IDITAROD 2012 -OFFICIAL RESULTS

14th place Ausilia Vistarini, Italy, bike 8 days 23 hours 19 minutes only female cyclist finish!!


14th place Sebastiano Favaro, Italy bike 8 days 23 hours 19 minutes





Peter Basinger wins the 350 mile McGrath race for the unprecedented 6th time. Congratulations Pete! I expect that qualifies you for the Iditarod Trail Hall of Fame. To win the mens foot division Geoff Rose edged out former race winner and 6 time Nome finisher Tim Hewitt right at the finish. Ausila Vistarini won the womens bike division and Anna ver Hoff won the womens overall. Anne ver Hoff became our first foot person to win the overall women's race to McGrath. Geoff and Tim gave the bikers Pete, Phil and Pavel a run for their money all the way to Rohn and were still hot on their heels by Nikolai. We had 18 racers who pushed on through conditions that had local freight haulers on snowmachines turning back to Skwentna because of blizzard conditions and deep snow. They pushed on through soft conditions nearly the entire way to finish in McGrath. Some even managed while battling the Rohn Plague. Congratulations to you all!


Thank you to the people who made this year's race happen. From the pre race party at Speedway Cycles hosted by Fatback designer Greg Matyas to the Finish Line at Peter and Tracy Scneiderheinze's home and everyplace in between. When a need arose someone stepped up to help. Thanks to the racers and all the great folks at the checkpoints, trail volunteers, trailbreakers and supporters of the race in Anchorage, the Valley and in the communities on the Trail. Former racers and some who scratched jumped in to help with internet coverage, pictures, stories and attempting to explain to fans outside the circles the complexities of reporting and communications on the Trail. By being great ambassadors all of you racers former and present have helped develop a supportive Iditarod Trail Invitational community on the trail which respects our efforts that includes not only community members but Iditarod volunteers, mushers and even the Iditarod trail breakers. They told me they were a bit sad not to see any of us on the Nome Trail this year. John Baker last years Iditarod winner told me in Rohn he was going to get a snow bike to train off season on the beaches of Kotzebue. Only veterans of the early races understand what a huge change this is from the early years but we have come a long way. Thanks to all of you who made that happen.

I will finish this with a quote from Ausilia Vistarini said after she arrived in McGrath with a smile and a sparkle in her eyes, " Last year was a vacation. This year it was REAL Alaska!

I hope to see you all back again next year to see what the Trail has in store for us.



Bill Merchant

Iditarod Trail Invitational

trail manager/wilderness guide


WWW.ALASKAULTRASPORT.COM