ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Riches and paid appearances haven't followed Jessie Holmes since he won the world's most famous sled dog race, the Iditarod, last year.
Jessie Holmes, the defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion, talks to fans on Saturday in Anchorage, Alaska, during the ceremonial start of the 2026 race.Â
Musher Jessie Holmes takes a break from cooking a meal to nuzzle with two wheel dogs at the Ophir checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 10, 2021, in Alaska.Â
Defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Jessie Holmes poses for a selfie with a fan during the ceremonial start of this year's race in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday.
Jessie Holmes, the defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion, acknowledges crowds on both sides of Fourth Avenue during the ceremonial start for this year's race in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday.
In this July 31, 2013, file photo, tourists visiting the Mendenhall Glacier in the Tongass National Forest are reflected in a pool of water as they make their way to Nugget Falls in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Herbert Glacier
This photo from April 23, 2017, shows Herbert Glacier near Juneau, Alaska. The trail leading to the glacier is about 4.9 miles long, according to the Tongass National Forest. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)
Tongass National Forest in Alaska
This 1990 aerial file photo shows a section of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska that has patches of bare land where clear-cutting has occurred. (Hall Anderson/Ketchikan Daily News via AP, File)
Tongass National Forest
Canopy Adventure guide BriAnna Graves glides over the Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary in Herring Cove after sending guests across the last zip line in the .75-mile treetop tour of the Tongass National Forest on May 29, 2005, in Ketchikan, Alaska. (AP Photo/Seanna O'Sullivan)
Tongass National Forest
Melody McAllister, a native Alaskan, zips along on a zip line in the Alaska Canopy Adventure and Wildlife Expedition in 2005 in Ketchikan, Alaska. (AP Photo/Seanna O'Sullivan)
Jessie Holmes, the defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion, talks to fans on Saturday in Anchorage, Alaska, during the ceremonial start of the 2026 race.Â
Musher Jessie Holmes takes a break from cooking a meal to nuzzle with two wheel dogs at the Ophir checkpoint during the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on March 10, 2021, in Alaska.Â
Defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Jessie Holmes poses for a selfie with a fan during the ceremonial start of this year's race in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday.
Jessie Holmes, the defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion, acknowledges crowds on both sides of Fourth Avenue during the ceremonial start for this year's race in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday.
