Thirteen Pro Class teams and 11 Expedition Class riders have signed up for the 2021 Iron Dog snowmachine race. Registration for the backcountry endurance race is open until Oct. 31.

The first 15 Pro teams to register have the ability to select their own starting order instead of drawing for a number, based on which teams signed up first.

So far at least four former champions have registered, including last year’s champs, Team 7’s Tyler Aklestad and Nick Olstad. Perennial favorites and former champs Chris Olds and Mike Morgan were the eighth team to register. The Hale brothers of Palmer, who rode in the recreational class last year and were the first to Nome, were the first to sign up for the 2021 event. The pair, which includes double amputee Israel Hale and brother Joseph, filed their registration forms minutes after the process opened at midnight on June 15.

The World’s Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race is slated to leave Big Lake on Saturday, Feb. 13, head to Nome for the NAC halfway banquet, then hightail it to Koyuk, Buckland, Selawik, Kiana, Noorvik, Kotzebue and back through Buckland to Koyuk. The racers will turn south down the coast to finish on Big Lake Feb. 20. The additional loop creates a total course mileage of 2,645.

Pro class teams will leave the Big Lake starting chute on Saturday, Feb. 13, and return Feb. 20, covering some 2,600 miles during the 38th running of the Iron Dog. Expedition Class (formerly Rec Class) riders will start Thursday, Feb. 11 on Big Lake and finish in Nome some five days later.

Registration closes Oct. 31, 2020. Entry fees per person are the same as last year: Pro class entry is $4,100; Expedition class entry is $2,600.

To register, sponsor or for more information, please browse www.irondog.org or email director@irondog.org, or call 907-563-4414.