2 Weeks Later: Iditarod Wrap-Up

Saturday, March 5 brought a flurry of snow to Anchorage, the perfect send-off for the 49 dog mushers beginning their trek to Nome that day. 2 weeks and 1,000 miles later, the last of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race competitors have crossed the finish line.

After the Willow restart on Sunday, March 6 at 2 p.m., racers headed towards the Yetna. Martin Massicote took the first lead, arriving at the first checkpoint just under 4 hours later at 5:59. Later that night, Ryan Redington took the lead, being the first to arrive in Skwentna at 9:23, although Dan Kaduce was the first to depart from the Skwentna checkpoint at 11:59.

Several mushers, including Redington, made competitive progress with each other for the next few checkpoints. At 5:41 pm on March 8, Aaron Burmeister was first to arrive at the McGrath checkpoint, where he won the “Spirit of Iditarod” award from Alaska Air Transit. For this, he was given beaver/moose musher mittens and a beaver fur hat, both handmade by residents of McGrath.

Brent Sass was the first to the Cripple checkpoint, which marks the halfway point of the race. He arrived on March 9 at 3:50 p.m., where he won the Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award. Sass, of Excelsior, Minnesota, competed in his first Iditarod in 2012, where he won “Rookie of the Year.” He won the Yukon Quest, another sled dog race that runs from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, in 2015, 2019, 2020, and is known for putting his dogs’ health first, as well as assisting other mushers in need of aid - his rescue efforts in the 2011 Yukon Quest led to the creation of the “Silver Award,” an award given when mushers and dogs perform acts of heroism on the trail.

Anja Radano withdrew from the race after arriving at the Nikolai checkpoint on March 10. She decided to withdraw in the interest of the health of her 12-dog team. 11 other mushers scratched out along the trail this year, leaving only 37 to finish the race.

At 2:36 a.m. on March 12, Sass remained in the lead, being the first to cross the Kaltag checkpoint where he won the “BBNC Fish First” Award. His prizes included $2,000, a wood-burned art piece, and 25 pounds worth of Bristol Bay salmon filet. Soon, Sass was on his way again, and at 11:32 p.m. on March 13 he won the Ryan Air “Gold Coast” award for being first to arrive at the Unalakleet checkpoint. Ryan Air employees presented Sass with one ounce of gold from the area, currently valued at over $2,000.

Sass’s position went unchallenged as he made it first through the White Mountain checkpoint on March 14. His team powered on through the night, and Tuesday morning at 5:38 a.m., Sass was the first to cross the finish line in Nome, completing the race in a total of 8 days, 14 hours, 38 minutes, and 43 seconds. This is Sass’s first time winning the Iditarod, though in 2015 he came close to victory but was disqualified for having an iPod touch on his person, which due to its wifi capabilities is considered an illegal device by race standards. On top of his various earnings from enroute prizes given by race sponsors, Sass won $50,000 for completing the race in 1st place.

The last musher to make it to Nome without scratching was Apayuaq Reitan, a long-time musher from Kaktovik, Alaska, who arrived with her 7 dogs on March 19 at 11:39 pm after 13 days, 8 hours, 39 minutes, and 13 seconds on the trail.

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