First mushers cross the finish line at Iditarod, Ford second among rookies
As of this morning, seven mushers have finished the Iditarod dogsled race, with Jessie Holmes finishing in first place early Friday morning. Duluth’s Emily Ford is in 17th place but second among the rookie racers.
Holmes was first to the finish line in the Gold Rush town of Nome, on the Bering Sea coast. The race began March 3 in Fairbanks after a lack of snow forced changes to the route and starting point.
That made the normally 1,000-mile (1,609-kilometer) race a staggering 1,128 miles (1,815 kilometers) across the Alaska wilderness. Holmes finished in 10 days, 14 hours, 55 minutes and 41 seconds.
“It’s hard to put into words, but it’s a magical feeling,” Holmes said shortly after crossing the finish line. “It’s not about this moment now. It’s about all those moments along the trail.”
He will take home $57,200 for winning the race, along with awards including $4,500 worth of gold nuggets and 25 pounds of fresh salmon for finishing first in earlier stages.
Holmes, who was competing for the eighth time, previously finished in the top 10 five times, including third last year and in 2022. In his first Iditarod in 2018, his seventh-place finish earned him Rookie of the Year honors.
Alaska native Matt Hall finished in second place just three hours after Holmes. Paige Drobny came in third. She will be the first woman on the podium since 2020.
Ford is seeking to be the second Black woman to finish the Iditarod. WTIP spoke to her ahead of the race. You can find the audio of that interview here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Josh Hinke March 15, 2025
