WILLOW, Alaska — Matthew Failor isn’t convinced the Iditarod needed to change its path across Alaska this year. The Iditarod Trail Committee announced Monday it had made the “difficult but necessary” decision to move the official restart of the 2025 race to Fairbanks, about 290 miles north of the normal restart in Willow, due to […]
Iditarod 2025
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Training races complete: Mansfield native Matthew Failor set for Iditarod
WILLOW, Alaska — Training races are complete. Drop bags with food are filled for checkpoints. In other words, the hay is largely in the barn for Mansfield native Matthew Failor and his Alaskan Husky Adventures 17th-Dog teams for the 2025 Iditarod Sled Dog Race, the 53rd annual race across Alaska. Two members of his team, […]
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Theo stays up late to greet daddy Matthew Failor at Kusko 300 finish
BETHEL, Alaska – Theo Failor stayed up late Saturday night to welcome daddy home. The 19-month-old was waiting at the Kuskokwim 300 finish line with his mom, Liz, when Mansfield native Matthew Failor crossed the finish line on Sunday morning, just after 4 a.m. AKST. The 42-year-old St. Peter’s High School graduate finished in eighth […]
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Iditarod is good to go: ‘Return of winter’ good news for Mansfield native musher
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 […]
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Lack of snow continues to make Iditarod preparations tough for Mansfield native
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 […]
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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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He’s back! Mansfield native Matthew Failor to launch 14th Iditarod in Alaska
WILLOW, ALASKA — Matthew Failor is headed back across Alaska in 2025. The Mansfield native will launch his 14th Iditarod effort when what’s been dubbed “The Last Great American Race” begins its 53rd campaign with a ceremonial start in Anchorage on March 1. The 42-year-old Failor made it official on Monday when he entered the […]