49th State Sled Dogs-Wade Marrs

49th State Sled Dogs-Wade Marrs Dogs Run The North. Formerly Stump Jumpin' Kennel-Wade Marrs Wade Marrs and his love for dog mushing started at the young age of 5. (See awards)
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With his uncle as his biggest influence, Wade was able to learn about the sport and start training at an early age. Wade first raced in 2007 and has been racing competitively ever since.

Things that made it to Nome that weren’t on the gear list: #1 Toddler Sock.🤣
03/20/2026

Things that made it to Nome that weren’t on the gear list: #1 Toddler Sock.

🤣

Iditarod 2026 finish line 📸 with Aero and Gerry.
03/20/2026

Iditarod 2026 finish line 📸 with Aero and Gerry.

03/18/2026

5th place at the Iditarod for this 6-dog deluxe!!

Aero – proved exactly why he earned those yellow roses in 2024. Big-time dog.

Gerry – seasoned, steady, and all grit. A true veteran.

Derby – just kept getting it done. Reliable.

Quigley – carried the load in lead for most of the race. Smart and consistent.

Randall – another absolute stud… Reebok 2.0 showed up again.

Max – tough as nails. No quit in him.

This team didn’t have the top-end speed and honestly, not even compared to my own. But what they did have? Durability. They just kept chugging. Steady. Relentless. Unbothered.

And truthfully that’s what got them into the top 5.
This race threw a lot at us mentally and physically. And doing it with 11 dogs I’d only known for about 8 weeks? That was a challenge in itself. One I took seriously every single mile.

Huge thank you to Mitch Seavey Seavey's IdidaRide Sled Dog Tours for trusting me with this group and the opportunity to learn, train, and race with them.

To everyone who helped along the way training, prep, at home, and in Nome you know who you are. This doesn’t happen without you.

And to the volunteers and veterinarians on the trail you are the backbone of this race. Thank you for making it possible. To everyone supporting from near and far appreciate you more than you know.

Sophia may have left her phone in truck at the finish line, but we’ve got some stuff coming your way. For now here’s a look of this super group from the trail!

03/17/2026

Hi all. Okay WOW, now its time to catch me up!

The boys and I just made it to Nome after a full day of travel and getting settled and get this sharing a house with Jeff Deeter and his Katti Jo.

Are tensions high?

Absolutely... not. ☺️

Jeff and Katti are some of our closest friends, and I know I can speak for Wade when I say we are genuinely so pumped watching the race Jeff is having. Same goes for Travis Beals sitting up in second—these are our people, and two things can be true.

You can be competitive as hell and still be incredibly proud watching your friends succeed.

Also, our oldest is finally at the age to really understand the tracker, and he is LIVING for it.
Watching his “uncles” race has been the highlight. Travis, Jeff, Ryan, and more.
Don’t tell Wade, but the first question this morning was: “Is Travis winning now?” 🤣

Now….who caught that Insider clip of Wade at the cabin outside Shaktoolik??? Yikes.

I don’t think he’s ever stopped there in 12 Iditarods and of course, the year he does… it’s completely snowed in and unusable.

Just imagine finally getting a chance to get out of the wind, warm up, maybe reset for a minute and instead pulling up to..... that.

You could see it, he was tired, and honestly just defeated in that moment. These mushers spend everything out there on the dogs, and the tiny window they get to take care of themselves matters. Losing that on a brutal stretch like the ice run is a tough hit.

Things have been moving FAST the last 24 hours, so I won’t pretend I can give a perfect play-by-play (this is your sign to get Insider earlier next year 👀).

But here’s the quick rundown on Wade:
After Unalakleet, he rested at that non-operational cabin outside Shaktoolik, pushed on to Koyuk, went through the checkpoint, and continued about 24 miles before stopping again at a cabin...that is hopefully in better condition.

He comments echo the same that the dogs are solid and steady. The word of the race for this team is consistency. Like he mentioned on Insider, they’ve been doing what they’ve been doing from the start. Slower yes? But efficiently and methodically.

Wade has since been passed by both Paige and Jeff.

The race to White Mountain and that final 8-hour mandatory is officially in play. 🔥

Video from when team arrived in Koyuk, such a team of professionals, patiently waiting on their musher per usual :)

03/16/2026

Fun interview with Wade on Iditarod Insider in Unalakleet! One of the funniest parts was watching him graciously stop for the interview while also wasting absolutely no time repacking his sled. Musher multitasking at its finest!

The biggest takeaway from Wade was consistency. The team may not have matched the raw speed of some of the teams around them, but they have been steady in exactly who they have been his entire race, and that matters. The dogs look great. Wade said they are eating like wolves, in fact, their desire to eat has ramped up so much that he has gone from the more traditional snacking schedule of every 20 miles to every 10 miles. He even said it feels like they are kicking into a gear where he could snack them every 5 miles if he wanted to. That is *nuts*.

