**Warning: This extended interview discusses a violent encounter with a moose and might not be suitable for all listeners. Alaska Public Media's Lex Treinen gets all the details of rookie Iditarod musher Bridgett Watkins' run-in with a moose while on a training run near Salcha, in Interior Alaska, in early February.
As Alaska Public Media reporters Jeff Chen and Lex Treinen head out on the trail, Iditapod host Casey Grove updates some of the early Iditarod standings. Plus, we have a story of an ER nurse whose training for the Iditarod helped him cope with the trauma of working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. Lex also brings us a report on the Sunday restart in Willow, as well as another dog profile, and we have a couple questions with a couple different answers (watch out: one involves some ...
The 2022 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race kicked off Saturday in Anchorage with its usual fanfare, after not holding a ceremonial start in 2021. Alaska Public Media reporters Casey Grove, Tegan Hanlon, Lex Treinen and Jeff Chen were out in the snow with the mushers, dogs and race fans, including plenty of kids and other trailgaters.
Iditapod is back for the 50th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Host Casey Grove and fellow Alaska Public Media reporters Tegan Hanlon, Lex Treinen and Jeff Chen discuss last year's pandemic-altered Iditarod, some of the mid-distance sled dog races this season, as well as COVID-19 protocols (and already a scratch/switcheroo), scary moose encounters and the heartwarming story of an unlikely Iditarod dog.
Dallas Seavey has won the 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, tying Rick Swenson's five first-place finishes for the most ever. Will he be back next year to vie for a sixth? That is the question... Also, a sleepless but not tired Alaska Public Media reporter Tegan Hanlon fills us in on the scene at the finish, including interviews with Seavey and Aaron Burmeister, who took second.
**Note: this interview is from 2020. Dog musher Quince Mountain sat down with Raymie Redington, son of Iditarod founder Joe Redington Sr., to talk about dog mushing, the history of the race and a lot more.
Since we left off, an Iditarod musher has tested positive for COVID-19 and been withdrawn, Dallas Seavey has taken the lead in his return to the race and, instead of leaving problematic sections of trail behind, mushers are heading back over them, on a modified, out-and-back trail. We talk to three-time champion Mitch Seavey, who's a spectator this year, as well as Iditapod co-founder Zachariah Hughes in McGrath, and we get an Iditarod veteran's take on a listener question about dog booties....
Alaska Public Media's Tegan Hanlon talks with four-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey in February in the dog lot at his Talkeetna-based kennel. Seavey is back in the Iditarod this year after taking three years off following a scandal in 2017's race, after which the Iditarod said two of Seavey's dogs had tested positive for a banned pain-reliever, then later cleared him of any wrongdoing.
We rejoin the Iditarod something like 48 hours in, and, on what sounds like a hard and fast trail, mushers are pacing themselves for the shorter 850-mile race. There've been a total of three scratches so far, none bigger than Aliy Zirkle, who suffered a concussion and upper body injury in the Dalzell Gorge and had to be flown out of Rohn by helicopter. Also, we catch up with our pal Zachariah Hughes in McGrath.
The 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is going to look a lot different, one year into a global COVID-19 pandemic. (The Iditapod’s going to be pretty different this year, too, as we'll explain). The ceremonial start is canceled, so the race begins Sunday in Willow under strict COVID-19 protocols, with a shortened trail that doubles back on itself, a challenge to sled dog teams to cross the Alaska Range not once, but twice, plus coronavirus testing along the way and less access to indoor spaces at...
Alaska Public Media's Zachariah Hughes talks with veteran long-distance dog musher and past Iditarod competitor Katherine Keith about her book, "Epic Solitude." It chronicles her journey from a teenager in Minnesota, falling in love with rugged wilderness adventures, while simultaneously struggling with mental health issues and more loss than anyone should have to deal with in a lifetime.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has another new Norwegian champion: 46-year-old Thomas Waerner. His team arrived in Nome at 12:37 a.m. Wednesday to an enthusiastic, if smaller, crowd. And Waerner still has to figure out how to get home, what with travel restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic. Iditapod host Casey Grove talks with Alaska Public Media's Tegan Hanlon and Zachariah Hughes about what might have been the weirdest Iditarod ever, in terms of what was unfolding outside the race while...
This is a quick report from our morning radio coverage of the Iditarod. It's called a radio module, and it details Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner winning the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race at 12:37 a.m. Wednesday, March 18. Waerner's team logged a time of 9 days, 10 hours, 37 minutes and 47 seconds.
It’s Tuesday, and we have a two-fer on dog profiles here on the Iditapod. And as we anticipate Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner winning the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Nome early Wednesday -- barring any unforeseen changes -- we have a story about the modified Shaktoolik checkpoint, a remembrance of an all-star volunteer checkpoint leader in Unalakleet and a little about how a major, longtime sponsor of the Iditarod has announced it’s pulling out. (Maybe not all in that order).
As front-of-the-pack Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race mushers head up the Bering Sea coast from Unalakleet to Shaktoolik and Koyuk, Norwegian musher Thomas Waerner has put his sled dog team solidly out front. There's still a group of competitive mushers behind him, though, and as we like to say often, anything can still happen. We'll hear a little from Waerner about what will likely be a difficult time getting his dog team home to Norway amid coronavirus-related travel restrictions, as well as from ...
Four-time Iditarod champion Lance Mackey talks with Alaska Public Media's Zachariah Hughes at the Cripple Creek checkpoint about having a more successful race in 2020 than some recent years.
