Team 12 on their home turf with message of hope

Race supporters cheer on Team 12’s Doug Wicken and Chris Collins. Tracy Try photo

On Wednesday morning, Team 12’s Chris Collins and Doug Wicken were taking a breather from the racing, working on their sleds after surviving the grueling first part of the Iron Dog Race. Their arrival in Nome on Tuesday afternoon represented a successful run so far and was punctuated by seeing their friends and family in Kotzebue. Wicken recently relocated to Palmer, but the pair are lifelong residents of the Northwest Arctic Borough.

For years, Team 12 has raced with a suicide prevention awareness message, and this year is the same. Collins, who lost two siblings to suicide, wanted to make sure the communities through which he raced knew that the best way to prevent suicide is to acknowledge that it exists and embrace the mantra: “Tomorrow will be a better day.” When they raced in 2022, Collins and Wicken sported purple- and teal-colored feather-shaped ribbons on their sleds with the phrase “Never Alone” wrapped around them. You couldn’t miss their sleds, either, which were equally as vibrant in teal and purple.

Team 12 departs the race chute at the start of the 2025 Iron Dog Race. Tracy Try photo

 “The only way that I could put some meaning toward my brothers’ suicides, and my way of coping what was going on with my family, is to get the word out to try and stop the trauma,” he said before the 2022 race.

 Team 12 completed their mission in 2022, and returned in 2023, but ended up scratching. They are back this year, and while time has helped heal some of the hurt from three years ago, Collins said he is still forever touched by the trauma of suicide.

 “We haven’t done a lot to promote it this year, but we still wear our ribbons on our windshields,” he said. “It’s still something we support and always will.”

 Team 12 was prepping to wrench on their sleds this morning, and spent less than 10 minutes on their work. They, like all racers, have 15 minutes to inspect their sleds, then go to collect their parts, and go “on the clock” while they make the repairs. They currently stand in 15th place with a course time so far of 43 hours, 25 minutes, 32 seconds.

Team 12’s Chris Collins keeps his “Never Alone” sticker on his sled in memory of his siblings lost to suicide and to promote suicide prevention. Mike Vasser photo

 “Today should be a busy day for getting these guys ready to go and be ready for tomorrow,” said Mike Vasser, Iron Dog’s executive director. “Team 12 is doing their work time (inspection) on the stuff they found now, and we time them from the start. – the faster you can be, and the less damage you have the better off you will be.”