FRIDAY, FEB. 23, 2024 — The 40th running of Iron Dog is serving up one of the most nail-biting matchups in recent history. After the 2023 race, when Team 7’s Tyler Aklestad and Nick Olstad pretty much took the lead and never let go, this year, racers are leapfrogging all over the place, and the leaderboard may as well be used to line a litter box.

 “That’s the thing about the Iron Dog,” said Galena checkpoint lead and Iron Dog Board of Directors member Dennis Falldorf. “Last year is last year’s race – what happened and how it happened, and the weather is all unique to that year. So, we don’t compare one race to another.”

 This year, strategy is key. Teams 39, 14, 10, 6 and 9 continue to stay in the Top 5, with others making an appearance now and then, but the time differential between their overall times is within single digits.

 “The Iron Dog is a race against the clock, not each other,” Falldorf stressed. “So, they race against each other to motivate themselves to go faster against the clock, but at the end of the day, it is the time on the clock that determines the leader.”

 That means running at the front of the pack was not necessarily a good move today, he added. With new snow going into Ophir, the leaders did not want to take on the burdensome work of breaking trail – and thus running slower split times. So, a series of “who goes first” layovers unfolded: Ultimately, the first team to fall on their sword was Team 16, Eric Christensen and Kris Kaltebacher.

 From the GPS, it looked like the two had forged some incredible comeback – but in reality, they had taken on the Herculean task of breaking trail for the faster teams to follow. However, they followed earlier tracks from Ambassador Team 99, which took them onto open water, and were slowed partway through, nearly running out of fuel and arriving at 6:17 p.m. Meanwhile, Team 33, George “Radar” Lambert and Skyler Wells, took the inland route, which was faster, setting the trail for the front-runners behind them. They were the first to arrive in McGrath, at about 6 p.m. Friday evening.

The strategy of letting the slower racers pass is smart, Falldorf said.

 “Remember, they are racing a clock,” Falldorf said. “So, they want to race out of Ruby at a good clean pace. So, they stage that whole thing to send all those people out front of them and waited until those guys were 30 mph ahead of them. And then they took off, and they can run at full speed.”

 One of the closest faceoffs is currently taking place between Team 10, Chris Olds and Ryan Sottosanti, and Team 6, Mike Morgan and Bradley Kishbaugh. Morgan and Olds were teammates for years, winning the 2018 and 2019 Iron Dogs together before parting ways this year. Now, they are rivals, and Team 10 arrived in Nome more than an hour ahead of Team 6, and left Nome 15 minutes ahead of them after adjustments were made for layovers on the timing clock. By the end of the day, they had flip flopped, and Team 6 arrived 22 minutes ahead of Team 10. The teams’ overall course times are separated by just 22 minutes, with Team 6 now holding onto third place.

 Suffice to say, barring no mechanical setbacks or physical injuries, the battle for the Top 3 will be fierce coming into Big Lake on Sunday.

 Roger Brown watched the racers come through the Poorman checkpoint, and he said the energy is palpable. Racers were anxious about the status of the Innoko River ahead of them and itching to get going as fast as they could, especially given that there are mere minutes between some racers.

 “Their times are so close that they can’t afford to back off the throttle,” he said.

 Falldorf said he saw the same thing.

 “The front pack came through like a bunch of wild-eyed people with their hair on fire,” he said of teams 14, 10, 6 and 39. “And then calm and serenity came with the rest of them that laid over here. They were relaxed, they were where they wanted to be. It’s still clock racing, and that’s what it will always be.”

 Racers will restart Saturday morning and travel roughly 200 miles to the Whiskey Bravo checkpoint, where they will await the final re-start on Sunday, February 25. Racers should begin crossing the finish line at around noon.