Editor’s note: Richland Source is posting daily updates on Mansfield native Matthew Failor’s efforts at the 2025 Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which began March 3. Updates post daily at 7 a.m. and may be updated during the day. This exclusive coverage is made possible through the support of St. Peter’s School.
(UPDATE: Mansfield native and Iditarod musher Matthew Failor arrived in the Kaltag checkpoint Saturday around 12:33 p.m. (AKST), reaching the 420-mile mark of the 1,128-mile race from Fairbanks to Nome.
He made the 36-mile from Nulato in about four hours and arrived in Kaltag in 15th place.
Failor chose to rest, feed and water his 13 dogs before heading 70 miles south down the trail to Eagle Island.
It’s the start to a southern loop that will take his Alaskan Husky Adventures 17th-Dog Team to Shageluk before returning north to Kaltag and then heading west to Nome.
Richland Source is providing exclusive local coverage, including daily stories at 7 a.m., supported by our friends at St. Peter’s School, his alma mater, and with the cooperation of Iditarod.Com Insider.)
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(UPDATE: Mansfield native and Iditarod musher Matthew Failor left the Nulato checkpoint Saturday at 8:22 a.m. (AKST) to begin the 36-mile run to Kaltag, the next checkpoint in the 1,128 mile race from Fairbanks to Nome.
When he arrives in Kultag, Failor will be 456 miles into his 14th Iditarod race.
Failor will now start a southern loop that will take his Alaskan Husky Adventures 17th-Dog Team to Shageluk before returning north to Kaltag and then heading west to Nome.
Failor gave his 13 dogs in harness a seven-hour rest in Nulato before heading out, now running in 15th place.
Richland Source is providing exclusive local coverage, including daily stories at 7 a.m., supported by our friends at St. Peter’s School, his alma mater, and with the cooperation of Iditarod.Com Insider.)
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ON THE IDITAROD TRAIL, Alaska — Two things became apparent Friday in the 2025 Iditarod Sled Dog Race across Alaska:
— Mansfield native Matthew Failor is finding his rhythm with his Alaskan Husky Adventures 17th-Dog Team, clocking into Nulato on Saturday morning at 1:21 a.m. (AKST) with still 13 dogs in harness, running now in 19th place.
— And the impact of a brutal second day on the trail was still being felt with two more mushers opting to voluntarily scratch from the 1,128-mile race, cutting the original 33-team field down to just 28 less than halfway through the 53rd edition of “The Last Great Race.”
Failor’s Alaskan Husky Adventure 17th-Dog team bouncing back
Failor battled through a sand blizzard on the Tanana River on Tuesday, a weather event that caused he and his team to become lost for 45 minutes to an hour, scrambling with limited visibility on glare ice in sections where trail markers had been flattened by the wind.
Mushers told Iditarod.com Insider the section of the trail was amazingly difficult. Paige Drobny said she felt like she was on another planet. Gabe Dunham said it was like being on Mars. Anna Berington said her headlamp couldn’t find anything but the sand.
That adventure, coupled with an expectedly “sugary and punchy” trail, led Failor to take his 24-hour mandatory break at the Tanana checkpoint, just 202 miles into the race.
In addition to the 24-hour stop, which can be done at any checkpoint, mushers also have to take a pair of mandatory eight-hour rest breaks. But race rules prohibit doing it until mushers are further along in the race.
“So just coupled with the fact that you can’t take an eight, and it was a perfect time of day, I’ll be leaving at 2 a.m., and maybe the whole team can bounce back,” he said while stopped at Tanana.
“So I know it’s early to take my 24, but I just thought that you’ve got to take it at some point, and if the team … if some of the dogs need it and I don’t want to drop them yet … then take it now,” Failor said Tuesday.
Matthew Failor explains need for early 24-hour stop
Since resuming his race, Failor has made up for lost time, showing his team has indeed bounced back.
He covered the 117-mile run between Tanana and Ruby in just under 24 hours, dropping off two of his dogs at the latter checkpoint, leaving him with 13 in harness. That run was the longest between checkpoints on the 2025 Iditarod trail. Failor broke it into three shorter runs with breaks along the trail.
After a five-hour plus rest in Ruby, Failor then raced 50 miles to Galena in 5 hours, 44 minutes, averaging 8.72 miles an hour, passing four teams along the way and pulling into the checkpoint in 23rd place.
Failor left Galena at 7:21 p.m. (AKST) and covered the 51 miles to Nulato in six hours, averaging 8.5 miles per hour. He passed four more teams along the way and arrived in 19th place.
He will take a rest break at Nulato in 13-degree temperatures — 369 miles into the race — before starting the 36-mile run to Kaltag and beginning a loop to the south.
Failor got to visit with his handler, Dane Baker, at Galena. Baker, in his first Iditarod, is racing a “puppy team” from Failor’s kennel and was at Galena at the same time as Failor. The two also arrived in Nulato 13 minutes apart.
With several mushers ahead of him who have not started or completed their 24-hour mandatory breaks, the Class of 2000 St. Peter’s High School graduate may still have a shot at the Top-10 finish he hoped for this year in his 14th Iditarod run.
