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Congratulations to Kevin Breitenbach and Clinton Hodges III, the first riders to cross the finish line of the 2024 Iditarod Trail Invitational 350 (ITI350). Learn more about their ride and find a few photos from McGrath by Rugile Kaladyte here…
Photos by Rugile Kaladyte (thanks, Rue!)
Two Alaskans became the co-winners of this years 350-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational race, the shorter of the two races, with the 1,000-mile ITI1000 still going. Late last night, 42-year-old Clinton Hodges III from Anchorage and 41-year-old Kevin Breitenbach from Fairbanks crossed the finish in McGrath together. They finished in 3 days, 6 hours, and 11 minutes (3d:6h:11m). This is Kevin’s fifth 350 finish and Clinton’s seventh. According to Kevin, the two tried to outpace one another late in the race on the way to Nikolai, but neither of them could pull away, and they felt a sprint finish down a side road wasn’t in the spirit of the event. Congrats, fellas! Find post-race photos of the two below.
Shortly after them, 38-year-old Tyson Flaharty from Fairbanks and fellow Alaskan Miron Golfman rolled into McGrath within seconds of one another in 3d:07h:42m and 3d:07h:48m, respectively. They’re both doing the full pull on the Iditarod Trail Invitational 1000. Miron is riding to raise awareness about the massive mining project that the State of Alaska is currently facing, which could be detrimental to the area that the Iditarod Trail passes through. Make sure to check that out here if you missed it. As far as conditions go, the ITI riders started out moving relatively quickly, but deep snow resulted in long stretches that required them to push their bikes, and there have been temperatures reported as low as -31°F (-35°C), which also dulled progress.
There are still lots of riders out on route for both the ITI 1000 and ITI 350, including Lael Wilcox who is currently in first place for the women’s ITI 350 race. We’ve heard that she’s using the 350 as a qualifier to race the 1000 next year. Follow along live here.
Further Reading
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