Hey all, Iditarod 2025 starts this Saturday and Minnesota's own Emily Ford will be running a team for the first time. If you recall, Emily crossed the BWCA solo in the winter of 21-22 Emily Ford - Lessons from the Winter Trail.

If you want to keep up with her, the official Iditarod site will show her current place: Iditarod 2025 Musher Emily Ford as well as her website may have updates every now and then: Emily on Trail.

Great athlete, dog and driver and dedication.

Thanks so much for posting this. I remember a few summers ago I was in Talkeetna, AK and was pretty impressed by how many women there were mushers - and participated in the Iditarod.

Following Emily will be fun.

OneMatch: "Thanks so much for posting this. I remember a few summers ago I was in Talkeetna, AK and was pretty impressed by how many women there were mushers - and participated in the Iditarod.

Following Emily will be fun."

Unlike golf, there is no “Ladies Tee” in mushing. It’s a remarkably physically demanding activity for the mushers and men and women compete equal footing.

Best of luck, Emily!

Wow! That is so cool. I'm going to follow her trek as well. A solo trek in the snow even with her dogs is still a mentally tough endeavor. That's impressive!

Go, Emily, Go! Safe, Swift and successful mushing to you and the dogs. We'll be following too.

Minnesotian: "
Hey all, Iditarod 2025 starts this Saturday and Minnesota's own Emily Ford will be running a team for the first time. If you recall, Emily crossed the BWCA solo in the winter of 21-22 Emily Ford - Lessons from the Winter Trail.

If you want to keep up with her, the official Iditarod site will show her current place: Iditarod 2025 Musher Emily Ford as well as her website may have updates every now and then: Emily on Trail.

"

Super cool! Thanks for sharing this! What an amazing/impressive person!

I used to collect Iditarod hats.
Each year they make the number of official hats equal to the year. So this year there will be 2025 hats made. Great quality hats.
LIke Minnesota they are having lack of snow problems and moved starting point
official race page

Emily is awesome! Big supporter of the BWCA and role model for young women to get outside and do big things in the wilderness. Best of luck to her!

OgimaaBines: "Emily is awesome! Big supporter of the BWCA and role model for young women to get outside and do big things in the wilderness. Best of luck to her!"

Yes she is.
Is there any other MN dog sleds running this year up there?

The Minnesota Star Tribune just ran a lengthy feature on Emily. Here’s a free gift link: Emily Ford Star Tribune Story

Kermit: "The Minnesota Star Tribune just ran a lengthy feature on Emily. Here’s a free gift link: Emily Ford Star Tribune Story "

Thanks for sharing K!

Pinetree: "I used to collect Iditarod hats.
Each year they make the number of official hats equal to the year. So this year there will be 2025 hats made. Great quality hats.
LIke Minnesota they are having lack of snow problems and moved starting point
official race page "

Cabelas used to have an Iditarod Forum. There was a Top Ten prediction contest every year, and one year I won. One member sent me a hat, and the Cabelas moderator sent me some posters. Still have them.
That forum is long gone, but there is one called Iditabuds that does a Top Ten as well, and a site called Fantasymushing (run by a Seavey) which has a cool contest too.

Pinetree: "…..Yes she is.
Is there any other MN dog sleds running this year up there?"

No others from Minnesotan this year, but a couple of Wisconsinites: Dan Klein from Eagle has trained up with Ryan Reddington, and Quince Mountain, who is Blair Braverman’s husband will be making his second stab at finishing. Best of luck to both!

Good luck to all. Hope from some light snow every day. These dog races are becoming difficult to run for lack of snow

Ely race

Catie Clark
ELY- Matthew Schmidt and Brian Bergen were the top finishers in this year’s running of the WolfTrack Classic sled dog race held here on Sunday, bringing home cash prizes of $1,500 and $1,300 respectively for their efforts.
Schmidt completed the 44-mile eight-dog course in 4:08.04, while Bergen topped the field in the 30-mile six-dog course, hitting the finish line in 2:37.59.
The annual competition had to be canceled last year due to the lack of snow, but that wasn’t an issue this year, although the mushers would have preferred the colder temperatures of earlier in the week. But with partly cloudy skies and temperatures warming into the 30s, spectators had no reason to complain.
A total of 12 eight-dog teams started and finished the race, while the six-dog competition fielded 26 teams, only one of which dropped before the finish. Because of trail conditions, the eight-dog race route was modified to avoid the Cub Lake Trail and Bear Head Lake. The revised race route was 44 miles instead of the original 50-mile loop.
Racers competed for a 2025 purse totaling $9,000. In the eight-dog competition, Lauren Stukenborg won $1,100 for her second-place finish, while Kendra Anderson claimed $650 for third.

