When the lead dogs of the race champion are draped in yellow roses, the celebration of success concludes. Roughly 700 mushers, volunteers, fans, friends and sponsors gathered at the Nome Community Recreation Center to laud and applaud the accomplishments of the finishers of an Iditarod that will be remembered for a very long time. It’ll be the race that almost started in Fairbanks, the race where Mother Nature threw every curve ball she could, the race that makes all the syndicated survivor shows look like a Sunday walk in the park and a race where the finish couldn’t have been scripted by Hollywood in the fashion it turned out.

The Millennium in Anchorage provided a menu fit for the celebration the Finisher’s Banquet is known to be. Fresh salads, something the mushers haven’t seen in a while are the first choice on the buffet. Next in line, fresh fruit, cubed cheeses and shrimp. Authentic sleds filled with strawberries catch everyone’s eye. The strawberries are huge and about a third are dipped in white chocolate, a third in dark chocolate and a third plain. Beyond the strawberries were vegetables and the entrees – chicken breast and prime rib. Most folks left with two plates in hand! The desert table was a sight to behold with multiple types of pies and cakes.

It’s really a gala event where camaraderie abounds. The mushers have been reunited with their families days or just hours previously – they have stories to share. Volunteers are off the trail as checkpoints are closed down. Fans are there to collect autographs. Whatever a person’s role in Iditarod XLII was, there is reason to celebrate teamwork and perseverance, there is reason to give thanks.

Some of the awards presented at the banquet are statistical while others are voted on by mushers, vets or the ITC. Awards given out on the trial at McGrath, Cripple, Ruby, Galena and Unalakleet are presented again.

 

PenAir Spirit of Alaska Award

First to McGrath – Sonny Lindner

 

GCI Dorothy G. Page Halfway Award

First to Cripple – Aaron Burmeister

 

Millennium Alaskan Hotel First musher to the Yukon Award

Jeff King

 

Bristol Bay Native Corporation Fish First Award

First to Galena – Aliy Zirkle

 

Wells Fargo Gold Coast Award

First to Unalakleet – Aliy Zirkle

 

Jerry Austin Rookie of the Year Award

First Rookie to Finish – Nathan Schroeder – 17th in 9 days, 17 hours & 58 Minutes

 

Nome Kennel Club Fastest Time Safety to Nome Award (top 20)

Jessie Royer & Ray Redington Jr. (2:24)

 

Horizon Lines Most Improved Musher Award

Richie Diehl – Improved by 22 places over his last finish

 

Sportsmanship Award – Mike Williams, Jr.

For being in the right place at the right time to help and aid fellow mushers

 

ExxonMobil Musher’s Choice Award – Aaron Burmeister

Aaron injured his knee early in the race but kept going because he had a good dog team and they deserved to finish the race.

 

Northern Air Cargo Herbie Nayokpuk Award – Newton Marshall

Newton was instrumental in giving aid to Scott Janssen who broke his ankle, was wet and couldn’t get back to his sled.

 

Golden Clipboard Award – Galena Checkpoint

After severe flooding this spring, Galena was able to pull together as a community to overcome the devastation.

 

Golden Stethoscope Award

Dr. Stu Nelson and the entire veterinarian team

 

Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award (top 20)

Martin Buser for outstanding dog care on the trail

 

City of Nome Lolly Medley Golden Harness Award

Beatle, Dallas Seavey’s Lead Dog

 

Wells Fargo Red Lantern (symbol of perseverance)

Marcelle Fressineau – 13 days, 4 hours and 42 minutes (new record by 24 minutes)

The finishers were invited to the podium in reverse order of finish. Each took a few minutes to tell a story or thank family, friends, handles and sponsors for their support. To get the full punch from the stories, you probably had to be there but I’ll share a few.

When Martin Buser accepted the humanitarian award he came to the stage with a slight limp and his left pinky was splinted to his ring finger. The hand injury came a couple of weeks before the race but the ankle injury happened just out of Rohn. With the trail as rough as it was, the pain he endured for miles and miles was immense. In accepting the award, the Master told the audience that the two-legged member of his team was the weakest. They were a championship caliber team and deserved better than he was able to give them but he gave them the best he could.

As Mitch Seavey shared stories about his run through the gorge his comedian side shown through. At one point his leaders caught up to and ran into the back of Scott Janssen’s team. It was a crazy tangle. Janssen, a mortician, has a saying appropriate for his business – grief shared is grief diminished. Pretty appropriate for the trail the mushers experienced this year too and that particular situation in the Gorge. Now keep in mind that Mitch placed third behind Aliy Zirkle and his son, Dallas. In closing Mitch said, “I’ll never get used to losing to women and children.” That brought a round of laughter and applause.

Then it was Aliy Zirkle’s turn. She told about her decision to seek shelter at Safety and when Jeff King hadn’t come through and she hadn’t knowing passed him, she thought he might have gone into open water were the trail runs along the shore. She thought he might have perished. We know the outcome of that story so here’s a second story she told of a happening at Unalakleet. After receiving the Gold Coast Award, she posed for several pictures with folks from the village. One younger woman thanked her for her time and explained that she wanted the photo because her boyfriend thinks girls are sissies. The girl continues, “So when you win the race I’m going to show him this picture to prove otherwise.” Aliy then asked all thirteen women who completed Iditarod 2014 to stand. They did to a thunderous round of applause. Then Aliy asked, “What do you think ladies, are we sissies?” You know what the answer to that was!

Champion Dallas Seavey answered the one question everybody has been thinking about, “How could you not know you had won the race?” He never saw Aliy at Safety when he went through but did see her name on the checker’s sheet. Of course he didn’t see Jeff’s name on the sheet because he hadn’t been there yet but there were issues at the Safety Checkpoint that night. As if the storm wasn’t bad enough, there was no power or heat at Safety. Dallas assumed that Jeff had gotten there earlier and had just gone on through and Aliy had signed in and departed and the checkers had just been too busy to record the time. After leaving Safety there was a headlamp behind him. He thought the headlamp, which was gaining on him, belonged to his dad, Mitch. It made no sense to him that Mitch could have made up so much time. He wasn’t going to let his dad pass him so that’s when he started running. The light coming up from behind was really Aliy, just 2 minutes and 22 second back at the finish. Dallas thought the crowd at the arch was a little too big and a little too boisterous for a third place finisher but it was nice to have so many enthusiastic people interested in the sport. When the announcer congratulated him, Seavey asked for what. The announcer replied, “You’ve won!” Seavey quipped, “I was the first person in but the last person to know.”

As a wrap for this story and the 2014 Iditarod, I’ll share an acronym, GREAT, used by chief veterinarian, Dr. Stu Nelson. G = generosity of not only vets who take time away from their private practice but also for the hundreds of volunteers that work selflessly to man the race. R = routine exams performed at each checkpoint on the canine athletes by the veterinarians along the trail. E = Excellent care given the dogs by the mushers. A = All volunteers performing their roles to the best of their ability. T = Teamwork of mushers, volunteers and staff working together for the good of the dogs. Keeping this acronym in mind, Iditarod’s other name The Last GREAT Race has a more complete meaning.