Lance Mackey reached the end of the trail at 8:08 pm last night to claim first place in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race. Mackey and his team have made mushing history by winning the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod back to back in the same year. As APRN’s trail reporter Ellen Lockyer tells us, Mackey — now an official Iditarod Champion — joins his father and his brother in the annals of race history.
Paul Gebhardt followed Mackey into the chute at 10:28 p.m. Tuesday night. A strong contender for taking first place this year (as in many years past), Gebhardt noted he had sled troubles that required extra repair time in Shaktoolik, knocking him out of contention and putting Mackey a few hours ahead and out of reach.
As some predicted, Zack Steer moved up to third place in just the last few miles of the race, passing Martin Buser along the way. Steer was consistently gaining on the leaders through the last half of the race and especially along the Norton Sound coast. It’s only Steer’s fourth Iditarod — he scratched last year and finished in 22nd and 14th in 1998 and 2000, respectively. Steer has been a “local boy” sentimental favorite in southcentral Alaska since his first run when he proposed to his then-girlfriend at the finish line in Nome.
Steer is 31, Mackey is 35 and this year’s likely Rookie of the Year, Sigrid Ekran — born only in 1980 (!) — are carrying the Iditarod forward to a new generation with speed, grace and pride. Other projected top 20 finishers from the 35-and-under set include Ken Anderson (34 years old), Tollef Monson (27), Cim Smyth (29), Jason Barron (35), Aaron Burmeister (31), Ramey Smyth (31), and the youngest of this leading pack, Ryan Redington (24).
Meanwhile at the back of the race, rookie Eric Rogers scratched at the Iditarod checkpoint, moving the Red Lantern all the way up to Grayling with rookie musher Donald Smidt.
At this hour, five musher have completed the race including Martin Buser in 4th and Jeff King in 5th. Our race coverage continues as more teams cross the finish line in the days to come.