Race Galleries

The first time I covered this race, the weather was so bad that the race route had to be changed midway through the race. Im headed back for a second attempt to see all the trail! Stay tuned for photos from the Kobuk 440 this race starts April 6th and the first winners are expected back in Kotzebue on the 9th or 10th. Follow them on trackleaders.com!

A race that has not been hosted in a few years is making its comeback! The Two Rivers Dog Mushers Association Valley Fun-ale was a two day event over April Fools weekend, complete with a costume contest, hungry dog contest and races on both days of the event. Nearly 30 kids showed up for the 1/4 mile loop where they were able to try their hand at mushing with dogs lent by local mushers. But dont forget to check out the adults in the 10, 20 mile or skijor races as well as the hungry dog contest.

This was the first time this race was ever ran. There were 10 slots available for the 110 mile loop with various other slots open for just legs of the race which could be mushed as a skijor, bikjor or dog team. The route started in the Goldstream Valley at Gold stream sports and ventured through Goldstream before hitting the Dunbar Trail to then continue on to Nenana. Teams rested for 4 hours then hit the Tannan River trail for the final leg that led back to Trail Breaker Kennel.

Its been a few years since it has worked out for me to photograph the LNAC, conflicting with the Iditarod the last few years, and I used to help with the live broadcast before that. Great to get out and see who is still in the game and who is new to the field. I was able to do starts and finishes for day 1 and get some trail shots for day 2, be patient with me for these edits as Im off to Nome (for the Iditarod)with limited internet for a while.

I don’t typically make the Ceremonial Start, however, I made it down to the Iditarod restart and found myself in Nome for a few of the finishes. Thirty-three teams left the start line of the 501st running of the Iditarod. The restart was a bluebird day and I started with photos on the Susitna with Denali in the background then made my way down river to the intersection with the Yentna River and a few miles up that river photographing teams along the way until the light was gone. Be sure to check all the way through the gallery, there are pictures of every musher that left the start chute.

The North Pole Championships were first run in 1976 and were the highlight of the North Pole Winter Carnival for years! the route and many of those involved have changed since then, but major efforts made it so that the race could happen at the Buzz Ottis Race grounds just like the Junior North American. There is a slight overlap of this race and the Junior North American so I am able to cover day 1 before I head to the Iditarod Restart each year.

Year after year it is so fun watching these kids improve their times and grow in each of their competitive fields. This race is hosted at the Buzz Ottis Race grounds in North Pole Alaska and its so fun to see all those involved year after year that make this awesome event happen for these kids. Also so many mushing greats and the future of mushing unfolding.

Though this is my second year photographing the race it was still like a brand new race because last year was on the Denali Highway out of Cantwell. It is so awesome to see all the work and support come to fruition for these kids. Each walk away with an awesome scholarship and amazing bucket of mushing goodies regardless of their placing all thanks to the hard work of the volunteers and the generosity of the race sponsors. Kids get to experience a true checkpoint and see what it could be like at a distance race. It is also such a humbling opportunity to see and work with some of the mushing greats that put on this race as well as witness the beginning of the future of mushing.

The distance mushing schedule doesn’t always allow much room for ADMA races, but the timing for this one worked out this year. Check out some of the awesome purple outfits some of these mushers are sporting. Not only is there a prize for fastest team, there is a prize for best dressed!

The Yukon Quest! This is my 10th year of photographing this race, but it is the first year with 3 individual races to make up Yukon Quest Alaska. A 550 mile race, 300 mile race and 80 mile fun run. This made for about 40 contestants to keep track of for the first 48 hours. With the help of Kalyn Holl and Julia Redington all three races were covered. Here are my shots, but if you don’t see photos of you, be sure to check their galleries too!

Known for its brutal cold temps, this may have been the warmest yet! The weather was beautiful and the conditions were perfect. Twenty-five mushers left the startling after bib #1, honorary Lance Mackey. The teams maintained an awesome pace and were all relatively close together throughout the whole race compared to previous years.

Created to honor of the Father of the Iditarod Joe Redington Sr. This 200-mile competitive race is a valuable training opportunity and presents its own challenges each year. Last minute changes altered the trail and mushers ended up doing the same 100 mile loop twice with their start, midpoint and finish all at the Knik Lake. The trails were fast, the weather was beautiful and the teams conquered 200 miles in no time.

As a resident of Two Rivers Alaska, this race is just out my front door and on local trails. Its been a few years since the association has hosted this race but it was a great race to be a part of and hopefully the restart of more to come! Awesome to see so many in attendance and three different races with youth and adults.

This is an awesome season opener. It might not be the first race of the season but its one of the first and always a blast. Located on the Denali Highway out of Cantwell Alaska. This is a 60ish mile race that starts at a parking lot and ends at the infamous Alpine Creek Lodge, easily accessed during the summer months by various vehicles but only accessed by snow machine, aircraft or a dog team in the Winter. I follow this race on a snow machine and capture as many teams as possible. Here’s who I captured this year.