Beyond that, he said he was really pleased with their hydration, their body weight, and their overall attitude. They are holding condition well, staying eager, and just continuing to roll. That kind of report is what we want to hear in the late stages of this race.

The interviewer mentioned the wind and Wade just laughed. Because of course he did. The wind is exactly what Wade wants. The nastier the weather, the happier he tends to be. He said the dogs light up in it too, and that is something really special.

For people who have never stood behind a team in those kinds of conditions, it may be hard to fully understand. But these dogs feel that challenge deep in their bones and meet it head-on. There is an instinct there, something raw and undeniable, and it sounds like an incredible thing to witness.

And really, that is part of what makes this whole race so amazing. These dogs, these teams, and these mushers are operating at such a high level under some of the toughest conditions imaginable. The care, toughness, decision-making, and heart it takes to get to this point is just incredible to watch.

As for the race itself, we are seeing speeds slow down pretty significantly across the board among the top teams leaving Unalakleet, with Jeff Deeter being the standout exception. Super impressive. It will be very interesting to see how that pace plays out as the race narrows toward the finish.

And I’ll just say it. I think Jessie Holmes is showing vulnerability.Paige is there. Travis is there. And honestly, beyond that, there is still opportunity. Yes, at some point you run out of trail. You run out of real estate. But we are not there yet, and a whole lot can still happen between here and Nome.
This race is far from over, and that is what makes it so fun to watch.

03/15/2026

Iditarod Day 8- The Coast and Overnight Changes

What a night of racing, Iditarod fans!

After completing his 8-hour mandatory rest in Nulato, Wade said a quick hi and bye to Kaltag and kept the team rolling. The dogs sounded squirrely and ready to go as they cruised through smooth as silk.

It looks like Wade dropped one of our young guys, Turkey. I’m incredibly proud of that guy for making it this far. And Tica, our favorite girl, has been putting in serious work in wheel.

Travis Beals ran straight from Nulato to Kaltag where he laid down straw for a 4-hour rest. Travis has had some of the strongest run times in the front pack since coming off the 24-hour mandatory rest and had built himself a pretty comfortable cushion from the teams chasing behind.

Coming into Kaltag I didn’t expect him to stop, but Travis always has a reason for the moves he makes. He left Kaltag shortly after Wade came through and carrying straw the whole run, which tells me the plan is to camp on the trail before Unalakleet rather than stop in the checkpoint later.

Royer? Word from the trail is that Royer may be dealing with some sickness, possibly the same bug Ryan Redington was battling earlier back in Takotna.

Pete Kaiser surprised a lot of us by staying an additional 8 hours in Nulato after already completing his mandatory rest earlier. For most of this race Pete and Wade have been running very similar schedules at very similar speeds. I actually thought Pete came off his 24 looking particularly strong heading toward Galena.

Maybe he’s fighting something too? The mushers behind the teams know a lot more than us couch mushers watching dots move across a screen. As I’ve told a few people already… it would be very Pete Kaiser style to take another full 8-hour rest and still quietly land himself in the Top 10.

Millie Porsild’s team looks fantastic. Her speeds are strong and Millie has proven time and again that she’ll commit to a hard finish no matter what the pace looks like.

Ryan Redington had already taken his mandatory rest earlier and spent almost 5hrs in Nulato and 5.5 in Kaltag.

Michelle Phillips, Jeff Deeter, Matt Hall, and Lauro Eklund are all coming through this section strong as well.

Now out on the trail toward the coast we’re starting to see the trail rests stack up.

Jessie Holmes took about a 5-hour rest at Tripod on the way to Unalakleet.
Paige Drobny also rested about 5 hours there and was eventually caught by Travis Beals, who still still needs to complete his rest.

Wade pulled over around 5:30 AM at Tripod and is currently resting there as well. Millie logged 5+ hrs at Tripod back on trail.

Riley Dyche took a 4-hour trail rest. I would expect him to stop again in Unalakleet.

Jeff Deeter was still trail resting since 5am.

Back in Kaltag: Michelle spent about 4 hours 30 minutes
Matt Hall about 3 hours
Ryan Redington about 5 hours 30 minutes
What they choose to do with the rest of their required stops remains to be seen.

And now the race shifts.

Unalakleet — mile 714 — the first checkpoint on the coast. Phase three of the Iditarod begins.

Buckle up, hang onto that sled, whatever your mode of transportation…you won’t want to miss it!

03/14/2026

On this busy Saturday afternoon I’ve got a quick Nulato update, plus a few words from Mitch Seavey.

