Iditasport 100K Race Report 2020

On Saturday January 18, 2020, I lined up to attempt to ski the Iditasport 100k with 30 other racers (6 skiers, 17 cyclists, and 7 runners), all of whom, save four, would successfully complete the race despite fairly tough conditions.

The Iditasport traces its history back to Tim Kelley's and Bob Baker's 1991 ski from Anchorage to Nome which is chronicled in Tim's excellent book, Trails That Never End.  The race continued as an annual event through 2001 when racer dissatisfaction with the then race director resulted in the creation of two new races to replace it (the Iditarod Trail Invitational to McGrath and Nome and the Susitna 100 which does a 100 mile loop centering on the Susitna River).  In 2014 Billy Koitzsch revived the Iditasport with a primary focus on two events: a 100k race to Yentna Station (and back) and a 200-mile race to Shell Lake (and back).  For a while the Iditasport also included longer events, but in recent years, Billy has refocused on the two core shorter distances, while the Iditarod Trail Invitational continues to offer longer races to McGrath and Nome.