Schlosser completes first Iditarod

Dakota Schlosser, who got his start in racing sled dogs as a youngster living in Westboro, and now lives in Willow, Alaska, completed his first Iditarod in March.

Schlosser and his team of dogs, which ranged from 14 to 10 at times during the race, completed the approximately 848mile trek in a total of 10 days, nine hours, 22 minutes and four seconds.

He hit the finish line at Deshka Landing at 12:22 a.m., two seconds ahead of friend Victoria Hardwick. The two were trying to finish at the same time. They were the last two teams to complete the entire race and finished in 35th and 36th place.

There were 10 teams out of the 46 who started that dropped out of the race at some point.

The 49th annual Iditarod was won by veteran musher Dallas Seavey of Talkeetna, Alaska. He won for the fifth time, finishing in seven days, 14 hours, eight minutes and 57 seconds. His prizes include the majority stake of the $400,000 purse in addition to his choice between two Ski Doo snowmobiles.

According to his race bio, Schlosser, 22, works as a diesel/heavy equipment mechanic for Knik Construction. He moved to Alaska in 2012 when he switched from sprint racing to distance racing.

He built up to the Iditarod by competing in the Junior Iditarod in 2014 and 2015, receiving fourth place finishes and the Rookie of the Year award. Last winter, he competed in the Alpine Creek 300, Kusko 300, Willow 300 and Tug Bar 150. He won the Humanitarian award for the Alpine Creek 300.

Due to the COVID pandemic, the 2021 race course was altered to a loop that started on March 7 and finished at Deshka Landing. The Gold Trail Loop, as it was called, took the teams to the mining ghost town of Flat. The teams traveled through the Alaskan Range, the Happy River Steps and the Dalzell Gorge twice.

Typically, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race annually treks nearly 1,000 miles from Anchorage to Nome through some of the world’s most breathtaking terrain.

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