With a winter blizzard warning in effect across the entire middle of the state, the remaining 15 Iron Dog teams stayed holed up in Nome on Tuesday but had plenty to keep them busy.

The National Weather Service issued the warning on Monday; up to 12 inches of snow and winds as high as 55 mph are expected, with visibility less than a quarter of a mile at a time. On Tuesday, three flights into Nome had already been canceled with all Wednesday flights expected to be grounded as well. How the weather affects the race remains to be seen. Race marshal Tyson Johnson and Iron Dog, Race Inc., Executive Director Mike Vasser were both in Nome Tuesday and monitoring the situation.  

Johnson, while observing wrench sessions, said, “we are monitoring the weather and plan to make a determination on to go as planned or delay between 8 and 9 p.m.”

Meanwhile, racers kept busy in the Nome Garage. Tuesday’s schedule included wrench time for racers, a halfway ceremony and banquet, and a required racer meeting with Johnson. Racers are on the clock while they complete their repairs and watching them at work is equal parts stressful (What if they miss something?!) and impressive (They work faster than a NASCAR pit crew). This afternoon, for instance, spectators watched Team 49’s Todd Palin replace a shock crew with lightning efficiency, and when Palin had to muscle it into place, the tension was palpable. Thirty minutes later, the cameras turned to Team 16’s Hillarie Gossett and Ashley Wood who peered into their sleds, inspecting every inch of them.      

“Right now, our sleds are showroom ready,” Team 14’s Bryan Leslie said. “We don’t have to do a bunch. We got to look over them (Monday) night and there was nothing noticeable, no real wear and tear. Really, we just have to do preventative work.”

Chad Moore of Team 19 said he and partner Travis Temple, like most racers, shipped spare parts up to Nome a week before the race started. They had just finished up in the garage at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday and were ready to head back to their rooms to get some rest.

“We didn’t have nothing major,” said Moore. “Travis broke a torsion spring just outside of White Mountain, so we had to back off a little coming into Nome yesterday. But we couldn’t see anything anyway, so it kind of worked out.”

This year, Iron Dog held its halfway ceremony and banquet in the middle of the day, which Leslie said racers welcomed since it allows them to get to bed at a more reasonable hour.

“And it doesn’t count this year, but sometimes racers are waiting on parts to be flown in on wrench day, so they end up having to wait anyway,” he said.

New this year, all Expedition Class finishers received a finisher’s gold pan, compliments of sponsors Team CC and the City of Nome. It’s a sign of the times, Vasser said, as the Expedition Class is becoming an integral part of the Iron Dog tradition. Counting the Ambassador class, there were more recreational riders on the course this year than there were Pro Class.

“The Iron Dog is growing,” Vasser said. “The Expedition Class has been huge the last two years, and obviously we don’t want to stymie that … As we grow this Pro Class purse, we are going to attract more and more racers and riders. I’m taking calls from people in Russia, people in Finland, and were’ becoming a global event. We are coming to the forefront as Alaska’s major winter recreational event, for sure.” 

While most contingency prize announcements will be held at the finishers banquet after the race is over, it is tradition to award several of the prizes sponsored locally, in and around Nome. Team 7’s Tyler Aklestad and Nick Olstad raked in the “first team to Koyuk,” “first team to Noorvik” and “fastest team to Nome” prizes. Rookie Team 19 Temple and Moore received two awards for teams with at least one rookie – “fastest overall course time” and “fastest northbound team.” Finally, Nome brothers Jarvis and Jordan Miller, showing they know how to beat the local problem of ice fog, took home $3,000 for having the “fastest split time between White Mountain and Nome.” 

“They held up with a layover in Koyuk and waited ’til it got dark out for better visibility,” Moore said. “That was a smart move from the boys up north.”

Iron Dog Board Vice President Keith Manternach said the second half of this year’s Iron Dog is shaping up to be a real nail-biter. With uncertain weather on the horizon, anything can happen.

“I really like the way the race is staying really close,” he said. “It keeps the fans engaged and following the race. The top three teams are all within less than an hour of each other, and an hour in this race is not a lot of time.”