Wade and team rolled into bright, sunny Nulato this morning at just the right time to settle in for their mandatory 8 hour rest before heading into the final half of the 2026 Iditarod.

Up front, Jessie Holmes, Paige Drobny, Millie Porsild, Ryan Redington, Pete Kaiser, and Jeff Deeter have all completed their mandatory 8 and are back out moving down the Yukon.
Right now in Nulato completing their rest are Riley Dyche, Travis Beals, Wade, and Michelle Phillips.

Once this rest is finished, teams will begin working their way toward the final mandatory stop at White Mountain, which sits 77 miles from the finish in Nome. From here on out, mushers can choose their own run and rest schedule as they start positioning for the end of the race.

A couple things worth pointing out.

At the last two checkpoints, Ruby and Galena, some of you may have noticed Wade kept his rests a little shorter. That was intentional and part of the strategy he planned from early in the race.

He gave a pretty good half awake interview while getting ready to leave Galena and it matched what he has been telling me along the trail. The team has been very consistent from the start. They have been low maintenance, eating great, traveling well, and just moving steady.

That is exactly what you want to see this deep into a thousand mile race.

He also mentioned that some teams around him are starting to show signs of slowing a little. Nothing dramatic, but enough that mushers are being cautious and paying attention to keeping their teams together vs maintaining.

Wade said he probably will not catch teams because his team suddenly speeds up. More likely it will come from others needing to slow down to manage their teams.

Wade has only known most of this team for a little over a month. He knows they are capable dogs, but maintaining their trust and keeping the team feeling good has been paramount.

Now we are getting into the part of the race that is Wades bread and butter. Wade has always been an effective race closer. Managing a team late in the race and keeping them moving strong is something he knows and executes well and with the high level of care and attention it requires.

The same can be said for the Seavey dogs in this team. Not just individually but genetically. These dogs come from a long line of proven athletes known for their long game performance.

Some of you noticed that Aero is in the team. Aero ran on Dallas Seavey’s team during his 2024 win and even received the yellow roses with him. 🙌🏼

Between Wade’s dogs and Mitch’s dogs there is a lot of strength and experience in this group. Pair that with Wade’s tenacity and you have a pretty solid unit heading into the last part of this race!

At your request, Mitch shared a few thoughts as well.

“Wade’s doing a great job and I like what I see of the team. I wish his position were a little better but typically there is a lot of drama between here and Nome so who knows what will happen. The end game starts after Nulato so expect him to be more aggressive, but holding the team together is the first priority.”

And Mitch is right.

From here to Nome a lot can still happen. The real race begins...

03/14/2026

The front of the pack has now reached Ruby checkpoint (mile 495), marking the start of the long run along the Yukon River. Mushers are required to take one of their 8-hour mandatory rests somewhere along this stretch — Ruby, Galena, Nulato, or Kaltag — before making the push toward the coast.

Jessie Holmes was the first to arrive after running straight from Cripple. He completed his 8-hour mandatory in Ruby and departed about two hours ahead of Paige Drobny.
Paige also completed her 8 in Ruby and is now back on the trail. She has said before that the only real way to beat Jessie may be to out-strategize him, so it will be interesting to watch how she plays the Yukon.

Riley Dyche camped before Ruby, came through the checkpoint, and is already back on the move. Since he took that rest just before Ruby, I would expect him to push on toward Galena and see where things shake out there.

Behind them, Travis Beals has already departed Ruby after a short stop of about 3 hours 45 minutes, meaning he still has his 8-hour mandatory to place somewhere down the river.

Currently sitting in Ruby short-term parking are Pete Kaiser, Wade Marrs, and Jessie Royer, all likely sorting through their options on where to place that mandatory rest.

We also learned Ryan Redington overslept on the trail, which effectively gave him about an 8-hour rest, but it does not count toward the mandatory. He will still need to take his official 8 at one of these Yukon checkpoints.

Michelle Phillips, Jeff Deeter, and Matt Hall are still making their way in and decisions will start to unfold.

Mila Porsild ran straight from Cripple, so Ruby looks like the likely place she’ll take her mandatory.

Lots of strategy at play right now!

They always say “the race starts in Kaltag.”
And we’re getting awfully close to finding out why.

Below is Tica, the only female on the team who started the race and she's still hanging with the guys! Proudly sponsored by John and Claudia Berges! Look at that head tilt. 🥰

Hello Ruby… and hello Yukon River.Cripple to Ruby is another long stretch... about 70 miles...and it marks an important ...
03/13/2026

Hello Ruby… and hello Yukon River.

Cripple to Ruby is another long stretch... about 70 miles...and it marks an important transition point in the race. Along the Yukon River, Iditarod mushers must complete their mandatory 8-hour rest at a checkpoint as part of the three required rests. Teams are starting to think carefully about where and how they want to position that break.

