,000-mile races since the year 2000, and although he dropped six spots in the final 250 miles, Neff still enjoyed his finest season ever, but he cherishes the lifestyle over the race experience itself.

by Channel 2 News staff Thursday, March 12, 2009 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Two-time defending champion Lance Mackey has taken the lead in Iditarod 37 , leaving the ghost town of Iditarod with at least a 2 1/2-hour lead early Friday morning. Mackey overtook Aaron Burmeister and Hugh Neff in between Ophir and Iditarod to seize the lead Thursday afternoon and into the evening. According to Iditarod.com, Mackey pulled into Iditarod at 5:20 p.m. Thursday.

Downtown Route The route veers south of Fairbanks through the Fort Wainwright Recreational Area toward North Pole, Alaska and Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project. Racers will drive north through the Flood Project and onto the Chena River heading back toward downtown Fairbanks. Special thanks to John Johnston, Compeaus , Fort Wainwright and Army Corps of Engineers for all the effort in bringing this new route together! We're expecting the 1st Place team to arrive sometime around 1PM on Saturday, February 23rd.

by Lori Tipton Friday, March 13, 2009 UNALAKLEET, Alaska -- For the second year in a row the Alaska Army National Guard has sponsored an Iditarod musher. Last year, the Guard sponsored a musher from Tennessee, but this time they recruited one of their own. Harry Alexie's roots are deep in Alaska, the Guard and sled dog racing, which is why the Army National Guard recruited the 31-year-old from Bethel to compete. "I've been into dog mushing since I was a child," Alexie said.

by Kevin Wells Saturday, March 7, 2009 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The field of 67 mushers is through with preparations, and on Sunday they will all be hitting the trail for the 37th Last Great Race. For many race followers, Saturday's ceremonial start was like seeing your favorite movie stars on the red carpet. But mushers themselves have a lot to think about over the next week and a half -- that applies to even the most experienced. Even after reaching Nome 24 times, perennial crowd favorite Dee Dee Jonrowe still gets butterflies.

by Kevin Wells Monday, March 1, 2010 FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- When you think winter sports, Jamaica isn't a country that's produced moments of glory; rather, material for the blooper reel, like the 1988 Olympic bobsled team. Rookie Iditarod musher Newton Marshall was driven to make his own history. You have to admit, the idea seems a little preposterous. He doesn't have the sound or the look of a sled dog racer. But in five days, Jamaican Newton Marshall will enter his rookie Iditarod.

Welcome to Fairbanks everyone! OK, well maybe not everyone, hopefully some of you will be out on Big Lake tomorrow morning to witness the start of the race, but I'll welcome you here anyway. I'm at the Marriott Spring Hill Suites, which sits right on the river in downtown Fairbanks, where the Iron Dog racers will finish the race. Fairbanks, you say -- isn't it cold there? Well, thankfully for me, the weather is nothing like what it was last week when Sports guy Charlie Sokaitis was up here for the Yukon Quest (Think constant 40 below zero)

by Kevin Wells Wednesday, March 12, 2008 NOME, Alaska -- As far out as five days ago Iditarod XXXVI was shaping up as a two-man chase between the last two champions. Lance Mackey and Jeff King duked it out over more than 1,100 miles but Mackey made it to Nome first. Prior to this year's running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the four-time champion King talked about relying on "wisdom and experience" at age 52 to win big in 2008. But it turns out some "trail savvy" on the part of the 37-year-old Mr. Mackey turned the tide of Iditarod XXXVI -- and ultimately resulted in back-to-back titles for the Fairbanks musher.

by Kevin Wells Tuesday, March 10, 2009 MCGRATH, Alaska -- Iditarod 37 was shaping up Tuesday to be a close race as mushers headed out of Nikolai . There was already some drama developing, with some very close checkpoint arrivals. It was two-for-one night in Rohn , with Paul Gebhardt and Rick Swenson arriving almost simultaneously. The pair made it clear: The race is on, but the camaraderie never takes a day off. "He had a little problem in the one spot during the gorge I helped him," Gebhardt said.

by Kevin Wells Wednesday, March 17, 2010 NOME, Alaska -- The winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race crossed the finish line Tuesday, but for many the race is not quite over. Lance Mackey may have won The Last Great Race, but several mushers within the Top 10 can hold their heads high after some of the best finishes of their careers. Mackey and Hans Gatt are not the only mushers to thrive in consecutive 1,000-mile races. One month after finishing fifth in the Yukon Quest, Ken Anderson equaled his Iditarod-high in fourth.