The men from Manitoba are back for Iron Dog 2021. Team 37’s Mark Fosty and Ben Hildebrand rounded out the top-15 seed today for the World’s Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race.

The Canadian team closed out Iron Dog 2020 by finishing and taking home the red lantern award. This year the pair registers as race veterans with an auxiliary tank full of experience.

Team shuffling: While multi-year partnerships stabilize the roster, including last year’s champs Tyler Aklestad and Nick Olstad, and runners up and former champions Chris Olds and Mike Morgan, there has been some shake-ups already. Former Team 39 racer Robby Schachle is pairing with Team 6’s Brad George, who last year ran with Tyson Johnson. Troy Conlon is now racing with Cody Barber under the Team 39 flag. Team 11’s Dave Wagner pulled over Eric Wellman, who ran last year as part of Team 9.

Seventeen Pro Class teams and 12 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 Aklestad and Olstad. Perennial favorites and former champs Olds and 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.