[Pages S1758-S1759]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Iditarod

  Mr. President, I come to the floor this morning with my annual 
update. As the occupant of the Chair heard, just a couple of weeks ago, 
we began the ``Last Great Race,'' also known as the Iditarod. This is 
the sled dog race that typically begins from Willow, AK, and goes 
northward to Nome, a little less than a thousand miles.
  This was the 53rd running of the Iditarod this year, and with great 
excitement, I am able to announce the winner of this year's Iditarod. 
At 2:55 a.m., this morning, Jessie Holmes crossed the finish line. He 
crossed the finish line in a remarkable time of 10 days, 14 hours, 55 
minutes, and 41 seconds.
  Now, this is not the fastest Iditarod, but it is by far the longest 
Iditarod. I mentioned that typically you have an Iditarod race of just 
about 1,000 miles. This was 1,128 miles through extraordinary 
wilderness, across conditions that were grueling in perhaps different 
ways: soft snow, howling winds, blasting sand--believe it or not--as 
they were crossing through river areas. It is a tough race every year, 
but this year was particularly rough.
  They moved the start of the race, this year, from Willow to begin in 
the community of Fairbanks--my home town is there--but took a northern 
route through the interior, along the Yukon River, circling all the way 
down and doing a loop-the-loop down in Grayling, Anvik, and Shageluk.

[[Page S1759]]

  The conditions coming up into Eagle Island were described as some of 
the worst. Actually, the terms that were used were not ones that I am 
going to share on the floor here, but it was a pretty tough trail, hard 
conditions on everyone.
  But then, moving back to Kaltag and coming along here, across Norton 
Sound, an 8-hour stop here, just out of Nome, in safety, and Jesse 
Holmes, again, came under the burled arch at 2:55 a.m., this morning, 
with 10 dogs in harness.
  His lead dogs were Polar and--gosh, who was the other? It was Polar 
and--I have got to find it here because you got to remember. You have 
got to acknowledge the names of your dogs because it is the dogs 
themselves that make sure that you come across safely and with honor.
  I can remember Polar, and I can't remember the name of the other dog.
  Hercules. Hercules and Polar. I mean isn't that appropriate for your 
lead dogs that are taking you over 1,100 miles. It is a herculean 
effort. So it is, indeed, something that we as Alaskans look on with 
great pride each and every year.
  It is a test of endurance of the animals, certainly. It is a test of 
endurance for the mushers themselves.
  Keep in mind, when they set out, on the 3rd of March--that is when 
they left out of Fairbanks--you are moving. You are moving day and 
night, although for most of the mushers, they actually prefer to mush 
at night, when it is cold, because the conditions are actually easier 
on the dogs so that the dogs don't get overheated.
  But it is not like you are checking into a roadhouse or checking into 
a hotel. When you stop, you are literally getting bales of straw that 
you have had airdropped to a location. You are putting the straw out as 
bedding for your dogs. You are tending to your animals. And what I mean 
by ``tending to them''--I mean that is feeding them, that is watering 
them, that is taking their booties off, that is massaging their feet, 
that is massaging their muscles, that is working your dogs to get them 
in shape to run, before you can pause and heat up a pot of stew over 
your kerosene burner.
  Think about what it means to melt snow--enough snow--to water 10 to 
14 dogs that have been running miles and miles and miles.
  So the effort there is physical endurance--physical endurance, most 
certainly--but also mental endurance because when you are just head 
down, running into the wind, taking on conditions that look the same as 
you have seen for the past 17 miles, because you are running down the 
width of the wide-open river or going through tussocks and hillocks and 
a trail that is just so rough and jerky that you have got to stay 
mentally awake. You have got to be physically on target. But it is hard 
in every sense of the word.
  And so there is an appreciation for the athletes, both human but 
particularly the dogs themselves. This is not something where you can 
have a strategy and say: I am going to run for the next 43 miles, and I 
am going to rest my dogs for 4 hours, and then we are going to move on.
  If you are a musher that is a winning musher and a safe musher, you 
can only go so far as your dogs will tell you. And when the dogs say it 
is time to take a pause, you know it is time to take a pause.
  The third place, the individual who is going to come in third, Paige 
Drobny here, had a comment just yesterday. She says she has to make 
sure that she is watching what her dogs say. And when the dogs give her 
the look that says, ``We are not with the CEO right now,'' she knows 
and she says, I am listening to them. I have to make sure that they 
trust me just as I am trusting them. So there is a relationship that is 
extraordinary when you think about the humans and the canines teaming 
together.
  We have Jessie Holmes, who came in first; Matt Hall has come in 
second--he is already a known; and Paige Drobny is well on her way in. 
But every single one of these mushers is a winner. Every single 1 of 
these 33 teams are winners, and those dogs remind us of that.
  People have asked me: What do you get if you win the Iditarod? If 
this is something that mushers train for day in and day out of each 
year, there must be some big grand prize. Well, this year, the prize is 
$52,000, I believe, the total sum was. In addition to that, Jessie 
Holmes has won several other acknowledgements as he has entered 
different checkpoints ahead of the rest of the pack here. His winnings, 
in addition to the first-place finish, totaled $4,500 in cash on top of 
what he is receiving, $4,500 in gold nuggets, 25 pounds of fresh 
Bristol Bay salmon, and multiple trophies to commemorate each event. It 
is not just about the money; it is not just about the accomplishment, 
but getting some good old Bristol Bay salmon is also not a bad way to 
be recognized.
  A little bit about our first-place winner this year, Jessie Holmes. I 
was able to share this with my colleague from Alabama. Jessie Holmes 
hails from Alabama. Alabama is a far piece from Alaska. The 
temperatures are a little bit different. But Jessie came to Alaska in 
2004. He has been there ever since. He fell in love with Alaska. He 
found running dogs on a remote track line along the Yukon River was a 
lifestyle he wanted to adopt, and he has embraced it.
  Some of you may recognize the name. He was a regular, between 2015 to 
2023, on the Alaska reality TV show ``Life Below Zero.'' Maybe some of 
the people follow ``Life Below Zero.'' A lot of you follow Alaska 
reality TV shows.
  Let me tell you, Jessie Holmes is the real deal. You may see him on 
reality TV, but he is the real deal. He has raced in the Iditarod every 
year since 2018. He placed seventh then as a first-time runner and 
became the 2018 Iditarod Rookie of the Year. So this guy has just been 
cruising. He has placed in the top 10 now five times. Again, an 
extraordinary musher, but a gentleman who has been proving his worth 
all along for years now, and we are just honored to be able to 
congratulate him.
  This race is one that my colleagues know I get excited about it. This 
is March Madness, I know, but for us, it is also about the excitement 
that comes with this amazing race. It is a reminder to us that Alaska 
is a place that does not yield to those who are unprepared. It rewards 
those who respect it, who understand its power, and who find strength 
when faced with some pretty impossible obstacles.
  Most people would say it is impossible to run 1,128 miles on a dog 
sled across these conditions. But the Iditarod is a living tribute to 
the pioneer spirit and a reminder that hardships are not something to 
be feared but just faced with courage--just run into the storm.
  I want to recognize the values that it upholds: The perseverance in 
the face of adversity, the partnership that transcends words, and 
really the unbreakable will to keep it going no matter what the storm 
is. I wanted to share that with colleagues.