The race had it's restart up in Fairbanks yesterday and Emily is currently in 24th out of a crowd of 33. Not a bad position to be for a rookie.

Minnesotian: "
The race had it's restart up in Fairbanks yesterday and Emily is currently in 24th out of a crowd of 33. Not a bad position to be for a rookie. "

Moved into 15th now (2nd place among rookies), but lots of race left. Off to an excellent start, though.

Also, this is a great film about her Ice Age Trail adventure. It is being offered free right now in honor of her running the Iditarod.
Breaking Trail

That's great news! I found her website and contributed to fly one of her dogs home. I couldn't get first-class because it was sold out, but I snagged economy-plus. :) You can give as little as you want to buy some dog booties or kibble or whatever. I thought her website was a very clever way on her part to elicit support for her worthwhile endeavor. Plus, I love dogs.

She's up to 14th place and in the lead of all rookies. Representing MN well!

As of this morning she is currently running in 6th place. Lots of trail left, along with the mandatory 8hr and 24hr rest, but great to see her in the top 10!

Minnesotian: "
As of this morning she is currently running in 6th place. Lots of trail left, along with the mandatory 8hr and 24hr rest, but great to see her in the top 10!"

And by late this afternoon she is in 3rd. Great showing!

Minnesotian: "....And by late this afternoon she is in 3rd. Great showing!"

3rd place after 4 days and 420 miles into the race is impressive for anyone, let alone a rookie.

For those who may not be as familiar with this race, place at this time can be very misleading due to the mandatory 24 and 8 hour rest stops. Some mushers she is passing are doing their 24 and will pass her when she does hers. Paige came into Nulato about 4 hours being Emily, but has already done her 24 making her arguably about 20 hours ahead of Emily. There will be a lot of shifting up and down in the next day or so.

Nevertheless, a great showing from Emily so far. Keep it up!

Is there any televised way to watch portions of the iditarod race? Can you stream portions of it?

Moonpath: "Is there any televised way to watch portions of the iditarod race? Can you stream portions of it?
"

Yes, there are various options on Iditarod.com, some involving a free signup with limited access, and others with paid subscriptions that gets you access to everything. https://iditarod.com/

Sunday
EAGLE ISLAND, Alaska — Duluth resident Emily Ford was running midpack a week into her debut in the famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Ford was in 13th place overall out of a field of 33 entries that had narrowed to 27 active competitors as of Sunday afternoon.

Dog musher Emily Ford just hoped to finish.

Yet, 582 miles and nearly seven days into the 1,000-plus-mile Iditarod across Alaska, the Duluth woman was the top rookie in the standings with her team of 13 huskies Monday morning. She was 14th of 27 mushers overall.

As of this morning she is still in 14th, having completed both her 8hr and 24hr rests. Still has 13 dogs, and is on her way to Grayling2. But she does have another rookie on her tail, Samantha LaLonde.

I was thinking yesterday that Emily has some advantage that she is probably running a bunch of the same dogs her partner Anna ran to finish the Iditarod last year, so they have the experience and will know the trail once they turn west at Kaltag. Then this morning I realized Sam LaLonde is running Dallas Seavey's team, so they probably have experience too.

Emily in 12th


Rookies virtually tied, but Samantha has not yet taken her 8 hour break so Emily is maybe way ahead.

Moonpath: "Is there any televised way to watch portions of the iditarod race? Can you stream portions of it?
"

Subscribing to Iditarod Insider is probably the best way to go. It lets you select and track some mushers by GPS too, and lots of good video footage from checkpoints.

HowardSprague: "

Moonpath: "Is there any televised way to watch portions of the iditarod race? Can you stream portions of it?
"

Subscribing to Iditarod Insider is probably the best way to go. It lets you select and track some mushers by GPS too, and lots of good video footage from checkpoints."

FYI, if you didn't subscribe to Insider already, they are offering a "48 hour pass" now for 15 clams.

My math might be wrong, but it seems Emily is taking an especially long time to get from Eagle Island back to Kaltag. Anyone have some scoop here? This has been reported as some exceptionally bad trail.

