Photos from the 2026 Iditarod sled dog race
The lead dogs for musher Joseph Sabin of Two Rivers, Alaska, run with tongues out of their mouths Saturday, March 7, 2026, during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Jessie Holmes, the defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion, acknowledges crowds on both side of Fourth Avenue during the ceremonial start for this year's race in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Rookie musher Adam Lindenmuth of Willow, Alaska, drives his dog team down Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 7, 2026, during the ceremonial start for the 2026 race. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Jessie Holmes, the defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion, talks to fans Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska, during the ceremonial start of the 2026 race. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
FILE - Jessie Holmes celebrates after winning the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, March 14, 2025, in Nome, Alaska. (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP, File)
Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke, an expedition class musher in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and not eligible to win the title, drives his dog team down Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 7, 2026, during the ceremonial start for the 2026 race. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Jessie Holmes poses for a selfie with a fan during the ceremonial start of this year's race in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Thomas Waerner, left, the 2020 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion from Norway, poses for a photo with Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke, an expedition musher that Waerner will assist in this year's race, during the ceremonial start of the race in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Musher Keaton Loebrich of Fairbanks, Alaska, encourages applause from the crowd as he drives his dog team down Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 7, 2026, during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Ryan Redington, the 2023 champion of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, drives his dog team down Fourth Avenue in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 7, 2026, during the ceremonial start for the 2026 race. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke gets assistance putting on his bib during the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Jessie Holmes hugs his dogs at the finish line, after claiming his second straight Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race championship, in Nome, Alaska, Tuesday March 17, 2026. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
Jessie Holmes poses with his lead dogs Zeus, left, and Polar, after claiming his second straight Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race championship, in Nome, Alaska, Tuesday March 17, 2026. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
Jessie Holmes arrives first to the finish lane, claiming his second straight Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race championship, in Nome, Alaska, Tuesday March 17, 2026. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
Jessie Holmes poses with his lead dogs Zeus, left, and Polar, after claiming his second straight Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race championship, in Nome, Alaska, Tuesday March 17, 2026. (Marc Lester/Anchorage Daily News via AP)
Former reality TV star Jessie Holmes cruised to a repeat victory in the Iditarod, the roughly 1,000-mile sled dog race in Alaska.
