FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Some have compared the re-routed 2025 Iditarod trail to a race track, including the first 600 miles on the frozen Yukon River.
Some mushers have spoken about listening to audiobooks on the trail to stifle boredom and help keep them awake as the sleds slide easily across hard-packed, wide and icy river trails.
Don’t count Matthew Failor among them.
The Mansfield native, about to make his 14th Iditarod start, cautioned against anyone who thinks sled dog units will suddenly perform like an F-1 team just because a more technical part of the course has been changed due to a lack of snow.
“When you’ve been a musher for 10 or 12 or 20-whatever years … usually we like to run around corners and through the hills and up the mountains, but the Yukon River will have its challenges,” he said during a recent interview with Iditarod.com Insider.
“We’re not going to be falling asleep because something … something will happen,” said Failor, who has raced in two of the three previous Iditarods that have featured Fairbanks starts due to trail conditions.
“Mother Nature will throw her curveball.”
Regardless, the St. Peter’s High School graduate said his Alaskan Husky Adventures 17th-Dog Team is prepared for the dog-racing equivalent of the “green flag” at Pikes Waterfront Lodge on Monday, about 290 miles north of the ceremonial start Saturday in Anchorage.
The official restart for the 33 sled dog teams begins at 11 a.m. (AKST).
Failor, who drew bib No. 31 again this year during the Musher’s Banquet on Thursday, won’t get moving for awhile as teams are released every three minutes.
Where he starts isn’t as important as where he finishes. Failor is hoping for his second Top 10 finish and may even compete for victory.
“I think most of us competitive mushers would like to start somewhat closer toward the front. But ultimately, it’s not that big a deal,” he told Richland Source on Saturday.
Mushers must take a mandatory 24-hour break during the race, which is also used to manage the time difference between teams who start the race at staggered intervals.
In terms of the Yukon River, Failor recalled difficult conditions during the 2019 race on the traditional southern route when mushers were on the river.
“Coming up the southern route, there was water everywhere. There was slush everywhere. Everybody’s sled was caked in ice and the dogs were maneuvering around sinkholes,” Failor said.
“I think we pulled into Kaltag that year in the top 10 and the whole field was wide open because you just never know what’s gonna happen.
“So, no, I’ve got deep respect for this route. Just because it’s 600 miles of flat river doesn’t mean it’s gonna be easy,” Failor said.
He said the re-route could lead to closer bunchings of teams.
“But I also think that some mushers will fall into the pitfalls of thinking it’s going to be easy and they might go a little too hard at the beginning. But that’s that’s why we race … that’s why we take our dogs out there and test our abilities,” Failor said.
Failor admits there are stronger teams “on paper” in the field, citing three-time winner Mitch Seavey, Jessie Holmes, Matt Hall and Paige Drobney.
“But you got a (GPS) chip and a (sled) chair and you got a chance. We will do our best. (My dogs) have all seen the Iditarod, except for three of them. They’re between the ages of 3 and 7. So on paper, we’re fine.
“But you still have to show up and perform. We have to keep them healthy,” Failor said.
Failor wasn’t sure he would run a team this year, entering on the last day of signups. Dane Baker, one of his handlers, was already entered to take a “puppy team” from Failor’s kennel and drew bib No. 21.
“You just feel lucky that you can be a part of it. Iditarod is a really magnificent event that brings together so many people from different walks of life and and then you’re connected through Iditarod,” Failor said.
“I’m just happy that I can do it again.”