Jaywalker: "My math might be wrong, but it seems Emily is taking an especially long time to get from Eagle Island back to Kaltag. Anyone have some scoop here? This has been reported as some exceptionally bad trail. "

I've been wondering the same thing. Wondering if she has a tracker issue.

straighthairedcurly: "

Jaywalker: "My math might be wrong, but it seems Emily is taking an especially long time to get from Eagle Island back to Kaltag. Anyone have some scoop here? This has been reported as some exceptionally bad trail. "

I've been wondering the same thing. Wondering if she has a tracker issue."

Sam LaLonde has arrived in Kaltag, so she passed Emily on the trail and wiped out the 8 hour advantage Emily had leaving Eagle Island. If Emily were in trouble I am sure Sam would have stopped to help, as would Anna B coming up next. Sometimes teams just decide they need to shut down for a while. Hopefully the team just decided to take an extended break and will be back at it in high spirits shortly.

She dropped down like 4 positions fast.

Looks like she checked into Kaltag2 about half an hour ago, and an hour behind Samantha. Sometimes the dogs just say no, and good mushers listen to their dogs.

Minnesotian: "
Looks like she checked into Kaltag2 about half an hour ago, and an hour behind Samantha. Sometimes the dogs just say no, and good mushers listen to their dogs. "

Either way her goal was just to finish-she is exceeding that.
Her present speed is 3.2 miles a hour, slowest in the race right now. Wonder after such a grueling race, driver and dogs getting worn out?

Pinetree: "

Minnesotian: "
Looks like she checked into Kaltag2 about half an hour ago, and an hour behind Samantha. Sometimes the dogs just say no, and good mushers listen to their dogs. "

Either way her goal was just to finish-she is exceeding that.
Her present speed is 3.2 miles a hour, slowest in the race right now. Wonder after such a grueling race, driver and dogs getting worn out?"

Reported speeds are pretty meaningless if teams stop to rest on the trail which is common. Guessing Emily stopped at last once, and maybe twice on that last run. Still doesn’t explain the long run time. Hopefully that will get explained and the team is well.

Pinetree: "She dropped down like 4 positions fast."

Apparently Emily's team had a tough crossing to Kaltag. Her team was getting spooked by the groaning ice on the river. They are all well and expect to be back to more typical pace.

Iditerod note-March 13-time 8 PM central

Right now there are 8 rookies, and they're currently in the last 8 places. I don't think I've ever seen a solid split like that, though rookies tend to be slower.


Samantha and Emily both into Unalakleet and resting-so they are tied right now

Ford

Sam left UNK 2 hours ahead of of Emily and had a blisteringly fast run to Shak at 10.91 mph - by far the fastest run time in any segment of the race by any musher (only a couple have topped 9mph), but then took an 8.5 hour rest to Emily's 4.5. Now we are back to even, with Sam leaving just 2 minutes ahead. I think it's good that they are doing the sea ice together. I was a bit concerned how Emily's team would do on the ice after the issues she had heading back up to Kaltag 2. Go Emily! Go Sam!

Sam is in Nome. Emily should be there today with still 12 dogs, that will be the highest numbers of dogs to finish so far this year. Must be keeping good care of them.

She made it to Nome 5 minutes behind the second rookie.
Congrats to Emily.
Wonder what's up next for her?

CONGRATULATIONS EMILY!

18th place, in 13 days, 1 hour, and 35 minutes.

People think NFL football players are pretty tough, but let me make a couple comparisons:

- A typical NFL game last about 3-3.5 hours and has 60 minutes of clock time. But there is typically only about 12-14 minutes of actual play. Since most players only play offense or defense, they actually only play about 6-7 minutes each game. Emily's game was 18,815 minutes long, and most of that in temps colder than almost any NFL game.

- When NFL player come out of the game to the bench, there get hydration, cooling or heating as needed, oxygen, and there are trainers ready to stretch or massage sore muscles. At the end of each run, Emily had to remove dog booties, unhook gang lines, put out straw, boil water (sometimes melting snow), check dogs feet (16x4) and apply ointment, and massage sore muscles of her dogs. From what I've seen, in a typical 5 hour rest, about 3 hours is dog care, 30-60 minute gear issues, and about an hour or maybe two for the musher to eat and sleep themselves.

- NFL players are given all their gear. They fly and stay in comfort and all meals are generous and provided. Emily paid a $4,000 entry fee, paid for all her own meals (some checkpoints do provide meals, but not all), paid for all her dog food, paid for all her drop bags to be shipped up the trail, and paid for her handlers to fly to and stay in Nome.