Two more mushers voluntarily scratch from race
Veteran Iditarod musher Jeff Deeter of Fairbanks, Alaska, scratched Friday at 5:05 p.m. (AKST) at the Galena checkpoint for the physical health of his team. Deeter had 11 dogs in harness when he arrived in Galena.
Deeter, who finished fourth last year, struggled with the early portions of the race, including the sand blizzard on the Tanana River. Like Failor, he opted to take his 24-hour break in Tanana before continuing on.
He announced his decision initially on his Black Spruce Dog Sledding Facebook page.
“I am in Galena, and have made the decision to scratch from Iditarod 2025. It has been a tough decision to come to, and I have thought about the pros and cons of continuing the race for the last day and a half. Ultimately, my decision was made for the longevity of my team’s career. I could continue and risk physical damage to core, prime-age team members, and possible mental “damage” to young team members like Stannis and Louie. But by pulling out of the race now, I can ensure that we have all had a positive experience to this point, and have a group of dogs that will be strong for many seasons to come.
“Thank you all for supporting us and sending us so much love and positivity. Know that I am happy with the decision that I have come to, and we will live to race another day,” Deeter posted.
Additionally, rookie Iditarod musher, Mike Parker of Eagle River, Alaska, scratched Friday at 5:03 p.m. at the Ruby checkpoint in the best interest of his team. Parker had 11 dogs in harness when he arrived in Ruby.
The initial Iditarod adventure for the veteran dog musher had special meaning for Parker, racing dogs from Jim Lanier’s Northern Whites Kennel.
While he and the Northern Whites were on a training run in December 2023, a snowmachine struck the team, killing three dogs. Parker was carrying the ashes of Solo, John, and Buttercup with him on his Iditarod run, according to a story published at Alaska’s News Source.
“I am going to leave them on the trail, that is where they are supposed to be,” Parker had said on the banks of the Yukon River. “They were supposed to be here with me, so we’ll find a good camping spot for them.”
First dog death on the trail in 2025
A third scratch from the race on Friday came after a dog from the team of a Wisconsin rookie musher died Friday on the trail between Ruby and Galena.
In a written release, Iditarod officials said a 4-year-old female named Ventana on musher Daniel Klein’s team collapsed on the trail about eight miles from Galena, a checkpoint 369 miles into the race.
Iditarod said attempts to revive the dog were unsuccessful, said Warren Palfrey, race marshal for the Iditarod Trail Committee.
Klein got into Galena at 2:10 p.m. (AKST). According to Iditarod GPS data, he had stopped on the trail for almost an hour before then.
Ventana was flown to Anchorage for a necropsy, Iditarod said, where a board-certified pathologist will try to determine an exact cause of death.
The death forced Klein to scratch from the race under Iditarod Rule 42, which says, in part, “Any dog death that occurs during the conduct of the race will result in immediate (a) voluntary scratch by the musher with right of assistance under Rule 10 or (b) withdrawal with right of assistance under Rule 51 (such withdrawal does not imply any deliberate misconduct or violation as set forth in Rule 51), unless the death was caused, as determined by the Race Marshal, to be due to the inherent risks of wilderness travel (example, moose encounter), nature of trail, or force beyond the control of the musher (these causes are all referred to as an “Unpreventable Hazard.”
Klein, from Eagle, Wisc., was making his first start in the Last Great Race, and was running 27th when he scratched, running a team from 2023 Iditarod champion Ryan Redington’s kennel.
It was the first dog death of the 2025 Iditarod, a year after three dogs died during the 2024 race. Necropsies were performed on those three dogs, but a cause of death wasn’t determined, according to race officials. They were the first deaths the Iditarod had reported since 2019.
In his pre-race bio, Klein said, “Childhood sports, then marathon and triathlon racing combined with competitive family influences, have now set the stage for the privilege of entering the Iditarod.”
Iditarod statement on Brenda Mackey’s decision to scratch
The ITC released a statement Friday after the decision of rookie Brenda Mackey to scratch from the event on Wednesday:
“Rookie Iditarod musher, Brenda Mackey (bib #9), of Fairbanks, Alaska, scratched on March 5 at 4:35 p.m. at the Tanana checkpoint in the best interest of her team. The original press release stated Mackey had 14 dogs in harness when she arrived in Tanana, all in good health.
“As more information has come from the checkpoint since that time, it is now understood that Mackey had 13 dogs in harness and one dog, Jett, resting in her sled due to health concerns that emerged approximately three hours after departing Tanana.
“Upon recognizing the issue, Mackey did make an attempt to activate her SOS button on her tracker, but unfortunately did not activate it correctly. Mackey made the decision to return to the checkpoint where Jett was promptly examined by Trail Veterinarians and flown to Anchorage. We are happy to report that Jett is seemingly in good condition and appears to be healthy and in high spirits.
“The ITC apologizes for the miscommunication and any angst we may have caused Brenda, her team and her followers,” the statement said.
Our exclusive local coverage of Matthew Failor in the 2025 Iditarod is made possible with the cooperation of the Iditarod Trail Committee. To learn more about the non-profit organization, visit www.iditarod.com. You can also learn how to become an Iditarod Insider and access all of the live streams, GPS tracking system and video interviews with Failor and other mushers.
