Iditarod Race Updates and Coverage--Ultimate Iditarod

The Iditarod is complete. David Straub has just crossed the finish line--the last musher in. The week-long hustle and bustle that has provided a constant buzz in Nome's race headquarters is now winding down. Race officials are beginning to catch planes to fly home. Tables and chairs and hundreds of pounds of gear and equipment are being packed up for the trip home.

The sled dogs are being shipped out. Each dog is flown home, riding inside a pet kennel in an Alaska Airlines jet. The only strange thing about the dogs flying home is that they literally ride in the First Class portion of the planes. The seats are removed from the front half of the planes, and large cargo containers holding the dogs in their kennels take their place. Human passengers fly in the back. Sleds fit where room is available.

In an hour, the awards banquet begins in the basketball court at the Nome Recreation Center. Dog sleds full of fresh strawberries, trays of cheescake, racks of prime rib, pans of fresh halibut, and collanders of shrimp cocktail await the mushers, handlers, and volunteers. Extra prime rib is given to the dogs after the banquet.

Wedding bells have been ringing today as the last teams have crossed the finish line. Doug Swingley's engagement to his girlfriend Melanie Shirilla lasted only as long as his race. They exchanged vows under the burled arch simultaneously with Jason Barron and Harmony Kanavle, who were planning to marry after their finish in Nome prior to Doug and Melanie's surprise engagement on the trail between Wasilla and Knik just two weeks ago.

The ceremony was simple, but perfect for the spirit of this race. Winds drove snow into the face of the wedding party as they stood under the burled arch and faced back down the trail to Anchorage. The lead dogs from each musher's team stood as bridesmaids and groomsmen along with a few two-legged counterparts. Unique wedding vows likely written during the long miles to Nome were exchanged, and the ceremony was complete. Simple, meaningful, and complete.

In final thoughts, I think that Jason Barron speaks for all mushers when he described his run in this year's race. Jason is an Iditarod veteran, but this year, he, his finance Harmony, Doug Swingley, and Daniel Vetsch (running a Swingley team) traveled together for the entire race. They stopped for long breaks at the checkpoints, talked to the locals, built campfires along the trail, and enjoyed their trip to Nome. They were not competitive, they did the race to get the finish line. According to Jason, "I will run this race many times in the future. I may win, I may not, but to me, this year's race will always be the Iditarod."

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