Charley Bejna was a winner in 2013. He scratched before reaching the finish line in Nome but way before that, he dared to dream, to plan to prepare and practice. He’s back in 2014 with a specific mission in mind. He accomplished what he set out to do when he brought his dog team under the burled arch in Nome this morning. With snow in the air, it was a perfect day with reasonable temperatures, very little wind and a couple inches of new snow on the trail.
Charley’s bib number sat motionless on the GPS Tracker for quite a while. We waited and wondered. Charley’s mentor G.B. Jones waited, wondered and paced. Thankfully, after a few hours of inactivity Charley’s trail speed went from zero to seven miles per hour. He was moving. A collective sign of relief was heard around the computer at race headquarters in Nome.
With the break, it took Charley 6 hours and 45 minutes to cover the twenty-two miles from Safety to Nome. That was the big question under the arch, “What were you doing out there?” Charley just said it was like the dogs didn’t want to end their time on the trail. Camp for a little while and enjoy the Iditarod just a little longer. Makes perfect sense from the perspective of an Alaskan husky – the hard part is over. Now let’s take a few hours out here at Cape Nome to savor the journey.
Charlie came to Iditarod through the Idita-rider program. In 2007 he rode with Bruce Linton for eleven miles in the Ceremonial Start. Undoubtedly he sat in that sled mesmerized by what the dogs were doing and how they worked together as a team. In 2008, Bejna returned to man Linton’s tag sled for the Ceremonial Start. After meeting G.B. Jones of Knik, Alaska and taking a small team out for a test-drive, Charley was truly hooked on mushing. Again in 2011 Charley rode a tag sled in the ceremonial start, this one belonged to G.B. Jones. Bejna has finished what he started in 2013 and he has the belt buckle to prove it. Considering all the challenges the 2014 Iditarod threw at the mushers, he’ll wear that buckle with great pride.
Robert Bundtzen came off the Bering Sea and on to Front Street a couple hours after Benja finished. He’s been in Alaska since 1960 and at that time used a small dog team for running a trap line. Bundtzen is an MD specializing in infectious diseases. Twenty years ago, Iditarod veteran Jim Lanier encouraged Robert to run and race sled dogs. Bundtzen has completed Iditarod a dozen times prior to the 2014 race so make that a baker’s dozen now. He’s also done numerous two hundred and three hundred mile races. Bundtzen is into Nome in 42nd place. Like many other mushers, Bundtzen is amazed at what trained Alaskan huskies can do. Why does he run dogs? That’s easy to answer, he loves it.
