Faithful dog leads ‘Rookie of the Year’ to finish line

FARMINGTON HILLS — Samantha LaLonde, 29, a Farmington Hills native and graduate of Harrison High School, was named “Rookie of the Year” in the 2025 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race by finishing with the best time for the first-time mushers.

A musher is the rider who controls the sled. Samantha completed the race in 12 days and 14 hours.   

Her parents Jim and Sally LaLonde, of Farmington Hills, were in Alaska from the start of the race through when she crossed the finish line in March.

“I’ve been through all kinds of emotions, from being very proud to nauseous and all the feelings in between,” Sally said about her feelings watching her daughter race.

Sally and Jim took solace in the fact their child was doing what she loves to do.

“A lot of times, I prayed,” Sally said of how she handled anxiety.

Jim said, “We experience all the emotions from being proud parents — amazed, relieved. It was just very cool.”

He described seeing their daughter reach her goal as “surreal.”

Samantha described her mindset going into the race.

“My first and foremost goal was to finish the race, and I am happy with it,” she said. “Then my second goal was to get ‘Rookie of the Year.’ I’m so happy and proud of the dogs.”

She started the race with 16 dogs, as did all the mushers. She ended the race with nine dogs.

Veterinarians are at every checkpoint and evaluate the dogs. If a dog is hurt or there is a concern that continuing the race will cause physical damage to the dog, it is taken out of the race. Other dogs cannot take their place. Dogs can only be eliminated from the race but not added, Samantha explained.

The race was initially slated to begin in Anchorage, Alaska, but due to the mild winter, there was no snow, so the race was moved to Fairbanks, making this year’s race 1,128 miles compared to the usual 1,000 miles.

Samantha’s team of dogs included her dog Gibbs, 3 1/2 years old. The 15 other dogs were borrowed from six-time decorated Iditarod winner Dallas Seavey.

“The dogs can cover about 100 miles a day with rest in between. It takes about four and a half to five hours of runs to go 40 miles,” Samantha said.

The rest time is part of the race.

“That’s where strategies come in. Those veteran teams who have done the race before may take shorter rests, and it also depends on their dogs.” Samantha said.

With a team of young dogs, she wanted to give her dogs the rest they required.

Resting for the musher can mean sleeping on the side of a trail in a sleeping bag with the dogs. Or at some checkpoints, there are buildings where mushers enjoy the quiet, sleep, get warm and eat.

“We are racing 24/7,” Samantha said.

Veterans warned her that she might become sleep deprived.

“I wish I would have believed them,” she said.

In addition to training physically, which she does while she is training the dogs, she trained herself to make good decisions while being sleep deprived to protect herself and her dogs.

Veterans also advised her about the emotional highs and lows she would experience during the race, which she did.

A high came when she did a run across the bay.

“It was incredibly beautiful. The dogs were extremely excited. I was just having a good day in the sun,” Samantha said. “Weather made a huge impact.”

A low came when the weather was windy. She was leaving the second to the last checkpoint at White Mountain and came across a silt storm, which to Samantha is rare in the winter. There are usually blizzards.

Silts are a granular material that comes out of a body of water. They were blowing in the air and the winds were high, which blew away the trail markers. Samantha had navigation, but the map was not working.

“You can rely on navigation,” Samantha said. “But you can also rely upon the dogs.

“Gibbs was hooting and hollering and wanted to go, while the other dogs just sat, so I put him in the lead,” she added.

Gibbs ran in a particular direction and Samantha trusted him.

“I truly think that’s how we found the trail. She sniffed out the scent of the other dogs that went through before us,” Samantha said.

Gibbs led the sled and brought the team in with the best finish of all the rookies.

After the race was over, Samantha’s parents’ anxiety turned to exuberance.

“I wasn’t nauseous anymore,” Sally said. “My baby girl is as tough as nails.”