Jessie Holmes, who rose to fame on the National Geographic reality show Life Below Zero, is now a two-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race winner, thanks to his performance at the 2026 race, which wrapped on Tuesday, March 17.
Holmes, 43, also won the 2025 Iditarod, making him only the third competitor to ever repeat after winning it for the first time the previous year.
“I’ve been chasing greatness ever since the last time I was here,” Holmes said, according to the Associated Press. “So we’re just going to keep chasing those footsteps, trying to push ourselves every day to be better.”
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race spans 938 miles from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, and is run by mushers and up to 16 of their dogs. Humans and animals alike must battle the elements — with the wind chill bringing the temperature to as low as 100 degrees below zero — for more than a week until they cross the finish line.The course goes through two mountains, over the frozen Yukon river and across the Bering Sea ice.
Holmes finished his 2026 race in 9 days, 7 hours and 32 minutes, beating his time from 2025 by more than a day. He and his 12 dogs crossed the finish line with Zeus, one of his lead dogs, leading the charge. Zeus was only 2 years old last year, but served Holmes well in his promotion in 2026.
Polar, who was a lead in 2025, is getting older and spent most of the race in the back, before Holmes brought him forward at the final checkpoint.
“Man, when I put Polar up there he puffed his chest out, he got his strut on and he said, ‘Let’s go!’ It was amazing,” he said.
Holmes already has his eyes on a three-peat in 2027, telling the AP he hopes he and his dogs can break the all-time record for the course’s southern route.
But for now, Holmes and his canine colleagues are basking in their victory. When they finished the race, Holmes rewarded his best friends with ribeye stakes, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
“It’s a blessing to be out here. I was just so full of gratitude and gratefulness being welcomed into all these communities,” he said, according to the outlet. “And being out in all this beautiful country with the most amazing dog team I’ve ever seen.”
With the win, Holmes earned $80,000 in prize money, up from $57,000 a year ago, thanks to the event receiving a financial boost from Norwegian billionaire Kjell Rokke. Rokkee also took part in the noncompetitive amateur category.
