Cody Barber and Brett Lapham win 2024 Iron Dog
Feb. 25—The team of Cody Barber and Brett Lapham won the 40th Iron Dog snowmachine race Sunday, arriving in Big Lake to complete the course in a time of 52 hours, 36 minutes, 10 seconds.
Barber and Lapham, Team 39, arrived at the finish line just after 12:20 p.m. Sunday, averaging 47.58 mph over the 2,503-mile course from Big Lake to Nome and back to Big Lake.
The Iron Dog, which touts itself as the world's longest, toughest snowmachine race, and storms during this year's run made conditions difficult, especially as riders passed the 470-mile Red Dog Loop through Buckland, Selawik, Kiana, Noorvik and Kotzebue.
The team finished third last year, less than an hour behind winners Tyler Aklestad and Nick Olstad. A win has eluded both team members until this year.
"It feels really good, like it's finally paid off," Barber told IronDog.com. "It's been 10 years in the making, and it has taken a lot of work to get here."
For the second year in a row, Casey Boylan and Bryan Leslie of Team 14 finished in second place, crossing the finish line just 12 minutes behind the winners.
Barber and Lapham led at the midway point in Nome, passing Boylan and Leslie outside of Kotzebue after Team 14 had a broken sled that needed a repair.
Team 39 led by 25 minutes heading back from Nome, but Team 14 slowly chipped away at that advantage on the return route. By the time the teams reached the Whiskey Bravo checkpoint Saturday night, the lead was under 10 minutes.
"We had a good run and we pushed super hard, so we were surprised when we saw we only had eight minutes ahead of them," Lapham told IronDog.com.
