Mushing

In this Day 6 update from the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, teams are moving onto the long and demanding Yukon River stretch of the trail. Jessie Holmes becomes the first musher to reach Ruby on the Yukon River, earning the “First Musher to the Yukon” award and continuing a strong performance in this year’s race. The episode breaks down the current leaderboard and examines how the top teams are ma...

In this Day 5 update from the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, the field begins moving into the second third of the race as teams head toward the Yukon River. Jessie Holmes claims the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award after reaching the checkpoint first with a full team of 16 dogs. The episode also covers dramatic wildlife encounters on the trail, including reports of mushers confronting woodland bison w...

In this Day 4 update of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, teams are settling into the strategic middle portion of the race as many mushers begin taking their mandatory 24-hour rests. Jessie Holmes earns the Alaska Air Transit Spirit of Iditarod Award for being the first musher to reach McGrath. day-4-iditarod The episode also features an in-depth conversation with musher and biology teacher Jonath...

In this Day 3 update from the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, teams are pushing through challenging terrain across the Alaska Range as leaders approach the race’s early checkpoints. Jessie Holmes currently holds the lead while several mushers rest and prepare for their mandatory 24-hour breaks. The episode covers the first scratch of the race after rookie musher Jaye Foucher suffered a crash that de...

The 2026 Iditarod is officially underway, and the first 24 hours of racing are already shaping the early storylines. Defending champion Jessie Holmes leads the field near mile 188 as teams push through Finger Lake, the Steps, Rainy Pass, and the Gorge on their way toward Rohn. Early reports from the trail indicate strong winds reaching up to 50 miles per hour across the Alaska Range, creating chal...

What was it really like to race in the very first Iditarod in 1973? In this episode of the Mushing Podcast, host Robert Forto continues his conversation with Rod Perry, one of the original participants in the inaugural Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Rod shares firsthand stories from the historic race that helped shape Alaska’s most famous sporting event. Rod describes the atmosphere at the start of...

The 2026 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race officially began from the Willow Restart and the teams are now on the trail heading toward the Alaska Range. In this episode of the Mushing Podcast, Robert and Michele Forto report directly from Willow, Alaska, after spending the afternoon in the staging area speaking with mushers, handlers, and fans before the start of the race. They share the atmosphere of t...

In this episode of the Mushing Podcast, host Robert Forto speaks with 2026 Junior Iditarod Champion Stanley Robinson of Robinson Racing Kennel in Nenana, Alaska. Stanley discusses what it felt like to cross the finish line of his first Junior Iditarod victory and how his dogs performed in the cold conditions of the 150-mile race. Stanley comes from a deep mushing family background, with his sister...

The 54th running of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is officially underway, and it all began with the ceremonial start in downtown Anchorage. In this episode of The Burled Arch , hosts Robert and Michele Forto recap the energy, excitement, and controlled chaos of race day as mushers and their teams lined up along 4th Avenue for the traditional start of Alaska’s most famous race. Michele reports f...

The 2026 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is about to begin, and the excitement is building across Alaska. In this episode of the Mushing Podcast, hosts Robert and Michele Forto preview the upcoming race with a deep look at the ceremonial start in Anchorage, the official restart in Willow, and the full bib draw and starting order for this year’s field of mushers. ceremonial-start They also share their...

The start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race begins long before the teams reach the trail. One of the most anticipated events of race week is the Iditarod Mushers Banquet , where fans, sponsors, and mushers gather in Anchorage for an evening that officially launches the Last Great Race on Earth. In this episode of the Mushing Podcast , hosts Robert and Michele Forto take listeners inside this ico...

In this episode of the Mushing Podcast , host Michele Forto shares a summary of the 2026 State of Mushing Letter from Robert Forto and the team at Mushing Magazine and the Team and Trail Foundation. Each year during Iditarod season, this letter reflects on the direction of dog-powered sports and the evolving role of the media that documents it. This year’s message centers on a powerful idea: diffe...

The countdown to the 2026 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has begun, and the Burled Arch podcast returns for another season of nightly race coverage. In this kickoff episode, hosts Robert and Michele Forto break down everything fans need to know before the ceremonial start. Broadcasting from Willow, Alaska, just miles from the official restart, the show dives into the field of 37 mushers , including...

