WILLOW, Alaska — Mansfield native Matthew Failor got the good news Friday.
The mush is on for his Alaskan Husky Adventure’s 17th-Dog team.
The Iditarod Trail Committee announced it intends to maintain the southern route for the 2025 edition of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, meaning the race will start around Willow and end almost 1,000 miles later in Nome.
“We’re pretty excited,” Failor said Saturday from his home in Willow, Alaska. “We’re at least going to try for the (southern) route.
The committee said earlier in the month that it was evaluating an alternative route for the race due a lack of snowpack that could have moved the start further north to Fairbanks.
More wintry conditions have returned to the state, including temps falling well below zero.
“The Iditarod Trail Committee is pleased to announce that after extensive trail flyovers, on-the-ground reports from snow machiners and information from Checkpoint communities, the current weather conditions will allow for the race to run the Southern Route, as originally planned for the 2025 Iditarod,” said Shannon Noonan, director of marketing and communications for “The Last Great Race.”
“However, there may be some course modifications necessary, including the Official Restart of the race, depending on snow coverage at the traditional Willow Lake start. If any changes are made, it would not impact the rest of the Southern Route,” Noonan said.
The 42-year-old Failor, prepping for his 14th Iditarod, said Willow is a “long stretch” of an area, nearly 15 miles in length.
“In our area, we have about an eighth of an inch of snow on top of ice, which is not that good. A little bit further north (in Willow), they have two or three inches of snow on ice, which is way better,” the 2000 Mansfield St. Peter’s graduate said.
“The lakes are freezing. The rivers are starting to freeze. We have had some 20-below temperatures recently. It’s amazing how quickly things can change,” he said.
The ceremonial start is scheduled to take place on March 1 in downtown Anchorage.
Warmer weather and rain have forced Failor and other mushers in his area to travel north to find ground suitable for training.
He and his team, including young musher Dane Baker, have been traveling a few hours north to the Denali Highway and also went to the Gunsight Mountain Lodge in order to train their dogs for the race across the state that is to come.
He said some of the areas north of Willow have had feet of snow … while his area has seen rain.
100th anniversary of The Serum Run
2025 marks the 100-year anniversary of the historical Serum Run, where 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs carried the diphtheria antitoxin from Nenana to Nome in five and a half days to stop the spread of the deadly disease, saving the Village of Nome.
Also known as the Great Race of Mercy, the sled dog teams raced the needed medicine 674 miles, saving residents of Nome from a developing epidemic of diphtheria.
Both the mushers and their dogs were portrayed as heroes in the newly popular medium of radio and received headline coverage in newspapers across the United States.
This year will be the 53rd Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
“Alaska is a big state,” he said with a laugh.
It’s not the first time Failor has experienced a milder winter impacting racing.
“Probably two or three other times. It seems like it’s on an eight- to 10-year cycle. In 2012-2013 and 2015-2017 it was kind of challenging.
“We get snow, but then we have a warming period when it rains and it melts everything,” he said.
Failor and his team still have prep races planned, including the 46th annual Kuskokwim 300.
That race starts Friday at 8 p.m. and will finish sometime on Sunday.
The Kusko will have 21 teams, each racing with 12 dogs.
Failor won the Kusko in 2019 and has finished second four times, including in 2024.
This year’s field includes hometown favorite Pete Kaiser, who has won it six times, and the return of nine-time champion Jeff King.
Baker will not race in the Kusko.
“Dane and his ‘puppy team’ will race in the Two Rivers 200 on Feb. 14 up in Fairbanks,” Failor said.
“We may put a second team in the Two Rivers race, maybe (17th-Dog team member) Kaci (Murringer),” Failor said.
All of the miles on the truck and the training are in preparation for the Iditarod, which will feature 34 teams, including 18 Iditarod veterans.
Failor said all the travel needed to find snow-covered trails may be a benefit to the dogs.
“It’s more what we call ‘camping trips’ for the dogs. More time sleeping on straw. In a weird kind of way, it could benefit the team. It will probably pan out to be less (four-legged) mileage in terms of race preparation, but it gets them more used to being on the trail,” he said.
