Ham, egg & cheese – that’s how Wade Marrs, Nathan Schroeder and Abbie West came into Nome during breakfast this morning. From the church where volunteers are housed, I heard the fire siren announcing the 16th musher into Nome, Wade Marrs. There was enough time to finish my hot chocolate and a couple of bites of waffle, dress in warm clothing and hike to the burled arch. I was cutting it close but Wade was still under the arch savoring his arrival in Nome.

Marrs who has completed the race in 2009 and 2013 finished in 16th place with a time of 9 days, 16 hours and 27 minutes. His efforts secured him a personal best time by twenty-four hours. Yes, the trail was fast, then Mother Nature tried to equalize with wind but Wade has improved his own skills as well as the speed of his dogs. I say credit Wade’s personal best to experience and skill, not to the “fast” trail. Libby Riddles, winner of the 1985 Iditarod, was in the chute to welcome Wade. She mentioned to Marrs that he might indeed be considered for the “Most Improved Musher Award” with 16th place finish. Looking in the archives, Wade improved 16 places, from 32nd in 2013. That’s a giant improvement. Curious about how his dogs did, I asked if there were any that really did an outstanding or unexpected job during the race. Wade pointed to both ends of the team citing a single leader, Puma, and a wheel dog Reebok. Both dogs are young and performed like veterans on the trail. Wade also mentioned that all but one of his dogs was related. Seems like he’s got a good breeding line going in his kennel. Wade was certainly pleased with his finish and with the performance of his dog. With regard to the crazy weather and challenging trail surface, Marrs replied that you deal with whatever lies in front of you. Every day and every part of the trail presented different challenges during Iditarod XLII. We’ll have to wait until the Sunday afternoon finisher’s banquet for the announcement of the Most Improved Musher Award.

If Marrs was the ham then Nathan Schroeder was the egg of the Wednesday morning breakfast trio. The race for Rookie of the Year was a tight one. Nathan Schroeder wearing bib 25 started out ahead of Abbie West as she was wearing bib 69. On the run to Rainy Pass, West overtook Schroeder. When the start times were adjusted during the twenty-four hour layover, West gained an hour and twenty-six minutes on Schroeder although she’d already moved ahead of Schroeder. Given weather and trail conditions Nathan was focused on completing Iditarod. Being Rookie of the Year would only be icing on the cake and if that happened, great. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t make or break his first Iditarod. Nathan Arrived at White Mountain six minutes a head of West. After the mandatory 8-hour rest they departed with the same margin. West checked into Safety 1 minute ahead of Schroeder but they departed at the same time. Somewhere on the trail, Abbie dropped her bib. Nathan tried to retrieve it but missed. He shouted at West and she was able to return to recover the wayward bib. Nathan took the lead and maintained it to the finish line.

When Schroeder came down Front Street, his dogs really weren’t interested in the chute or the burled arch. With the street divided into thirds, there’s room for cars to pass the fenced off chute area on both the right and left sides. Nathan’s team took the open road to the left. Had there been traffic, the dogs would have been going the wrong way on a one-way street. With a little assistance, the Schroeder leaders found the chute and carried Nathan to his first Iditarod finish and rookie of the year honors. His dogs were highly spirited, heads high and tails wagging. Schroeder’s speed from Safety to Nome was recorded as 8.41 miles per hour. Nathan’s average speed for the entire trail was 4.12. A few checkpoints back, Nathan said one Iditarod was enough. This afternoon he vowed to return.

Smiling and star clad Abbie West came into the chute six minutes behind Schroeder as the cheese of the breakfast trio. Schroeder’s team was still parked in the chute and that’s when they shared the story about the dropped bib. West’s dogs were as happy as she was. It is true; her cosmic canines are out of this world. They received frozen meat treats and went to work on those while Abbie took care of the paper work of checking the mandatory gear and signing in at the final checkpoint of the race. West praised her dogs for conquering the trail. The experience gained by musher and canines will serve them well in the future. Abbie explained that the trio had traveled together through the windblown icy sections of the trail across Golovin Bay. When things were going sideways, they all worked together to get back on track. It was clear they had worked hard together and had become Iditarod comrades. West finished in 18th place with a time of 9 days, 17 hours and 58 minutes. West’s speed from Safety to Nome was clocked as 8.10. Her average speed for the race was 4.12 mph.  Abbie’s parka is trimmed with stars as she loves astrology and astronomy.

Matt Failor arrived in Nome 45 minutes before the Breakfast Trio. He’s unmistakable in his bright blue parka. Matt is very efficient in his checkpoint routine and that proved useful in Nome. He took his dogs to the dog lot and completed their care in time to get back to the chute to welcome Marrs, Schroeder and West. In 2012 Matt ran a Buser puppy team to Nome and finished in 47th place. In 2013 Failor took over for Rohn Buser and ran the Buser “B” team to Nome, finishing 28th. Now, running dogs under the Failor name, Matt completed the race in 9 days, 16 hours and 42 minutes at an average speed of 4.14 mph, claiming 15th place. With a mentor like Martin, Matt has a sound foundation of sled dog knowledge and experience. All I’m saying here is that we’ll see Matt in the top-ten in the not too distant future.

Having had all of 45 minutes to reflect on the 2014 Iditarod, Failor had this to say, “The race was tough but I’m very glad to have been a part of it. It’s a race that’ll go down in history, one that everyone will remember. It feels good to be a part it.”