In this special series opener, Robert Forto sits down with Iditarod veteran Rod Perry to tell the real story behind the 1973 race. Rod ran in the inaugural Iditarod and shares firsthand insight into the meetings, the skepticism, and the last-minute efforts that made the race possible. You’ll hear how Joe Redington Sr., Tom Johnson, and others and why they pushed when others walked away, why 1973 w...

In this episode of The Dog Driver , Robert Forto and KP welcome back Daniel Bocock , a veteran competitor with extensive experience at the highest levels of dog-powered sports. Daniel reflects on his return to the podcast and shares insights from racing six-dog and four-dog teams at the IFSS World Championships in Spain and Wisconsin. The conversation covers Daniel’s progression from canicross to...

In this episode of the Mushing Podcast, host Robert Forto sits down with veteran musher Bridgett Watkins to talk about her powerful new documentary, Without Warning , now streaming on Amazon and other platforms. Bridget shares the full story behind the film, including a violent moose attack on her dog team, the emotional and physical toll of her first Iditarod attempt, and the mental battle of ret...

In this episode of The Dog Driver , Robert Forto and KP sit down with Mikki Douglas , one of the most dominant competitors in modern dryland mushing. Fresh off the IFSS World Championships, Mikki shares how she captured three gold medals and a bronze across multiple disciplines, including four-dog rig, bikejoring, scooter, and relay racing. The conversation explores Mikki’s background in professio...

Dryland mushing is one of the fastest-growing areas of dog-powered sports, especially in regions with limited winter snow. In this episode of The Dog Driver , we talk with an experienced dryland musher, Leendert Van Dorp, about how teams train, race, and compete at the IFSS Dryland World Championships in Minocqua, Wisconsin. The conversation covers real-world dryland mushing equipment, including s...

In this episode of The Dog Driver , Robert Forto and KP sit down with Michigan-based racer Samantha Wawiernia to talk about one of the most unique paths into dog-powered sports. Samantha began mushing to condition her bear and coon hounds for hunting, then transitioned those same dogs into competitive dryland racing. The conversation explores running hunting hounds alongside sled dogs, building a...

In this episode of The Dog Driver , Robert Forto and KP are joined by dryland racer Nova Clifford from New Hampshire. A third-generation musher, Nova shares how she grew up in sled dog racing and how the sport has evolved from large family kennels to modern dryland and mono-sport competition. The conversation covers building a small competitive kennel, training four-dog rig teams, developing leade...

In this episode of The Dog Driver , Robert Forto turns the tables and interviews longtime musher KP about his 40-plus years in sled dog racing. The conversation spans sprint, dryland, and open-class racing across Europe, the Lower 48, Canada, and Alaska. KP shares his favorite and most challenging races, including the Eagle River Classic, Fur Rondy, and international events in Spain and Scandinavi...

After a multi-year hiatus, The Dog Driver is back. In this episode, Robert Forto and Kourosh Partow explain why they decided to revive the podcast and why the timing matters for the future of mushing and dog-powered sports. The conversation looks back at the original Dog Driver series, which featured over 200 guests from around the world, and explores how the sport has changed in recent years. Top...

Dryland mushing isn’t just for Alaska. In this episode of  Mushing , Robert Forto interviews  Christine Taylor  and  Alexandra Crossett , two competitive mushers from  New Jersey  who are proving that dog-powered sports can thrive far from traditional sled dog country. Christine and Alexandra explain how they discovered the sport, the early dogs who started it all, an...

What does it take to represent Mexico on the world stage of dryland mushing?  In this episode, we talk with  Elly Lugo , a CaniCross and scooter musher who traveled from central Mexico to compete at the  Dryland World Championships in Minocqua, Wisconsin . Elly is a mom of three, a former marathon runner, and a dedicated athlete building the future of dog-powered sports in her regio...

Former Air Force pilot turned musher  Konrad Jakob  joins us from the IFSS Dryland Championships in Wisconsin to talk about the rapid growth of dog mushing in  Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and across Latin America . Konrad shares how he launched sled dog tours in the Andes, helped expand IFSS participation, and what to expect from the  2026 Pan-American Championship in Mexico ....