This article is missing information about the final standings and award winners. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the
talk page.(April 2022)
Fifty-two dog
mushers participated in the race, among them former Iditarod champions
Joar Leifseth Ulsom,
Mitch Seavey,
Martin Buser,
Lance Mackey, and
Jeff King; other veteran mushers such as
Aliy Zirkle and
Nicolas Petit; and ten rookies, including
Blair Braverman.[4][5][6][7] On March 13,
Peter Kaiser finished in first place, completing the course in nine days, 12 hours, 39 minutes and six seconds. Kaiser was the first Yup'ik native to win the Iditarod.[8] Joar Leifseth Ulsom, the 2018 champion, came in a close second, finishing only twelve minutes after Kaiser. Jessie Royer placed third.[9] Nicolas Petit, an early frontrunner in the race, dropped out on March 11 after his dogs refused to run farther.[10] Along with Jessie Royer, Aliy Zirkle (fourth place) and Paige Drobny (seventh place) made history as the first three women to collectively finish in the top ten places of the Iditarod.[11]Apayauq Reitan participated under her given name, Martin Apayauq Reitan, two years before she
came out as
transgender to her family, finishing in 28th place.
Issues
The Iditarod Trail Committee's lead drug tester resigned prior to the signup, under pressure from some of the competitors.[12] Companies
Jack Daniels and
Wells Fargo dropped their sponsorship of the race, possibly due to pressure from
animal rights' activists.[13][14][15][16]
The general warmer climate of Alaskan winters over the past several years due to
global warming has mounted concerns that there is or will be a lack of snow for the race to utilize.[17]