WILLOW, ALASKA — Matthew Failor has a lot more responsibilities these days than when he mushed in his first Iditarod Sled Dog Race more than a decade ago.
— Husband to Liz, whom he married in 2020.
— Father to Theo, born just eight months ago.
— Business owner of Alaskan Husky Adventures, which provides year-round tours that offer hands-on insight into the mushing lifestyle and what makes a championship team.
All new roles taken on since 2012 when he first competed in the 1,000-mile competition, aptly titled “The Last Great Race” across the 49th state, a massive and wide-open land that covers 663,268 square miles.
But when the official starting gun goes off on Sunday near his adopted hometown of Willow, the 41-year-old Mansfield native will again be a full-time musher, racing 38 other teams across the frozen state to the west coast in Nome.
“We like what we do. It keeps us very busy,” the 2000 graduate of St. Peter’s High School said this week during a phone interview sandwiched between business meetings and training runs with his beloved team of huskies.
“But it’s good to be busy. I’d rather be busy than not,” he said.
Failor, an Eagle Scout growing up who earned a degree in fine arts photography from The Ohio State University, said he hopes to build on last year’s 8th-place finish, which also marked his first Top 10 finish.
“I would be thrilled with another Top-10 finish. Now that we have done that, we know it’s attainable. But I would really like to improve. If you are involved in sports, you always want to keep improving.
“I would love to be in the top five. That would be a huge goal. But there is also the possibility of winning. All we have to do is manage the team and keep the dogs healthy and happy,” Failor said.
Like the owner of any professional team, Failor is always looking to improve his roster.
A huge opportunity to do just that came when friend and veteran musher Richie Diehl retired after the Kuskoswim 300 in January, a race in which Failor finished second for the third straight season.
Diehl had been a successful musher for several years with three straight top-10 Iditarod finishes, including third in 2023. When he chose to retire after finishing fifth at the 2024 Kuskoswim 300, Diehl decided to sell his team.
“I bought six of his dogs,” Failor said. “It was a business decision. Three of these dogs were on his Iditarod team last year.
“But it was a no-brainer if I could afford it. Richie has great dog care, great bloodlines and a lot of experience.”
The teams in this year’s Iditarod can start with 16 dogs, up from 14 in the rules the past few years. Failor said four of the six dogs he purchased may make his “starting lineup” when the race’s ceremonial start begins Saturday at 10 a.m. in downtown Anchorage.
Three of the dogs he purchased were on Diehl’s Iditarod team in 2023 and that kind of experience can make a difference during the exhausting race across the state in which any kind of weather conditions can be expected.
“It looked like it was going to be a pretty cold start with minus (zero) temperatures,” Failor said. “But now it looks like it’s going to be pretty favorable conditions, 20 degrees during the day and zero at night, at least for the start.
“But if the clouds get pushed out, it could easily be 20 below and zero for a high, which is fine, as well. That’s totally fine.”
The official restart is Sunday at 2 p.m. on Willow Lake, about 75 miles north of Anchorage. That’s where teams will launch their nearly 1,000-mile journey to Nome, taking off one-by-one in two-minute intervals.
Though there are 15 rookies in the field, the top of the pack is loaded with experience, including three former champions.
Defending champion Ryan Redington, 41, whose grandfather was instrumental in pulling together the first Iditarod, will seek to defend his title.
Dallas Seavey, 36, and Pete Kaiser, 36, who won the Kusko 300 this year, join Redington as past winners in the 2024 field.
(Below is a video Matthew Failor recorded during the 2023 Iditarod race.)
“Headed towards an Iditarod checkpoint and passing by two ‘walkers’ who are in competition by walking the entire Iditarod trail. They start way before the sled dog race and end after us, but use the same trail. Pretty crazy!” Matthew Failor said.
Failor finished last year in nine days, nine hours, 20 minutes and 36 seconds.
“If it’s a fast trail, like last year, I’d love to do it in nine days, eight hours and under,” he said. “It all depends on the traveling speed and conditions. If I am within striking distance of Ryan or Dallas (near the end), then winning is definitely in the thought process.
“But I am a realist. Those guys have fantastic dogs. So things have to potentially go wrong for them and I have to hit every nail on the head perfectly to win.”
He is also a realist in what comes first during preparations for sled-dog races. His priorities have evolved over the last decade, including his family and his growing business.
“The dogs are important. They are a part of the family, but our son is more important. Theo comes first. Whatever he needs, the dogs (and training) might have to wait. If I am supposed to go on a training run (today), and he gets sick and needs to go to the hospital, the dogs will have to run tomorrow.
“We have been juggling the schedule, but that’s why we rely on our world-class (dog) handlers, Dane and Kaci, a lot more than years prior. We are trying to figure out how to be parents and business owners and racers and juggle all this stuff.
“As we speak, Dane and Kaci are outside now getting the dogs ready. They are cleaning up the yard and we are leaning on them so I can get more time with Theo,” Failor said.
(Below is a video Matthew Failor recorded during the 2023 Iditarod race.)
“Here we just dropped out of the Dalzell Gorge and are near the Rohn checkpoint (nearly 200 miles into the race),” Matthew Failor said.
In addition to the new members of the dog-sled team, Failor will rely on many of his regulars, including Mach 10 and McClaren, canines who have both finished in lead roles the last several years.
He also has high hopes for Maserati (McClaren’s sister) and Gail Force.
“Gail Force has battled a couple of injuries over the years. But I am just excited to share the trail with her because she is a fantastic lead dog and a joy to have on the team when she is healthy,” Failor said.
“The last couple of years, she has just been a little dinged up. She had a sore wrist a couple of years ago and then stepped on a rock and injured her (foot) pad during fall training. It’s just been little things here and there. But she is healthy now and I can’t wait for her to be on the team.”
The gender makeup of the starting 16 dogs was still up in the air earlier this week.
“It would be eight females and eight males if the race started tomorrow,” Failor said Monday.
“When you look at the entire (24-dog) roster, there are five that have never done the Iditarod. But three of those five are adults. They have been around a few years. They are almost four now, so it shouldn’t be any problem because they’re just mature and strong,” he said.
Below are awards Matthew Failor has won during past Iditarod races.
| 2023 | Most Improved Musher |
| 2022 | Most Inspirational Musher |
| 2021 | Sportsmanship |
| 2018 | Most Improved Musher |
| 2018 | Most Improved Musher |
| 2016 | Musher’s Choice Award |
When the race ends, Failor returns to being a husband, father — and businessman.
“We’re turning a profit now in our fourth year. The first couple of years were a struggle because we launched during COVID,” Failor said.
“It’s still a juggling act because at the same time I’m trying to be a professional Iditarod musher and actually train every day. I was going to go on a training run today. I was going to leave right after this, this interview.
“But it turns out that we have a potential business partner coming at the 10:30 a.m. tour who wants to meet Liz and I. They want to see our facility because they want to bring tourists here. They have their own bus company.
“So what it just means is that I might be training more at night when most people are sleeping and you’re trying to get more business done during the day. So we’re juggling running a business and trying to be a competitive team and have a family,” he said.
“There’s not much movie time. Not much sitting on the couch and watching Sports Center. But again, it’s good to be busy.”