Rare Iditarod restart in Fairbanks draws crowds for ‘NASCAR with dogs’

FAIRBANKS — Brought together by friendship, fandom, curiosity and happenstance, thousands of people descended into an area surrounding Pike’s Waterfront Lodge on Monday in Fairbanks to take in the restart of the 2025 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

With a lack of snow along a significant portion of the traditional southern route, the race’s organizers made a decision two weeks ago to move the race from its standard starting point of Willow.

That set up the Golden Heart City to host the Iditarod’s start for just the fourth time in history, following races in 2003, 2015 and 2017.

For many locals — and visitors — it was a rare opportunity to take in the race from a different vantage point.

Fans began lining the chute hours before the restart began, with spectators sporting shades and relatively minimalist outdoor gear as temperatures rose.

There were a few gaudy outfits and hawkers, including a sled-pushing Girl Scout cookie salesperson. But for the most part, the Fairbanks crowd hung out along the pathway and engaged with friends and family in between bursts of cheers for passing mushers.

At Rod’s Alaskan Guide Service on Monday, the doors were locked. The shades were drawn and the phones at the North Pole business went unanswered.

Nearly the entire staff was at the Iditarod restart to cheer on their friends and co-workers, Two Rivers mushers Matt Hall and Lauro Eklund, who are competing in the race. The staff departed early Monday in a caravan of snowmachines from the business, posting up on the Chena River toward the end of the chute.

“We’re excited that it’s happening here in Fairbanks,” said Rod’s proprietor Rodney Pangborn. “We don’t get that very often, so absolutely, we’re happy to support them as much as we possibly can. We’ve got just about all of our work staff out here today.”

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The group had more than a dozen two-sided signs, with a message on each side dedicated to rooting on one of the mushers. The team at Rod’s takes a lot of pride in the duo, they said, and they aren’t afraid to do some name-dropping with the local mushing stars.

“It’s really exciting to check customers in and tell them these guys do this and what it stands for,” said Catt Maupin. “To see them get excited, it’s fun for us as the workers.”

While the Fairbanks contingent was out in full force, plenty of mushing fans came from significant distances to take in the start. It’s likely no one came farther than Nick and Corinne Shimmin.

The Australians did a house swap with people living in Fairbanks. Once they realized the Iditarod was slated to run during the dates they’d be in Alaska, the couple booked lodging in Willow to take in the restart. But the change of venue turned out to be serendipitous.

“It was totally coincidental,” Nick Shimmin said. “The house we’re staying in is literally 500 meters on the other side of the Chena River. They actually brought the race to us, which was kind of great.”

While Monday was sunny and warm in Fairbanks, reaching the high 30s, it was nothing like the conditions back home. It was 105 degrees Fahrenheit last week in Sydney, Shimmin calculated.

“And we were waking up in minus 10 last week,” Shimmin said. “It was a 120-degree turnaround.”

The couple also enjoyed the Native Arts Festival and World Ice Art Championships while on the three-week swap.

“We just kind of got lucky,” Shimmin said.

Plenty of families were roaming around the start area. Ethan Malski held a similar stance to many dads, hoisting his 20-month-old daughter Linnea on his shoulders.

Malski and his partner Liz Furman couldn’t wait to break the news to each other when the change to Fairbanks was announced.

“We were pumped,” he said. “I got home from work and was like ‘Guess what? Iditarod is starting here.’ And she was like, ‘I already know!’ ”

Both lived in Alaska last time the race started in Fairbanks, but neither were in town.

“We’re casual followers,” Furman said. “But everyone knows a musher or two.”

While there were big crowds at the start near Pike’s Waterfront Lodge, hundreds of onlookers also lined the chute and trail as it moved onto the Chena River.

That included members of the Fairbanks Ice Dogs hockey team, who were roaming the river before an outdoor practice in the afternoon.

Thomas Corneillie, who is from California, was mostly unaware of the race until his teammates brought it up.

“They mentioned it but I always thought it just started in Anchorage,” he said.

Cam VanSickle, who is headed to the University of Denver to play collegiately, was happy to explain the significance of the race to his teammates.

“I’m a North Pole guy,” he said. “It’s a huge deal for us. So absolutely, it’s pretty exciting.”

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Hundreds of school kids were also viewing the start from farther down the river, as classes throughout the district took field trips to the race’s restart. That included the ninth grade class from North Pole.

Evangeoean Hocklander said the class had time for Alaska studies before loading up on the bus.

“We were really excited,” she said. “(Our teacher) Mr. Whisenhant announced it and we all put our hands up.”

Laney Cardenas and Min Jang hung out along the chute as the crowd roared every three minutes as a new musher departed on their 1,128-mile journey to Nome.

The pair of UAF biology students who met in a science lab have quickly turned into mushing fans. Jang attended last year’s Yukon Quest Alaska and did a tour earlier this winter. Cardenas, from Florida, first saw snow last April during her first trip to Fairbanks.

So did the big event mean a day off from studies? Maybe just a little.

“I’m supposed to teach a lab later this afternoon,” said Jang, who is from New York state. “And it might be late, but you know.”

“I have class at 11:45, I doubt anyone is going to be in that class anyway,” Cardenas said.

For Brandon Sam and his friends, the trip to the start was pure happenstance. They flew in from Virginia for a weekend trip to catch the northern lights.

Most of their trip was devoted to that focus, but they did do a quick sled dog tour with Rod’s Alaskan Guide Service on Sunday and had time before their 4 p.m. flight out.

“First Iditarod, obviously,” he joked.

Local officials said more than 100 people from the area volunteered to help with the race start.

Sam Kendall is a pilot with the Alaska Air National Guard’s KC-135 Stratotanker unit based at Eielson Air Force Base.

Born and raised in Fairbanks, he was happy to be able to join a number of fellow Guard members in helping out at the race.

“If we weren’t on the schedule, we wanted to come out here and help out. It’s cool and unique to have it starting in Fairbanks,” he said.

A mechanic in the Air Force at Eielson, Nate Montoya saw the news about the race on social media and inquired with his commanding officer about swapping days off so he could attend the restart.

“We don’t have anything like this in Texas,” where he’s from, he said. “I’m a big NASCAR guy and this reminds me of NASCAR with dogs. I’ve had a fun time. It’s something unique you don’t see everywhere else.”

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