Mansfield native Matt Failor cracks Iditarod Top 10, finishes 8th

WILLOW, ALASKA — Mansfield native Matt Failor completed the Iditarod in eighth place, achieving a Top 10 finish for the first time in his 12 years on the trail of the 1,000-mile race.

“It feels good to set out and stick to a plan and achieve your goal,” he said from the home of a host family in Nome near the Iditarod finish line. “Your goals will come true.”

Failor, a 2000 graduate of St. Peter's High School in Mansfield, completed the race in nine days, nine hours, 20 minutes and 36 seconds. He was less than an hour behind seventh place finisher Eddie Burke Jr., and about three hours ahead of ninth place finisher Mille Porsild. Winner Ryan Reddington completed the race in eight days, 21 hours and about 13 minutes.

“Dog mushing to Alaska is like Ohio State football to Ohio,” Failor said. “It’s something that Alaskans take very seriously and they hold it dear to their heart. It’s something that people rally around and they love to come out and see the dogs and the dogs love to run. It’s something that the dogs look forward to doing.”

He said he is honored by the experience of becoming a professional musher and bears in mind the cultural significance of the experience when he is on the trail.

“It’s an honor to be a dog musher in Alaska. In a culture where everyone is on their cellphone and computer, the connection between dog and person and sled and nature is really special,” he said. “Although I’m not an Alaska native, it’s definitely very cool to carry that flag, in a sense, and go into our native communities, talk to them about their way of life. It’s really humbling and an honor and it’s a neat experience.”

Nineteen mushers crossed the finish line as of 10:30 a.m. Alaska time Thursday. A total of 33 mushers started the race — the smallest pool of mushers in Iditarod history — and four scratched for reasons including injuries from crashes and health concerns.

Crash nearly derailed Failor's run

Failor had a close call in an area that caused another musher to scratch. Rookie Jennifer LaBar suffered a compound fracture to her hand after crashing in the Happy River Steps. Failor also crashed on the steep passage with narrow, zigzagging trail sections on the Happy River between the Finger Lakes and Rainy Pass checkpoints. Rainy Pass is 153 miles into the race.

He said the third step was “a straight drop down” and the sled went airborne. He stepped on the brake, but there was no resistance, causing his foot to go through the brake bar and in front of the sled. His leg became entangled under the sled, which came to a complete stop with his leg underneath.

“So that was a pretty gnarly wipeout,” he said.

He said the weather on the trail was fairly mild until he neared the coastal portion close to the finish line, where he encountered extreme winds and suffered mild frostbite on his cheek.

“It was hard for the dogs to stay on the trail, the wind was so strong,” he said.

“Getting to the finish line is a real sense of relief,” he added.

Dog named Led Zeppelin helped team through tough passage

But his best moment was when his team made it through a steep passage after leaving the Elim checkpoint, 875 miles into the race. The trail “goes straight up and keeps going and going” at its final summit of 1,000 feet at Little McKinley. Failor said his “speedy female leaders” are not accustomed to going so slowly, so he put a new leader temporarily in place, an 8-year-old dog named Led Zeppelin. While Led Zeppelin isn’t a born leader, he was just right for the task at hand and pulled the team hard to the summit.

“He never looked back once,” Failor said. “That’s a proud dad moment where you see the dogs do what they love and what they were raised to do.”

Failor said the trail conditions were very hardpacked, so mushers largely avoided deep snow.

“The trail conditions were some of the best that I’ve ever seen in 12 years,” he said. “But the trail was still very technical. Just because it was not deep snow, there were still challenges — twists and turns and if you let up off the brake and speed around the corner, your sled can clip a tree and you fall over.”

The dogs were having a good time during their stay in Nome, Failor said, playing outside off their leashes.

“I think they’re excited about getting home, but they’re excited to be with us wherever we are,” he noted.

The next thing on Failor’s to-do list? “Get some good sleep,” he said.

Alyssa Choiniere is the founder of Catalyst News Service.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield native Matt Failor finishes in top-10 of the Iditarod race