WILLOW, Alaska — How bad a winter has it been for training sled dogs in Alaska? New Orleans has gotten more snow in 2025 than Anchorage. With the nearly 1,000-mile 2025 Iditarod Sled Dog Race coming up in little more than a month, the unusually warm and mild Alaskan winter continues to throw curveballs at […]
Dane Baker
Posted inOutdoor
Mansfield native preps for Iditarod with Copper Basin 300 ‘training run’ in Alaska
GLENALLEN, Alaska — Mansfield native Matthew Failor took his sled dog team on a 300-mile training run and camping trip over the weekend. It just happened to be during the 2025 Copper Basin 300 Sled Dog Race, finishing 22nd out of 30 teams during unseasonably warm temperatures. During an interview with Richland Source last week, […]
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Iditarod prep: Mansfield’s Matthew Failor to mush Saturday in Copper Basin 300
WILLOW, Alaska — Matthew Failor seriously considered not racing in the 2025 Idiatrod Sled Dog Race across Alaska. In fact, the 42-year-old Mansfield St. Peter’s graduate didn’t make it official until the last minute, officially entering the “The Last Great Race” on Dec. 2, the final day for admissions. That means Failor will launch his […]
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Matthew Failor honored as best sportsman from 2024 Iditarod race across Alaska
NOME, Alaska — Matthew Failor was in perfect position for another Top 10 finish in the famed Iditarod sled dog race across Alaska. But the 42-year-old Mansfield native was also in perfect position to help a disconsolate young musher, who saw one of his dogs die about 650 miles into the nearly 1,000-mile race from […]