Though I missed the Ceremonial Start, I made it down to the Iditarod restart. Forty-nine teams left the start line of the 50th running of the Iditarod. The restart was a bluebird day, but the only real thing that is constant about the trail is change and a lot can happen in 1000 miles.

Kids from as young as 4 up to 17 years old run in this 3 day sprint race. Day 1 mushers leave in bib draw order, day two, they leave based on day one finish results, and day two they leave in reverse order with the slowest teams starting first often resulting in many passes on the trail. Trails were hard and fast this year with temperatures above 30 degrees at times. Be sure to look back further in the archives, this is the 4th year I have covered this race! Be sure to check back after Saturday to see all of the race photos.

Fifteen mushers set off on the Denali Highway for two 64 mile loops that made up Jr. Iditarod XLV. Mushers ages range from 14-17 and from all over Alaska including two teams that had to fly from Kotzebue as well as a musher from North Dakota! The temps were warm and with awesome snow conditions the trails were hard and fast! The race was set up as a two day race and combined run times from both days determined the winner. Teams finished all within 2 1/2 hours of each other on both days and SIX SECONDS separated the champion from second place. Huge thanks is owed to the trail breaking crew (visiting and local) for maintaining an awesome trail and working hard to keep the moose at bay so all these teams could have a safe race.

This was my fourth time covering this race and though it still had the 40 below start and reached cooler temperatures in the first nights the temperatures warmed up and even provided a touch of snow. This is one of the coldest races and provides some of the toughest 300 miles for mushers to travel.

67 miles down the Denali Highway to the Alpine Creek Lodge only accessible to dog teams and snow machines in the winter.

This was my first time covering this race and it was a challenge in many aspects for mushers, trail breakers, officials and volunteers. The weather didn’t want to cooperate, 30 minutes before the official start time it was 8 below with a windchill of 34 below with less than a mile (if that) of visibility. This race is often a beautiful spring event, but in 2021 it proved why it has been titled “The toughest race above the Arctic Circle.”

Thanks to Rock on Racing, I was able to get to a spot just a few miles out the trail for the day of the start. Mushers were still just starting their race, but it was a beautiful day and we were able to see all the mushers pass us by.

Teaming up with Nathanael Hardy, together we were able to each cover a day of the race of the North Pole Championships.

Taking photos of the future of sprint and distance mushers is so fun! Check out all these kids, serious and not so serious having a great time out on the runners.

Teaming up with Cross Fox Photography for a second season, we offered race coverage to mushers! We love following the race as much mushers love running it (we have a love/hate relationship too—if you’re a musher or fan, you know you know what I’m talking about!). *Full Gallery to be complete within a week of the race finish.

Teaming up with Cross Fox Photography for a second season, we offered race coverage to mushers! We love following the race as much mushers love running it (we have a love/hate relationship too—if you’re a musher or fan, you know you know what I’m talking about!). *Full Gallery to be complete within a week of the race finish.

Teaming up with Cross Fox Photography for a second season, we offered race coverage to mushers! We love following the race as much mushers love running it (we have a love/hate relationship too—if you’re a musher or fan, you know you know what I’m talking about!). *Full Gallery to be complete within a week of the race finish.

Teaming up with Cross Fox Photography for a second season, we offered race coverage to mushers! We love following the race as much mushers love running it (we have a love/hate relationship too—if you’re a musher or fan, you know you know what I’m talking about!). *Full Gallery to be complete within a week of the race finish.

This was my second time following and helping with this race. The weather was beautiful, the dogs and mushers were excited to kick off their season and the trails were not holding them back because boy were their runs fast!

This is the race. The race that mushers strive to run, that they dream to run once they know about it. The nascar of sled dog racing. I can almost say the same about photographing it. This year I followed one musher but took photos of other teams as well. I didn’t get to go to all the checkpoints but it was a blast to go to the ones that I did.

One of the final races of some of these kids seasons. I have been able to watch some of these kids grow into their own as they return year after year to run this race. Its so awesome getting to witness the future of mushing hit the trails-even though some of them are holding on as tight as they can!

For the seventh year I was fortunate enough to follow the Yukon Quest as one of the official photographers. The field was much smaller this year but the temperatures weren’t as cold as previous years, both of which added their own challenges to covering the race. This link has photos from other official photographers as well, check them out!

Though the Two Rivers 100/ 200 did not follow the Yukon Quest trail exactly, it was so nice to get to see parts of the trail, and the Two Rivers checkpoint in the DAYLIGHT.

The race has its own challenges when it comes to logistics and weather, but the organizers, volunteers, mushers, and dogs are what makes this race great. No matter where you sit in the line up, each person embarks on their own Quest.