NOME, Alaska — The 2024 Iditarod wasn’t officially over Wednesday until Cadillac kissed Theo Failor in Nome.
Actually, the loving licks from the veteran husky to the 8-month old were just a part of the celebration as Mansfield native Matthew Failor — Da-Da to Theo — arrived at the finish line at 5:35 p.m. AKDT to complete the nearly 1,000-mile Iditarod Sled Dog race.
After completing his run in 13th place overall in 10 days, 2 hours and 35 minutes, the 42-year-old embraced his family, including wife Liz, beneath the famed burled arch that marked the finish of the 52nd Iditarod.
He reflected on what it meant to reach the finish line for the 12th time in 13 races, still being pulled by 11 of the 16 dogs he started the race with on March 3 near his hometown of Willow.
“It’s a period at the end of the sentence. It feels good to be here because is the end of the year for us, so to speak. We don’t really look at it by the calendar year. We look at it by the Iditarod year.
“So yeah, it just feels really good to accomplish a goal and set out and get here. There are five dogs on this team that are here for the first time, finishing the Iditarod. Two are rookies. So they are one-for-one now. Then there are three that have tried before, but didn’t make it.
“So they got their day today.”
(Below are photos shot by Tim Failor after his son, Matthew Failor, arrived at the finish line of the 2024 Iditarod Sled Dog Race across Alaska on Wednesday. The story continues below the gallery.)
With the birth of Theo eight months ago, Matthew and Liz made the decision for she and their young son to stay at home during the race and then fly to the finish.
A former TV news reporter on the trail who married Failor in 2020, it’s the first time in years Liz wasn’t working the Iditarod at the same time as Matthew.
What was that like for the 2000 Mansfield St. Peter’s graduate, who moved to Alaska after earning a degree in fine arts photography from The Ohio State University?
“I got my chores done a lot faster (at checkpoints). I didn’t have to talk to her,” Matthew Failor said with a laugh. “She’s always like, ‘You have to do an interview.’
“I missed her obviously, but I didn’t have any pleasant distractions,” he said.
Failor, who owns and operates Alaskan Husky Adventures with Liz, admitted it was tough leaving his family behind set out on the long and winding trail.
“It’s difficult. It put a lot of pressure on her to take care of Theo. Of course, leaving them behind is not an easy thing to do, but I guess I have a job to do. I am happy to be here and happy to see them,” he said.
Failor was asked if he heard Theo’s first words were “Da-Da!” when he saw his father on the TV screen via the Iditarod.com Insider broadcasts during the race.
“Yes, I heard that. That’s pretty cool. He’s a daddy’s boy,” Failor said with a smile.
No Iditarod race is easy, but the 2024 version was even tougher as three dogs perished along the way this year.
It helped that Failor had an Angel with him on the journey.
Angel was a retired sled dog bred and raised by famed musher Martin Buser, a four-time Iditarod champion.
Failor said he obtained Angel when the husky was eight or nine years old and raced him a couple of times before the dog was retired and adopted by Failor’s parents, “mostly my mom.”
“He was just a special dog, a fantastic dog. He’s a champion on all levels. My mom and dad like just fell in love with him. He passed away and my mom asked me to take his ashes and I sprinkled him all the way (along the trail),” Failor said.
“Pretty much all the cool spots,” he said.
And with that, the Failor family — Matthew, Liz and Theo — stood on the sled together and prepared to go home.
“Are you guys ready?” he asked his patient dogs, ready and able to make the final pull.
Failor gave his final command of the event and the 17th-Dog team gave all three of them their final ride of the 2024 Iditarod.
