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Top Ten Finishers Make It To Nome

Four Teams Arrive Within One Hour

by Andy Moderow

03/15/2006

The top 10 mushers of Iditarod XXXIV have all arrived in Nome. With a whopping 107 Iditarods between them all, including 77 top-ten finishes, the front of the pack had no lack of experience this year. The group, including two cancer survivors and the oldest Iditarod champion in race history, pushed hard all the way until the end, and overcame the numerous obstacles on their way to Iditarod glory.

As written in earlier articles, Jeff King and Doug Swingley were both in fine form during this Iditarod, with the former three time champion claiming his fourth title, and the Montana musher racing strong, finishing just hours after King. Following these two former champions, Paul Gebhardt, from Kasilof, AK, finished with a large 14-dog team and the pride of knowing his unprecedented Yukon River ‘24’ strategy worked out in his favor. DeeDee Jonrowe, a Willow, AK musher, made certain that her 24th Iditarod was finished in great style: Finishing in 4th, Jonrowe took home her best Iditarod finish since 1998, when she claimed 2nd place.

Kotzebue musher John Baker claimed 5th place this year in his sixth consecutive top-10 finish, continuing his tradition of being one of the race’s most consistent top performers. Team Norway took home the 6th place honors, with last year’s rookie of the year Bjornar Andersen proving yet again that North America isn’t the only continent capable of producing world class teams. Only twenty-five minutes separated the two mushers.

After a three-hour break, Front Street was alive again, with 4 teams completing the race within an hour of one another. In 7th place, Kotzebue musher Ed Iten roared in, with a 20 minute lead over his nearest competitor, Jason Barron. Jason, a newcomer in the top-10 club, claimed his highest finishing position ever with the 8th place victory. Had he taken 3 minutes longer, Seward musher and former champion Mitch Seavey would have caught him. Grabbing the last spot in the top 10, Lance Mackey, who claimed his second Yukon Quest victory less than a month ago, finished in fine form, 11 dogs strong.

Teams continue to head down the trail, with 62 still making their way to Nome. Mushers already here, though exhausted, spend hours recounting their runs to fans and family, as the adrenaline of finishing keeps them fueled. Nome is full of excitement right now, and as more teams finish, more stories from the trail will come out: Look for some of their stories on Iditarod.com or the Iditarod Insider page during the next few days.