Iditapod

Front-of-the-pack 2019 Iditarod musher Jessie Royer talks to KNOM's Ben Matheson on Friday in Shageluk about having to drop a dog, what she's expecting from the trail ahead and how she feels about mushing near the front as one of the race's most competitive teams.

Here's a quick, couple-minute interview with Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle recorded Thursday in the checkpoint of Iditarod, where she was taking her 24-hour rest. KNOM's Ben Matheson asked about Zirkle's move passing other teams taking their 24s earlier to take the lead.

Top teams in the 2019 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race are reaching the Yukon River on Friday as the race enters its fifth day, with snow and more warm temperatures in the forecast. Girdwood's Nicolas Petit and Norwegian-by-way-of-Willow musher Joar Leifseth Ulsom have continued to leapfrog each other, with Nic winning a five-course meal in Anvik. We hear more about the different strategies as they came into focus earlier in the race and take a listener question about team positions for dogs.

He's been running out in front of much of the 2019 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, so clearly Nic Petit is a hard musher to catch up with, but KNOM's Ben Matheson had a nice long chat with the Girdwood local and 2018 runner-up Wednesday in Ophir, where Petit took his mandatory 24-hour layover. They talked about Nic's strategy of camping out more and how the dogs are doing - including, yes, more poop talk - among other things.

An extended interview with Willow musher Matt Failor, with Alaska Public Media's Zachariah Hughes in Takotna. Hear more from the man who named a litter of dogs after heavy metal bands about getting more attention after winning the Kuskokwim 300, how his Iditarod is going and how he saw a snowmachiner, trying to pass him, crash along the trail.

Iditapod contributor Quince Mountain checks in from Winter Lake Lodge, a.k.a., thewhere a sled dog that lives at the lodge broke his chain and went for a run following Iditarod teams all the way up to Rainy Pass. Dillon's used to runs of up to 10 miles, but this was a 30-mile haul! Quince talks to lodge owner Carl Dixon and its manager, Lisa Rattan, about what they say is the real story.

Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle and all 14 of her SP Kennel dogs made it to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race's halfway point, the Iditarod checkpoint, for her 24-hour layover. Other mushers coming off their 24s are expected through there Thursday. Earlier on their breaks, mushers shared stories of injuries, sled mishaps and wildlife encounters, as well as sled dog litter-naming conventions.

Aniak musher Richie Diehl talks in Takotna about hitting a tree -- face first -- earlier in the race and continuing down the trail. Interview by Alaska Public Media's Zachariah Hughes on Wednesday, March 6, 2019.

Braver Mountain Mushing's Quince Mountain is out on the 2019 Iditarod trail trying to catch up with the mushers on a snowmachine. Due to some technical issues, he was only in Skwentna for our Wednesday phone call. That's about 80 miles into the trail, and Wednesday saw leaders into the Iditarod checkpoint, which is about 430 miles into the 1,000-mile race. But.. Quince is alive and OK, and that's the important part. We talked about the journey so far, somehow even got on the topic of dog poop (again) and what it's like to see meticulously packed drop bags go unused during such a warm year.

This is an extended interview with Two Rivers musher Aliy Zirkle in McGrath, recorded Tuesday, March 5, 2019 by KNOM Radio's Ben Matheson.