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Hi, ADN Iditarod fans,

After coming close twice before, Jessie Holmes is on the cusp of his first-ever Iditarod win. The Nenana musher was the first to reach White Mountain this morning with a solid lead, a position that sets him up to be the first across the finish line in Nome.

Holmes finished third in the Iditarod in both 2022 and 2024. 

Jessie Holmes talks with race fans in downtown Anchorage ahead of the Iditarod's ceremonial start in 2024. (Marc Lester / ADN)

The race requires teams to stay in White Mountain for eight hours before setting off on the last 77-mile stretch before Nome. Holmes had a 24-mile lead on his closest competitor, Two Rivers musher Matt Hall, when he arrived at the checkpoint at 8:39 a.m.

Holmes has managed to keep that lead in spite of stopping for periods of rest in the Koyuk and Elim checkpoints. That's something he said had been crucial to rebuilding his team’s mental strength and speed.

“You could see that it was a little hard mentally on them, like the young ones, especially,” he told Iditarod Insider of the stretch from Unalakleet and Shaktoolik over the sea ice to Koyuk.

Hall was a few hours behind Holmes, with Cantwell musher Paige Drobny on track to arrive to White Mountain later this afternoon.

Speaking to Iditarod Insider during a rest in Koyuk, Drobny said she’d mushed through a mild ground storm on the sea ice heading over the bay on Wednesday.

“It’s like sand blasting us for hours,” she said.

Three additional mushers – all rookies – left the race on Wednesday. Sydnie Bahl of Wasilla and Quince Mountain of Wisconsin were withdrawn from the Iditarod under the race’s Rule 36, which allows officials to pull a musher from the event if they are deemed so far behind as to not be effectively competitive and “not in a position to make a valid effort to compete.”

According to statements from the Iditarod Trail Committee, both Bahl and Mountain wanted to continue running.

Fairbanks rookie Justin Olnes scratched from the race at the Eagle Island checkpoint. Race officials said he had departed the checkpoint but then turned back, telling officials “that his team needed more rest to stay competitive."

There are now 23 teams left competing, with the Red Lantern musher in Kaltag as of Thursday afternoon. Based on recent champions’ runs, Holmes is likely to arrive under the burled arch in Nome early Friday, potentially between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.

Nome, Alaska, photographed on Wednesday, March 12. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Reporter Zachariah Hughes and photojournalist Loren Holmes are in Nome awaiting the Iditarod's winner, so be sure to check back at ADN.com/iditarod tomorrow for race updates and photos from the finish line.

Happy trails, 

Megan Pacer
mpacer@adn.com

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