Iditarod Trail Invitational Concludes
On Tuesday afternoon the last of this season’s competitors in the Iditarod Trail Invitational arrived in Nome. Sunny Stroeer of Utah made it to the burled arch at Anvil City Square after 29 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes of traveling on skis, with just over two hours remaining before the cutoff of the 30-day race. On March 12, Tyson Flaharty and Miron Golfman were the first to arrive in Nome as they biked under the burled arch together.
The Iditarod Trail Invitational sees 100 qualifying participants walk, ski and bike the 1,000 miles from Knik each year. This year 41 participants scratched. The race is notoriously difficult to finish, Race director Kyle Durand told the Nugget.
For the first time in over 20 years ski racers completed the 1,000-mile race. Asbjørn Bruun of Denmark was the first to arrive after 24 days and 53 minutes. “I see this as the skiers Mount Everest, I’ve been dreaming about it for 11 years, working on it for eight, training hard for the last five and after three attempts, I’ve finally made it,” Bruun said.
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Ryan Fox, teacher at Nome-Beltz Middle School took on the 350-mile challenge for his first year and won in his division arriving in McGrath in 7 days, 14 hours and 44 minutes. Fox has been preparing for months leading up to the expedition in the training ground that Nome’s landscape provides.
Former Nomeite Phillip Hofstetter biked the ITI for the 11th time this year and placed third, arriving in the late afternoon on March 14. This was his first time back on the trail in six years and he said his preparation in Petersburg looked much different. “It was a lot harder to gear test anything because the temperatures just are not reflective of the trail. Nome is a lot better to gear test. But I was also able to get a lot of riding in. So actual training rides were a lot longer which was kind of interesting,” Hofstetter said.
The ITI is different from the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and the Iron Dog snowmachine race as it is less supported by volunteers or the ability to send drop bags to checkpoints. Past McGrath, ITI racers ship food and supplies on their own. Hofstetter said he really relied on schools in the checkpoint locations as they were communicative and willing to help.
ITI competitors experience dog teams and snowmachines often on their journey, sometimes to their delight. The Iron Dog looping back provides another opportunity for the trail to be packed down, though with the relentless weather it doesn’t always make a difference, Hofstetter said.
Many people who travel the Iditarod trail have favorite points or memories, Hofstetter got wistful about the spectacular views of the Northern Lights on the Yukon.
But coming into Nome this year was an ending like no other he said, “What a heartwarming experience for me, being away for so long and seeing a lot of friends and acquaintances at the finish line was surprising and also really nice. It was definitely my most satisfying ITI ever.”