Alaskan wins 3rd Iditarod
NOME, Alaska — If ever there was uncertainty about the outcome of the world’s most famous sled dog race, it was this year.
Warm weather and a lack of snow in much of Alaska forced organizers of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to forge an untested route, utilizing the state’s extensive system of frozen rivers.
Many wondered: Would the new trail make the race faster or easier? Would it benefit mushers more accustomed to racing on ice? Or would warm temperatures create new hazards on the rivers?
Dallas Seavey, 28, proved the short answer to all of those questions was no Wednesday when he won the race for the third time in four years.
The Alaska musher crossed the finish line in the Bering Sea coastal town of Nome at 4:13 a.m., completing the route in eight days, 8 hours, 13 minutes and 6 seconds. That’s about five hours longer than the record he set in winning the 2014 race.
“We saw a lot of 40-, 50-below zero, snow,” said Seavey of Willow. “This was a very tough race. It was not the easy run that a lot of people had anticipated for the Yukon River.”
Seavey’s father, Mitch, finished in second place Wednesday.