- I believe all NFL stadiums except for Green Bay have a level 1 trauma center within 15 minutes, and all game have ambulances, paramedics, and doctors at the stadium. Emily had a first aid kit and an ax to defend against moose attacks (which have happened). Most of the villages that serve as checkpoints do not have ambulances or paramedics or doctors or clinics.

- Minimum salary in the NFL for a rookie is $840,000. They do not need to actually play 6-7 minutes per game to collect. Coming in 18th, Emily probably just won about $14,000. She spent a lot more than than that just to enter and run the race.

Finishing the Iditarod in any place is an amazing accomplishment. Again, congrats Emily!!

In case you'd like to support her financially: Emily on Trail

Jaywalker: "CONGRATULATIONS EMILY!


18th place, in 13 days, 1 hour, and 35 minutes.


People think NFL football players are pretty tough, but let me make a couple comparisons:


- A typical NFL game last about 3-3.5 hours and has 60 minutes of clock time. But there is typically only about 12-14 minutes of actual play. Since most players only play offense or defense, they actually only play about 6-7 minutes each game. Emily's game was 18,815 minutes long, and most of that in temps colder than almost any NFL game.


- When NFL player come out of the game to the bench, there get hydration, cooling or heating as needed, oxygen, and there are trainers ready to stretch or massage sore muscles. At the end of each run, Emily had to remove dog booties, unhook gang lines, put out straw, boil water (sometimes melting snow), check dogs feet (16x4) and apply ointment, and massage sore muscles of her dogs. From what I've seen, in a typical 5 hour rest, about 3 hours is dog care, 30-60 minute gear issues, and about an hour or maybe two for the musher to eat and sleep themselves.


- NFL players are given all their gear. They fly and stay in comfort and all meals are generous and provided. Emily paid a $4,000 entry fee, paid for all her own meals (some checkpoints do provide meals, but not all), paid for all her dog food, paid for all her drop bags to be shipped up the trail, and paid for her handlers to fly to and stay in Nome.


- I believe all NFL stadiums except for Green Bay have a level 1 trauma center within 15 minutes, and all game have ambulances, paramedics, and doctors at the stadium. Emily had a first aid kit and an ax to defend against moose attacks (which have happened). Most of the villages that serve as checkpoints do not have ambulances or paramedics or doctors or clinics.


- Minimum salary in the NFL for a rookie is $840,000. They do not need to actually play 6-7 minutes per game to collect. Coming in 18th, Emily probably just won about $14,000. She spent a lot more than than that just to enter and run the race.


Finishing the Iditarod in any place is an amazing accomplishment. Again, congrats Emily!!"

Great comparison. She did great and hopefully will have time for a rest when she gets settled back in MN

Congrats to Emily! Great job!

Incredible accomplishment Emily! Looking forward to hearing about the next adventure!

One tough team;Driver and dogs

DULUTH Tribune— Just under two weeks into running the famed Alaskan sled dog race, Duluth’s Emily Ford finished 18th in the Iditarod on Sunday, completing the race in 13 days, 1 hour and 35 minutes. Ford finished with a 5-minute time difference from Keaton Loebrich, the racer in 17th place.

A first-time musher in the over 1,100-mile long race, Ford was one of 23 active participants in the final days of the Iditarod. Emerging from a field of 33 entries, she was the third rookie to cross the finish line in Nome, Alaska.


Ford completed the race with 10 dogs, down from the initial 16 she started with. Around 10 p.m. Duluth time Saturday, Ford left the second-to-last race checkpoint in White Mountain, 77 miles from the finish line. A little over 18 hours later, she made it to the final checkpoint in Nome.

sled dogs

Under bright sunshine, the rookie musher from Duluth and her team of 10 Alaskan huskies crossed the finish line of the famous sled dog race early Sunday afternoon in downtown Nome. She finished 18th overall.

Interviewed by race officials in the finisher chute, a smiling Ford sounded like she would race more miles if it meant more time outdoors with her sled team.

“It’s just this lifestyle of, we get to be with our dogs and the land all at once, and it brings you back to center,” she said.

Her mother, Paula, texted the Minnesota Star Tribune after witnessing her daughter’s achievement in person.

“It was so good to see her face!” said Paula Ford. “Although I knew she and the dogs were OK, seeing them was the best.”

Incredible accomplishment, she did very well.