Iditarod

“I kind of like spicy things, like chile relleno and some lasagna with a little zip in it, that sort of thing,” says Iditarod musher Linwood Fiedler.

Fifty-eight mushers have signed up for the 2020 Iditarod. Among them are six former champions, including 2019 winner Pete Kaiser. But one four-time champion is absent.

Bethel musher Pete Kaiser’s team of eight dogs crossed under the Burled Arch in Nome at 3:39 a.m. Wednesday. Kaiser is the first Iditarod champion with Yupik roots.

Race officials reduced the maximum team size from 16 to 14 for this year’s Iditarod. That means quite a bit for race strategies, speeds and the trade-offs that mushers face as they travel across Alaska.

With 52 dog teams slated to run the 1,000-mile race to Nome, it’s the smallest field of mushers starting an Iditarod in decades. But that doesn’t mean the competition is any easier.

The Iditarod restart kicks off Sunday afternoon in Willow. A notable Western Alaska musher will be absent from the pack.