Now… before we get into the race update, a quick reality check from the home front.

I started writing this update at 12:30 AM.
Started texting a friend about Iditarod… suddenly it’s 1:30 AM. Whoops! Was fun though, was anyone up to watch Millie Porsilds tracker? The only logical explanation we think are aliens. We hope she debunks this for us in Ruby.

My 2-year-old wakes up at 1:45 AM asking if daddy is coming home tomorrow and if he can play with him. 🥹

Fall asleep in bed with the toddler… wake up again — 5:00 AM.

Golden Retriever puppy decides it’s morning and needs to go out.
Wood stove needs more logs.
Toddler wakes up again.
Bring toddler into my bed.
We both fall asleep.

Next thing I know… it’s morning, 8am.
So this Cripple to Ruby update officially took about eight hours to publish. Please humor a tired musher-wife/mom and give it a read. 🫠

Jessie Holmes stayed about 5 hours in Cripple, then headed back up the trail. He eventually passed a resting Ryan Redington, while Paige pushed beyond Cripple and led the charge toward Ruby, arriving just before 5 AM.

Paige opted for a 4-hour trail rest around 6:30 PM before continuing on to Ruby, where she’s currently resting. That move puts her in a strong position heading into the Yukon River section.

Millie was 4th out of Cripple after roughly 4.5 hours and appears to be running straight toward Ruby unless she decides to stop trailside before getting there.

Ryan Redington — An Interesting Move
Ryan did something similar to Paige initially pushing beyond the checkpoint and taking his rest on the trail — but his rest stretched until about 5 AM, which raises a few questions.

A musher usually only rests that long trailside for a few reasons:

Overslept (unlikely)

Setting up for a monster run (possible, but thats even a long rest for that strategy)

Musher reasons Ryan was very ill during his 24-hour rest earlier in the race. If he isn’t feeling great again, that could play a role. Though if that were the case, Cripple would typically be a better place to stop than the trail.

Dogs needed the extra rest — probably the most likely explanation, though it’s still a longer trailside break than we often see.

He didn’t drop any dogs in Cripple, so we’ll likely learn more once he reaches Ruby.

The Next Pack

Riley Dyche, Travis Beals, Michelle Phillips Wade, Pete Kaiser, and Jessie Royer all left Cripple between 4-5+ hr rests and are camping roughly 30–35 miles from Ruby.

A few teams to keep an eye on:

Matt Hall — Matt had mentioned some team struggles prior to taking his 24-hour rest, and the runs since then suggest he’s giving his team the time they need. Matt is an extremely skilled and experienced musher with a veteran team. He’s absolutely not out of Top 10 contention yet.

Riley Dyche — Riley is making a big push after only about five hours in Cripple and a short trail rest earlier. That move could either help him gain valuable ground or take a bigger toll later in the race.

Jeff Deeter — Finished 4th in 2024, so Jeff knows what it takes to run with the front of this race. He has a strong, well-prepared team, but more importantly he’s smart and patient. Jeff tends to let the race come to him, and right now he’s positioning himself well to capitalize if anyone ahead of him falters.

The Yukon River section can be deceptively tough. Teams that manage this stretch well often set themselves up for success heading toward Kaltag and the push to the coast.
More updates to come — hopefully written in less than eight hours next time. 😅

Below is Max. Max belongs to Mitch Seavey. Max is the heaviest dog on the team weighing 71 #. Max is pretty cool. 🙌🏼

03/12/2026

Iditarod 2026 Day 5
Front runners on the way to Cripple (Mile 425)

A long stretch of trail.
96 miles for teams that rested in Takotna.
73 miles for teams that rested in Ophir.

So far every team has chosen to break the run with trail rest.

We can verify now that Jessie took only 2 hours of rest on his way to Cripple. Paige took a 3 hours.

Those behind also stopped and currently still camping

Millie – started rest around 7:30am (**rested for 4hrs)
Ryan – 8:00am
Michelle – 8:30am
Travis – 8:30am
Royer – 9:30am
Pete - 10:00 am
Wade and Riley – stopped around 10:20am

This is a fairly large group of healthy teams with experienced drivers all within just a few hours of each other, which really isn't as much as it may seem. It's also impressive to see the level of team maintenance across the board. Even compared to ten years ago, the way mushers manage their dogs deeper into the race continues to improve.

I really start paying closer attention once teams reach Ruby and begin mushing the Yukon River toward Kaltag. That section can be deceptively tough, and the decisions made there often have a big impact on team health and overall momentum as teams arrive in Kaltag and begin positioning themselves for the push to the coast.

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