‘This one is for the family’: Barber and Lapham win 2024 Iron Dog in race to the finish
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Team 39 — Cody Barber and Brett Lapham — left the Whisky Bravo checkpoint with a slim eight-minute lead over Team 14 with 143 miles to go to Big Lake.
They took off at 10 a.m. Sunday morning and did not look back, emerging through the ice fog and crossing the finish line first to become 2024 Iron Dog Champions.
“It’s surreal,” Lapham said after celebrating under the inflatable arch at the Big Lake Finish. “It’s been a long time coming. We have put a lot of hard work into this and finally got it done.”
“I’d agree,” Barber said. “This feels like we are being rewarded for the last 10-plus years of preparation and work and experience.”
Team 39 was the first team to the halfway point in Nome and maintained a narrow lead throughout the final 1,000 miles to fend off Team 14 — Casey Boylan and Bryan Leslie — by under 13 minutes.
“You always have that in the back of your mind that there someone hot on your tracks,” Barber said. “They’re gunning you down. That is kind of what we rode like today. I told Brett when we left Whisky Bravo, ‘we need to ride like they are 8 minutes in front of us’, because they’re going to catch us if they don’t.”
Both Barber and Lapham have competed in the Iron Dog since 2015. This is their fourth attempt at the race as a team, but their first championship victory.
A family affair, this is Cody’s first Iron Dog win in the Barber family, which has been racing since 2000; Cody and Brett are brothers-in-law.
”Feels good,” Cody Barber said. “I know they’re living through me. I know they’re more than proud. My grandpa, he’s 68 I think, he raced this years ago. My dad raced it. Finally one of us can take home the win.”
“Mom has raced it, little brother is racing it, we have all raced it together,” Lapham said. “This is for the family.”
Team 39 said they were going to enjoy the win with their family before thinking about defending their title.
“It has been a long time coming to get this done,” Lapham said. “This win for the family is surreal, and it’s all we wanted. I always told the wife, once we win it, we’re done.”
”That’s a lot of drinks and beaches away,” Barber said. “We got young kids who are trying to consume our time, and that is kind of what I want to devote my time to, so wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t see my name in the Pro Class roster next year, but you never know.”
See the final results from Iron Dog 2024 here.
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