The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race takes racers 1,000 miles across the varied terrain of interior Alaska to the coast, finishing in Nome. This year’s Iditarod top ten included a new winner, several career bests, and some new faces.
John Baker Takes First Place
On March 15, 2011, John Baker of Kotzebue became the first native musher to win the Iditarod Race since 1976 and the first Inupiaq winner ever. His winning time of 8 days, 18 hours, 46 minutes and 39 seconds shattered the record set by Martin Buser in 2002 (the longest standing record in the Iditarod). For more on John Baker’s win, see John Baker Wins 2011 Iditarod in Record Time, First Inupiaq Winner.
Ramey Smyth Takes Second Place
Willow, Alaska, musher Ramey Smyth came in a little over an hour later, wearing running shoes and running ahead of his team. Ramey and his brother Cim are known for their fast times from Safety to Nome and typically change from boots to running shoes at Safety to help them run faster. One of them usually wins the prize for the fastest time from Safety to Nome, given by the Nome Kennel Club.
This was Smyth’s best Iditarod finish. He pushed hard until the end, hoping to catch Baker’s team. His team ran with little rest from Unalakleet up to the coast. “I was amazed at how they handled it,” Smyth said. “It was probably the hardest run of my career and theirs.”
Hans Gatt Takes Third Place
Hans Gatt, wearing his trademark pink baseball cap, came in about five hours after Ramey. Gatt said he had a team that could have won, but the team was plagued by kennel cough in the early part of the race, which slowed them down considerably. “I never thought I could pull off a third place, but it worked out,” he said. Gatt, who has won the Yukon Quest four times but never the Iditarod, reportedly is going to retire from mushing after this year.
Dallas Seavey Takes Fourth Place
Dallas Seavey, 2011 Yukon Quest champion, finished fourth place, also his career best. He said he was very happy to be in the top five. “We’ve been dead on our schedule the whole time, albeit a pretty fast schedule,” he said. “It’s just that a lot of teams are going faster than us, and we couldn’t sustain that pace. You’ve got to run your dog team out there. You’ve got to take care of them, and that’s what we did and apparently it worked out pretty well.”
His father, Mitch Seavey, 2004 Iditarod champion, greeted his son at the finish line. Mitch was having a good race but was withdrawn from the race when he cut his finger severely, requiring emergency surgery. Because Mitch was not racing for the last half of the race, he was able to observe his son, and he was impressed. “He’s a good dog man, and he’s just personally really got it together. He knew what he wanted to do, he knew his schedule, he knew how to get it done, and he’s here right on his plan. I tell you, he’s going to be good at this and whatever else he does.”
Hugh Neff Takes Fifth Place
Tok, Alaska, musher Hugh Neff also saw his career best in 2011, when he finished in fifth place. Fans wearing “Cat in the Hat” costumes greeted him. (Hugh dresses as the Cat in the Hat at the race start to promote reading among children.) Neff was traveling with Sebastian Schnuelle for much of the race. Neff said he wouldn’t call it racing, rather they were helping each other out, rotating the lead through difficult stretches of the trail.
“Sebastian and I have been in this racket for 12 years,” Neff said. “And in a way we’re like strange brothers from different mothers. It’s actually the first time I’ve beaten him in a long time. I don’t really consider it beating him. It was just a great honor for me to be able to hang out with him and learn from him, because as far as I’m concerned, he’s one of the top two or three mushers in the world.”
Sebastian Schnuelle Takes Sixth Place
Sebastian Schnuelle, who announced last year that he was retiring, came back for another year, this time taking sixth place. Schnuelle said this year’s fast trail was not suited for his dogs, so he ran a more conservative race. He’s down to 16 dogs in his kennel, and so he said he will not be back again. “It was another beautiful trip, but it’s time to move on,” he said. However, he said he might be back again as a race official or volunteer. Will he miss the race? “Definitely not,” he said. “When you ask my back and my knees and my bank account.”
Ray Redington Junior Takes Seventh Place
Ray Redington Junior, grandson of Joe Redington, the co-founder of the Iditarod, finished in the top ten for the first time. The warm weather made this race unique, he said. He also said he had problems with the foot cords of his sled and kept having to stop and redo them.
Peter Kaiser Takes Eighth Place
Peter Kaiser surprised many people by coming in eighth place on his second time running the Iditarod. (He took 28th place last year.) He moved up slowly throughout the 2011 race. “I knew we were going to have to get really aggressive there at the end,” he said. “It was a matter of how the team looked and if they could handle that; and they looked great so we kept after it coming from Unalakleet, and they held together really nice.”
Ken Anderson and Jessie Royer Battle for Ninth and Tenth Place
It was a photo finish for race veterans Ken Anderson and Jessie Royer, whose teams ran neck and neck down Front Street. At Safety Anderson had been in 11th place, 28 minutes behind Dee Dee Jonrowe and 59 minutes behind Royer. “I ran all the way here with my light off,” he said. “I snuck up on Dee Dee at the top of Cape Nome, and she jumped. I don’t know if Jessie knew I was behind her or not. The dogs were running great, and I said, ‘It’s never over until it’s over,’ and sure enough we saw her at the edge of town, and I got ahead of her just fine. My leaders got off on the sidewalk, and I was yelling for people to grab them, because I couldn’t stop on the sidewalk, and they were just standing there clapping.” In the end, Anderson’s lead dog crossed under the burled arch just a nose ahead of Royer’s.
Dee Dee Jonrowe, Aliy Zirkle, Mike Williams Junior, Sven Haltman, and Sonny Lindner completed the top 15. Not only did this top 15 include some new faces, it was the only time since 1975 that there were no former champions included in the top 15. Four former champions entered the race. Mitch Seavey was withdrawn. Lance Mackey, who won the Iditarod for the last four years, finished 16th. Martin Buser, also a four-time champion, finished 18th. Rick Swenson, the only five-time champion, who suffered a broken collarbone during this race, finished 20th.
For more information on the Iditarod, see the Official Iditarod Website. Quotes for this article were taken from Iditarod Insider videos.
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