Iditarod Finish

Surprise!  The musher who led virtually the entire 1000-mile race,  Mitch Seavey, was the first to cross under the burled arch in Nome, Alaska.  In doing so, he shattered his son's record with a finishing time of 8 days 3 hours 40 minutes 0 seconds.  I watched him cross the finish line live online.  It is his third win.

I'm actually shocked at how little the prize.  These men, women and dogs train year-round for The Last Great Race™.  There are other races throughout the winter, like the Yukon 500, but this is the granddaddy.  Consider the cost of running a kennel of over 100 dogs.  The food, shelter, hired personnel.  Mushing is a full-time profession. So you'd expect an enormous payday for the winner.  Seavey won $75,000/£61,670 and a Dodge Ram truck. It seems like pennies to me considering how difficult this race is. 

As he came into Nome, his sled was traveling at an unheard of speed of 10+ mph.  I got a kick out of him kissing his wife with a frozen mustache.  The race will continue until everyone either scratches or finishes.  The last person to arrive is the winner of the Red Lantern Award.

Another shot is an extra.