McGrath, AK (February 13, 2021, 8:05 p.m.) – Pro Class racers launched from Big Lake this morning in what appears to be a very fast start to Iron Dog 38. Twenty-one teams left in two-minute intervals under a crystal clear sky and a conga line of small celebratory parties spaced out along the trail in socially distanced bubbles. 

“The real news of the day is ‘Thank god there is an Iron Dog,’ ” said Mike Vasser, Iron Dog’s interim executive director. “People are excited to have a sporting event like this. There were cars lining the Big Lake Road and every checkpoint has small parties out there celebrating riders along the trail.” 

Not long into the race, 2020’s defending champions, Tyler Aklestad and Nick Olstad of Team 7, experienced a mechanical issue, throwing the proverbial wrench into their Day 1 racing plans. 

“They towed into Puntilla, but were able to get parts, and declared a layover,” Vasser said. “They will do their work on the clock and then get going as soon as they can. 

“So, yes, the team-to-beat had an issue for Day 1, but lucky for them it was on Day 1 because they can still get parts,” he added. “If that had happened later, they might be stranded.”

This year’s Iron Dog has mitigations in place to keep racers, volunteers, villages and spectators safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. One of those rules prohibits planes in some of the smallest communities to keep COVID out. Had Team 7’s mechanical issue happened later in the race, they may not have been able to have planes fly in with replacement parts. 

All racers had to take COVID-19 tests prior to departure on Friday afternoon. Every racer tested negative and was allowed on the race trail. Vasser said racers will have two more tests while racing, and if anyone comes up positive, some teams have designated “Rona Riders” who can fill in if they need to leave the race. 

“They are back-up riders if someone, god forbid, comes down with COVID,” said Kelli Cherrier, Iron Dog’s director of operations. “This designated person can jump in and are registered, tested and good-to-go if needed. We just didn’t want anyone to be DQ’d because of COVID – you want to give the teams every opportunity to finish the race.” 

Six teams have designated Rona Riders: Cory Davis for Team 14 (Casey Boylan and Bryan Leslie); Tyson Johnson for Team 7 (Aklestad and Olstad); Adam Drinkhouse for Team 6 (Brad George and Robby Schachle); Jerrod Vaughan for Team 30 (Kyle Connor and Blake Elder); Joshua Hale for Team 21 (Joseph Hale and Israel Hale); and Travis Temple for Team 5 (Brett Lapham and Zack Weisz).

As of 7 p.m. Saturday evening, Chris Olds and Mike Morgan of Team 10 were in the lead. The 2020 second-place finishers were back-to-back Iron Dog champions in 2018 and 2019, and as such should be some of Team 7’s toughest competition. They were the first to arrive into the Klim-sponsored checkpoint in McGrath, at 7:03 p.m. Teams 12 (Kruz and Kenneth Kleewein) and 5 (Lapham and Weisz) arrived shortly after. They will take their 12-hour layovers in McGrath.

Still, the race is just getting started. 

“Currently the top three teams are what we see in the standings,” said Jake Goodell, Iron Dog’s GPS and timing official. “But Team 7 has been traveling fast and they could work their way back in there and really upset those standings.” 

Media Contact: Mike Vasser, Interim  Executive Director, Iron Dog Inc.

                                       (907) 312-6595        •            director@irondog.org            

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