Holmes seals back-to-back Iditarod victory, first repeat champion in a decade
Defending Iditarod champion Jessie Holmes and his Can’t Stop team won the 2026 Nome race, becoming the first repeat winner in a decade. They finished in 9 days, 7 hours and 32 minutes, on a course that included a 1,130-mile reroute in 2025 and the standard 1,000-mile Willow-start route in 2026, with Polar and Zeus named MVP dogs. Holmes hinted at pursuing a three-peat on the southern route in 2027.