Sports

Dallas Seavey racked up his fifth Iditarod win on March 15, crossing the finish line at 8:05 a.m. with 10 dogs in harness.

Bethel musher Pete Kaiser is out of the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

The pace in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has been grueling and fast. On March 12, Dallas Seavey was the first musher to return to McGrath on his way to the finish line. He stopped and rested his team in McGrath, where he may be taking his remaining required 8-hour rest.

Victoria Hardwick has been having a tough year on the Iditarod. The runs have been good, but she ran into a tree on the steps going over the Alaska Range and broke her sled.

While musher Brent Sass has gained the prize for being the first to reach the halfway point of the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, he has not completed either of the required 8-hour or 24-hour rest periods. As of the morning of March 11, he is resting his team at the Iditarod Checkpoint.

As they came across the Alaska Range, two local mushers were in the top 10 positions of the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Richie Diehl left the Rohn checkpoint at 5:25 p.m. on March 8, with Pete Kaiser about 40 minutes behind him. At the time they were in 3rd and 4th place, with Ryan Redington leading the pack and Martin Buser in second.

Fourteen mushers competed in the 35-mile Kwethluk Sled Dog Race on March 6.

The 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race begins March 7.

Local Kuskokwim mushers dominated this year’s Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race, taking four of the top five positions. The region’s local mushers also swept the race awards.