Norway's Thomas Waerner was the first to Unalakleet and the coast of Alaska in the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. But there's a storm coming and several good teams behind him. Meantime, back up the trail in Galena, Alaska Public Media’s Zachariah Hughes observed the collegial bonds among two mushers running in the middle of the pack who are at very different stages in their race and in their lives. That and much more, including another dog profile, on this latest episode of the Iditapod....
While Iditarod sled dog teams continue to mush toward the coast, the Iditapod is at home hiding under a table, in a makeshift recording studio. But we still have a report from the trail about how the mushers are learning about changes at checkpoints due to concern from coronavirus. Also in this episode: How Jessie Royer's sled caught fire, an interview with Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach, Snack Attack with Ben and Zach is back and much more.
Welcome to the Iditapod, a podcast about - what else? - the Iditarod, which is, perhaps the only major sporting event still happening -- anywhere. Yep, hanging out by yourself with a pack of dogs is starting to seem better and better every day. It’s Friday the 13th, and there’s plenty of scary news out there to worry even the least superstitious among us. We talked coronavirus with new Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach and have a story from the trail about mushers’ first reactions to hearing about the vir...
This is a brief report from our morning radio coverage at Alaska Public Media. We call it a radio module, it’s only five minutes, and it'll sound a little different. But as we’re working on a full episode of the Iditapod for Friday, which will include talking to Iditarod CEO Rob Urbach about coronavirus concerns, we figured this is the fastest way to bring you some important news since we last left off.
When it comes to concern about the coronavirus, the Iditarod is no exception. In Nome, the city council is considering calling off Iditarod festivities, and we’re also hearing about a big announcement coming from the Iditarod itself, though we’ve been told by someone close to the race that they are not going to be canceling the rest of Iditarod altogether. Meantime, we have a more positive update about Jeff King's health status, a race update, a story about a volunteer passing time tinkering on ...
The Iditarod can be a cathartic experience, with all those good dogs, bad dogs, #uglydogs... In this episode we catch up on the race and discuss how it's nearly impossible to analyze who's really in the lead as mushers start to take their mandatory 24-hour layovers at different checkpoints. Alaska Public Media's Tegan Hanlon has a story about Jeff King's substitute Sean Underwood, AKPM's Zach Hughes and Ben Matheson take in the Blood Moon in Takotna, we have a somewhat surprising answer to a lis...
Alaska Public Media's Tegan Hanlon interviews Sean Underwood. The 28-year-old musher found out four days before the start of the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race that he'd be competing in the event. Long-time musher and four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King had to drop out of the race at the very last minute, and tapped Sean, one of his dog handlers, to fill in. And, to be clear, it wasn’t just filling in for a 1,000-mile sled dog race, but also for some of the events leading up to it. We sat d...
With plenty of snow on the Iditarod Trail this year, some of the more technical runs have not been as difficult as years past. But the Happy River steps and the Dalzell Gorge are always a challenge, and Alaska Public Media's Tegan Hanlon joins Iditapod host Casey Grove to discuss why we call both of those sections "technical." Also in today's episode, reports from KNOM's Davis Hovey and Alaska Public Media's Zachariah Hughes in Rainy Pass, as well as KNOM's Ben Matheson on the newly rejuvenated ...
It’s Monday, and Iditarod sled dog teams are heading into their second full day of racing after the official start yesterday in Willow. From there they mushed west to the Yentna checkpoint about 50 miles into the race, on to Skwentna at about 80 miles, and the front-of-the-pack teams are already heading up and up and up into the Alaska Range, toward the mountainous checkpoint of Rainy Pass. We hear about the rookies in the race, a clip from Quince Mountain on what it's like to be the first openl...
Happy Monday. Today, we have an extended interview with friend of the Iditapod, Quince Mountain, who’s out there on the Iditarod Trail right now. Quince came in for a rather lengthy interview last week. We talked about his past and present, including Quince’s experiences being transgender. As far as we know, he’s the first openly trans person in the Iditarod. We talked about how, in an event that sees all genders competing against each other and not separated into categories, it doesn’t mean tha...
The 2020 Iditarod began in earnest Sunday with the official restart in Willow, where, to the surprise of many, musher John Schandelmeier replaced his wife, Zoya Denure, who reportedly had some last-second health issues. What wasn't a surprise, at least for this winter, was more snow! We have a report on that from Danny Seavey, as well as a dog profile, a listener question and more. Host Casey Grove is joined by Alaska Public Media's Tegan Hanlon.
The Iditapodders took to the streets of downtown Anchorage, and the trails of midtown Anchorage, for the ceremonial start of the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Alaska Public Media reporters Zachariah Hughes and Tegan Hanlon joined Iditapod host Casey Grove in talking to mushers, but then Casey hopped on a sled with Quince Mountain, riding the entire 11-mile course. AKPM reporter Liz Ruskin also joined in with an audio postcard from the trail-side parties.
On the eve of Iditarod 2020, we discuss four-time champion Jeff King dropping out due to a medical emergency, how his rookie handler is taking King's top-notch team, and how heavy snow along the Iditarod Trail (a trench in places) will surely affect this year's race. Host Casey Grove is joined in the studio by Alaska Public Media reporters Tegan Hanlon and Zachariah Hughes.
This year's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will be the first for its new CEO Rob Urbach, who took over in July. In recent years, the Iditarod has struggled with sponsors pulling out, a so-called "dog-doping" scandal and accusations that its board of directors had conflicts of interest. In the meantime, the board has been overhauled and expanded, and there have been some new race rules put in place, as the Iditarod grapples with various issues and increased scrutiny. Urbach came to the Iditarod aft...
